BOSMarcher Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Is there a strategic reason for having the two Georgia shows on different weekends? As a rule, aren't two-show weekends a benefit for corps? Robert Kirby Yes, but not for the people that host it. If a school is hosting a show and they are competing with a show that had the exact same groups the night before an hour away... not many people come to the other show. Two weekend equals better attendance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida Sun Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 (edited) Sorry to hear about the cancelled second Florida show ,but do you think it might have been better to have it in the Jacksonville area,home of Teal Sound .Just think it was to far off track . Jacksonville is right on the state line with Gerogia and right on I95 easy travel for corps coming down . Then maybe it could have been a 5 corps show by adding CorpsVets and Alliance into the show . Edited June 24, 2011 by Florida Sun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 And Labor Day weekend hurts the Texas corps with the students in a big way. School has long since started, so the kids cannot be in a band program and do DCA corps. Recruiting for Vigilantes has always centered on two serious challenges - the cost and the timing of the season. To compete in late August and early September in Texas is almost impossible for those in college and below - unless they are not involved in scholastic music programs. It IS something that will have to be evaluated as the average marching age gets younger. From our perspective, it can be the difference between fielding a corps or not (as is the case this season). We will step up our recruiting further to address the issues (yes - we've heard the snide remarks to work harder on here in the past in reference to the 35 member rule - if only that were the issue!), but some issues such as Labor Day weekend championships cannot be explained away when a student has to choose between passing/failing their courses or marching a weekend drum corps. Guess which one wins? its a problem in many corps and no corps can wish it away or ignore it and sooner or later it will be addressed. as far as the past ( you know how we love going back yearsssssssssssssssssssss) the average ae now is lower and more of them than ever before. 1 or even 2 corps that were young in the past doesnt show or can be compared to now. Im sure it will all work itself out 1 way or another Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCASouth Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 (edited) To answer two questions that have come up: Georgia shows on different weekend... #1 is the 2nd show was tried before on Sunday afternoon.. anyone ever been in Atlanta at 3pm on a field in August?? Even when moving the show later in the day it was still brutally hot! #2. by moving it later , it caused problems for corps to travel home...ie: Texas, Va.etc So it was felt by the sponsors that different weekends would be better..So far it has worked out for both sponsoring corps' as they have been able to get addtional help from the school band programs. #3. You are correct that one show gained more audience than the 2nd and did not generate enough revenue to support it. Second Florida Sunday show cancelled. Location had nothing to do with it. TBT tried to get into the Jax area, but overnight housing was an issue and Belleview wasn't.So that is why it was in the Ocala area. But the real factor was a 3 Corps show. With Alliance and CV backing out of the shows, the Sunday show was not a viable sell. Saturday has additional exhibition units to fill the plate and make for an enjoyable evening of entertainment. Sunday would not have had the additional units! Hope that answers the questions raised. here. We look forward to a great DCA South and DCA season. Edited June 24, 2011 by DCASouth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camel lips Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 it happened my first year in 1989. it's nothing new. I feel certain you are right about that. No matter what forms are filled out or early season approval from band directors there always seems to be a handful of kids that have issues with Friday night football games come labor day weekend. Logistically speaking I could see if you are within a few hours driving time from Championships its not as major of a issue. High band student gets parents to drive them on Thursday to rehearse with the corps. Picks them up in time on Friday to do the ball game and get them back after the ball game on Friday to house with the corps and then full rehearsal day on Saturday with the corps. Only a few hours of rehearsal time lost that way. Just so you can see it from a different perspective. The Band students 8+ hours away from Championships. The high school band kids just cant drive up in a couple of hours to be with the corps on Thursday and then on Friday scoot out a little early to make the game. They have to miss ALL of Thursday and Fridays rehearsals. When you have 20+ kids that have to do Friday night football games that leaves a lot of holes on the field on Thursday and Fridays rehearsal schedule. Such a important time to rehearse too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camel lips Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 To answer two questions that have come up: Georgia shows on different weekend... #1 is the 2nd show was tried before on Sunday afternoon.. anyone ever been in Atlanta at 3pm on a field in August?? Even when moving the show later in the day it was still brutally hot! #2. by moving it later , it caused problems for corps to travel home...ie: Texas, Va.etc So it was felt by the sponsors that differnet weekends would be better..So far it has worked out for both sponsoring corps as they have been able to get addtional help from the school band programs. #3. You are correct that one show gained more audience than the 2nd and did not generate enough revenue to support it. Second Florida Sunday show cancelled. Location had nothing to do with it. TBT tried to get into the Jax area, but overnight housing was an issue and Belleview wasn't.So that is why it was in the Ocala area. But the real factor