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Paid attendance figures for DCI World Championships


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but we do know this....DCI was 15k or lower just a few years ago...and now they're at 22...paid. shows across the country and reporting attendance was up. So let's stop pissing and moaning about what was, what may have caused it to drop, who may or may not have lied and set Brasso off...and let's just find ways to keep the growth happening!

This is the important thing to note, and it is all that really matters.

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Not true. It IS "possible to point to a release from DCI in support of such (attendance) claims". Not only can one point to that release, someone here can actually produce that requested DCI release itself for you (see above . . . DCI Finals Night, '81 DCI release picture).

Yes, that picture was added to this thread after I wrote that no one was citing anything as official-looking as DCI's recent press releases--in the same post where I wrote that I believed the 1981 attendance figures that had been proffered here. And you noticed that I already "liked" cixelsyd's post that includes that picture, didn't you? It's not like you to miss the finer nuances of these discussions, so I am left to suppose you just feel it's really important to hammer this point home.

So, now that we're all agreed that the 2015 Finals attendance is very high, although not as high as some of the best-attended shows of years past, maybe more people could tackle garfield's repeated question: can anyone prove that any particular actions by DCI or the corps have improved recent attendance? What is DCI doing right that it should keep doing to increase attendance even more? What is DCI not doing that, if they were, would have seen even higher attendance this year? What will it take to improve this year's good number to 1981's great number?

Edited by N.E. Brigand
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This is the important thing to note, and it is all that really matters.

Good golly, can we (they) stop arguing about 35 year old numbers and focus on even just the last decade in analyzing attendance?

So much to celebrate, but the arguments continue.

Ah, the off-season...

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Yes, that picture was added to this thread after I wrote that no one was citing anything as official-looking as DCI's recent press releases--in the same post where I wrote that I believed the 1981 attendance figures that had been proffered here. And you noticed that I already "liked" cixelsyd's post that includes that picture, didn't you? It's not like you to miss the finer nuances of these discussions, so I am left to suppose you just feel it's really important to hammer this point home.

So, now that we're all agreed that the 2015 Finals attendance is very high, although not as high as some of the best-attended shows of years past, maybe more people could tackle garfield's repeated question: can anyone prove that any particular actions by DCI or the corps have improved recent attendance? What is DCI doing right that it should keep doing to increase attendance even more? What is DCI not doing that, if they were, would have seen even higher attendance this year? What will it take to improve this year's good number to 1981's great number?

Thanks, N.E., and while it might be human nature to slather congrats on everything and everyone for being part of the higher attendance ("Just keep doing what they're doing!", some might say), I think it continues to be prudent to try to identify specific things done that can reasonably be attributed to the success. For example:

Did the corps play more "accessible" music? More "fan-friendly", less esoteric shows?

Was the competition tighter because of tighter scoring sheets, or mandates to score differently?

Did DCI do something with the schedule that made it easier for fans to attend?

Was it simply the lack of a FN DVR that drove fans to attend shows?

One of the concerns that I have, as a fan and contributor (among other roles) is understanding what was done so that it CAN be duplicated. Is it possible that things would have been even better had DCI/the corps done something different, or the same thing differently?

I'm just cautious of the activity being lulled into complacency and falling backwards for not understanding what drove attendance this year.

Edited by garfield
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Thanks, N.E., and while it might be human nature to slather congrats on everything and everyone for being part of the higher attendance ("Just keep doing what they're doing!", some might say), I think it continues to be prudent to try to identify specific things done that can reasonably be attributed to the success. For example:

Did the corps play more "accessible" music? More "fan-friendly", less esoteric shows?

What the competition tighter because of tighter scoring sheets, or mandates to score differently?

Did DCI do something with the schedule that made it easier for fans to attend?

Was it simply the lack of a FN DVR that drove fans to attend shows?

One of the concerns that I have, as a fan and contributor (among other roles) is understanding what was done so that it CAN be duplicated. Is it possible that things would have been even better had DCI/the corps done something different, or the same thing differently?

I'm just cautious of the activity being lulled into complacency and falling backwards for not understanding what drove attendance this year.

In my opinion it is mostly that. Probably not a coincidence that attendance was going down when the shows became less accessible and is going up now that they are far more entertaining.

I was strongly debating whether to continue shelling out the bucks for Friends and all the other expenses associated with traveling to championships because I was bored by most shows - even as a drum corps lifer. If it hadn't begun to turn around a few years ago I don't know if I'd still be going.

