Grandpa Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 The barrier to entry, in terms of cost, is too high. Agree completely. Another reason the touring model is out of reach for startups and new members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Agree completely. Another reason the touring model is out of reach for startups and new members. Why is it out of reach? It is only out of reach for those that don't do what it takes to make the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 OK, I understand, I must be on the "Pay No Mind" List ? That happens when you ask a question that's inconvenient to the perception that DCI knows all.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Why is it out of reach? It is only out of reach for those that don't do what it takes to make the money. If you wait until you have enough money to jump into the tour, you'll never get a corps off the ground. Same principle as waiting until you have enough money to start a family. If we went by that I wouldn't be Grandpa today.... DCI isn't the Holy Grail. It isn't even the Holy Handgrenade. There are other ways to do this activity and the sooner DCI stops taking itself so seriously and believing it's the only way, the better off Drum Corps will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 128? I think a 10 member limit might be sufficient for going with a retro corps. Though, you might have difficulty recruiting even that. It's little quips like this that make it very easy not to take any of your posts seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 It's little quips like this that make it very easy not to take any of your posts seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 (edited) It's little quips like this that make it very easy not to take any of your posts seriously. It is 100% realistic. You cannot find enough kids to fill even one retro corps, let alone a circuit. To think any real number of kids would be interested at all in this, other than maybe a one-off novelty, would be fantasy. I'm often a bit direct in what I say, but it is not unfounded. Every generation of kids want to be a part of what is innovative ... what pushes the limits of now... to explore the new and leave their mark, not recreate something from the past. Edited August 2, 2011 by danielray 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 No - I think this is just your attempt to denegrate anything that is not upper echelon DCI. It has been a consistent pattern of your posts. SDCA, FAMQ are not cutting edge by any stretch of the imagination but guess what? Kids are joining. They're having fun. They are learning. The circuits are slowly growing. No it's not Blue Devils or Cadets but really - who cares? The kids don't seem to so maybe you might want to relax a little on the judgements of what is and is not worthwhile. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 It is 100% realistic. You cannot find enough kids to fill even one retro corps, let alone a circuit. To think any real number of kids would be interested at all in this, other than maybe a one-off novelty, would be fantasy. I'm often a bit direct in what I say, but it is not unfounded. Every generation of kids want to be a part of what is innovative ... what pushes the limits of now... to explore the new and leave their mark, not recreate something from the past. Survey of current DCI marching members. http://www.dci.org/news/view.cfm?news_id=ba483a6c-c8d5-4a39-91ac-6fd5ddb9ac3f http://www.dci.org/news/pdf/2010/2010_persona_factoids.pdf The traditions of drum corps are important - 1% Strongly Disagree 4% Disagree 14% Neutral 34% Agree 47% Strongly Agree I enjoy listening to and watching audio/video of historical drum corps performances - 1% Strongly Disagree 5% Disagree 14% Neutral 29% Agree 50% Strongly Agree Drum corps should be more reflective of marching band 50% Strongly Disagree 30% Disagree 17% Neutral 2% Agree 1% Strongly Agree The experience of being in a drum corps is more important than the educational aspects 2% Strongly Disagree 9% Disagree 33% Neutral 32% Agree 24% Strongly Agree Mike 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 The only way you're going to get someone to put major money ($150k in start up costs if you do it on the super cheap) into starting a new youth performing arts group would be to have the vision for said organization be unique, something unlike anything else afforded to the young performers in their community. Necessarily, that would mean that the format for the activity would have to be unique too, and I'm afraid that "drum corps like it was 40 years ago" isn't a great marketing position. It's not likely to attract new donors and more importantly, it won't hold much appeal for the real end users of the idea; the performers themselves. While I agree with you about many arts organizations that belong to this generation are very artist-centered, where you have artists driving the creative and are also personalities that are actively and personally fundraising... these tend to be either project driven or on a smaller scale. Dance companies are a good example for this type of model. What I am thinking about it a bit different... It should not be unique... it should pitching them to have something in their community that is pretty much exactly like the best thing out there. I actually think it is EASIER to pitch to supporters to raise money for a new corps than it is to pitch a startup. I would approach it in a way that would be similar to pitching to bring a major sports team to the community and the opportunity to represent the city on a national level. People with deep pockets are ego driven and want to fund programs that have the potential to be at the top of the game. Approach them with an opportunity that has set sights too low, might be of less interests, even though there is less money involved. Anyway, there is certainly a lot more to it... but it takes just as much effort to prepare a pitch to try to get $150k as it does to get $1.5M... so why not do that? It might take a lot more "No's" to lock in the higher amount... but it is simply a numbers game... ask enough of the right people and you will eventually get it. Again, if you haven't heard 99 "No's" you haven't tried. This point, right there, is the biggest reason why it should be entrepreneurs that should be starting corps, not artists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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