was a 3 Corps show. With Alliance and CV backing out of the shows, the Sunday show was not a viable sell. Saturday has additional exhibition units to fill the plate and make for an enjoyable evening of entertainement. Sunday would not have had the additional units! Hope that answerds the questions raised. here. We look forward to a great DCA South and DCA season. Thanks for clearing that up Vic. I hope the one Florida show left on the calendar does extremely well. I mean who does not want to go to Florida during the summer months? I could see where a lot of people feel that a two show weekend works in areas where its not brutally hot but it just does not work that way in the south. I cannot imagine the Second Florida show in the afternoon being well attended or comfortable for the corps marching based on the following response. I remember the year the Two Georgia corps hosted two shows on the same weekend. The Saturday night show was well attended and weather was what you would expect from Georgia at 8pm at night. Hot and muggy but bearable. Not comfortable but Bearable for both the fans and the marchers. The facility at the Alliance show was amazing. Great housing and great field to march on. The problem? Lack luster attendance and the heat. The Heat I am sure kept many people away. Someone took a reading on the field and it was 120 degrees. One of our guard girls got minor burns from having to lay on the turf for a extended period of time. Shoes were literally melting the glue around the seams. Ive had the privilege of doing two shows on the same weekend in the mid west before. Slightly different outcome. The Afternoon show on Sunday and the Sat night show were both well attended. No doubt the milder temperatures played a role in that. Lessons learned I suppose. Here is to Alliance and CorpsVets having a wonderful season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paradiddle Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 You nailed the DCA South travel issue. 450 miles between CorpsVets/Alliance & Tampa Bay Thunder (8 hours) 888 miles between Shenandoah Sound (15 hours) 982 miles between Gulf Coast Sound (16 hours) 640 miles between Carolina Gold (12 hours) 1000 miles between Arkansas Thunder (17 hours) 80 miles between Sun Devils (1 hour) 1300 miles between Rochester, NY (22 hours) We're making 2 trips to Atlanta, 1 to Virginia/DC, and to Rochester. (450x2)+(450x2)+(888x2)+(1300x2)= 6,176 miles for FOUR shows. Now, we're not complaining about travel. However, the distance between all of the DCA South corps, is pretty bad. When it comes to recruiting, it helps us though. Telling kids that they'll travel to Atlanta, Virginia/DC and New York is an easy sell for some members. However, having finals on Labor Day weekend hurts. I hear ya about the travel issue and I was hoping that DCA south would become a force and help support each other. My personal thoughts on this DCA South thing. Some corps just want to go to DCA finals and some just want to compete locally to save money. Labor Day is an issue especially with some drum corps having high school members. I believe at Sun Devils we could have come out if we did a limited schedule and dropped the DCA Finals. The mission of the drum corps should be to provide the experience the members are looking for. If we did 2 DCA Florida shows ( we would have sponsored a show) , 2 DCA Georgia shows, add in a DCI Orlando or DCI Carolina Show. That wold make a lot of people happy especially if the last DCA South show was treated as a DCA South Championship. If we could do the Baltimore parade tour and make some money and compete at S Sound show - that would work also. I like going to DCA finals but I don't if that's the end all be all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camel lips Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 I believe at Sun Devils we could have come out if we did a limited schedule and dropped the DCA Finals. The mission of the drum corps should be to provide the experience the members are looking for. I hear ya man. While the Finals trip is a great experience I had equally great experiences at other shows. The midwest trips were always the funnest. Finals is becoming a real financial burden on out of area corps. Next year with it moving to Annapolis its going to make it a great deal closer for Many of the corps including some of the NE corps so perhaps this situation will resolve itself when it comes to the financial aspect of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 I feel certain you are right about that. No matter what forms are filled out or early season approval from band directors there always seems to be a handful of kids that have issues with Friday night football games come labor day weekend. Logistically speaking I could see if you are within a few hours driving time from Championships its not as major of a issue. High band student gets parents to drive them on Thursday to rehearse with the corps. Picks them up in time on Friday to do the ball game and get them back after the ball game on Friday to house with the corps and then full rehearsal day on Saturday with the corps. Only a few hours of rehearsal time lost that way. Just so you can see it from a different perspective. The Band students 8+ hours away from Championships. The high school band kids just cant drive up in a couple of hours to be with the corps on Thursday and then on Friday scoot out a little early to make the game. They have to miss ALL of Thursday and Fridays rehearsals. When you have 20+ kids that have to do Friday night football games that leaves a lot of holes on the field on Thursday and Fridays rehearsal schedule. Such a important time to rehearse too. I realize it's an issue for corps of all areas. Thats why I said it happened in 1989. yeah my corps had it. so did corps not from PA. I believe one was from MN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida Sun Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Hope to see Sun Devils back on the field next seasons ,and doing better than ever .I always enjoyed your show at DCA Championships ,im sure you'll be missed by many fans this season . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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