Edited by cf144
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Thanks, N.E., and while it might be human nature to slather congrats on everything and everyone for being part of the higher attendance ("Just keep doing what they're doing!", some might say), I think it continues to be prudent to try to identify specific things done that can reasonably be attributed to the success. For example:

Did the corps play more "accessible" music? More "fan-friendly", less esoteric shows?

What the competition tighter because of tighter scoring sheets, or mandates to score differently?

Did DCI do something with the schedule that made it easier for fans to attend?

Was it simply the lack of a FN DVR that drove fans to attend shows?

One of the concerns that I have, as a fan and contributor (among other roles) is understanding what was done so that it CAN be duplicated. Is it possible that things would have been even better had DCI/the corps done something different, or the same thing differently?

I'm just cautious of the activity being lulled into complacency and falling backwards for not understanding what drove attendance this year.

Among those options, the only one that was definitively different in 2015 was the loss of Fan Network/DVR.

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the stadium officials admitted numbers weren't accurate back then.

Did I say specifically DCI? No. I just said numbers. Could be baseball, could be the Olympics in 76, CFl games......,

Oh.... So now... we are getting clarification from you NOW that you wern't referring to DCI not giving us" 100%" "legit numbers for 81 Montreal... you were referring instead to the stadium attendance numbers there in BASEBALL, the Olympics, the CFL games, the Rodeo, and so forth... in a very general, sorta way. Wow.. it must've been just me then that thought that when we are discussing DCI attendance, and you told us you knew a guy there employed at the Montreal Stadium from 30+ years ago at the time, that when he told you the" numbers " at his stadium were not accurate, he wasn't referring to DCI... he was just sorta tossing it out there that the numbers at his stadium 30+ years ago for any sporting event" might not be 100%.". Thanks for the clarification ( or backpeddling, if one prefers ) so we know you really arn't talking about DCI attendance here with your comment. You were referring instead to some anonymous, unnamed guy at the stadium 30 + years ago you knew that... lets be real here... really doesn't know a parradiddle from a parrakeet and didn't trust his employer's numbers for some reason or another back then. Sorry, but I'll trust the DCI numbers released by DCI Executive Director Don Pesceone( that did so for 21 years at ALL stadiums ) over your unnamed guy at that stadium, Jeff. Especially given the fact I was in attendance there that nite, and DCI's Don Pesceone's attendance numbers looked pretty accurate to my eyes, and to all my friends eyes all around me that night. If anything, Don may have underestimated the actual attendence numbers a little bit that nite. But... we'll go with the DCI official numbers for that year, and for every year. Otherwise, we get bogged down in silly conspiracy theories on cooked up DCI attendance numbers without a scintilla, nor a shred of evidence, to support such a contrived nonsense.

Edited by BRASSO
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I wonder why it's so hard to believe that attendance was that high. I remember taking an Amtrak train up to Montreal from New York and that I wasn't the only drum corps fan on the train.

There were a bunch of factors to it:

1. Canada still had drum corps back then

2. The Northeast still had a load of drum corps, whose fans and families were withing driving distance. In Finals alone, you had 27th Lancers, Bridgemen, Crossmen, Garfield. North Star was in 13th. For the Northeastern fans, Montreal was much more accessible than Birmingham had been.

3. A ton of corps competed. There were 39 Class A Corps, ten All-Girl Corps, and 49 corps competing in Open Class (now called World Class). This was one of the last years before corps started dying off and the activity contracted in terms of number of corps.

4. In those days, you didn't have regionals where all the corps competed already. The Championships were the first time all the corps competed against each other.

5. There was a certain exoticness to it being in Montreal that added to its allure and you didn't need a passport back then to go. I know I really looked forward to visiting the city and not just going for the drum corps. I can't say that about Birmingham the years prior.

Barigirl

All very true so what does in attendance mean? Who does it include?..Not sure if those statistics are around or anyone who cares .

Edited by GUARDLING
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Barigirl

All very true so what does in attendance mean? Who does it include?..Not sure if those statistics are around or anyone who cares .

It's old news. It's much easier to focus on recent years.

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This is the important thing to note, and it is all that really matters.

kinda like when the government tells ya something...lol..hmmmmm

Out comes and the present. One doesnt have to know any figures if you were at the arena this year to see growth. Bottom line

Edited by GUARDLING
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