danielray Posted November 11, 2011 Author Share Posted November 11, 2011 I will tell you, it is three organizations if I were there that I would combine. DCI, WGI, and the -- what’s the third one there? Let’s see.. The third organization I would -- I would merge, DCI, the... um... WGI and let's see... um... I can't. The third one, I can't. Sorry. Oops. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I will tell you, it is three organizations if I were there that I would combine. DCI, WGI, and the -- what’s the third one there? Let’s see.. The third organization I would -- I would merge, DCI, the... um... WGI and let's see... um... I can't. The third one, I can't. Sorry. Oops. The EPA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I will tell you, it is three organizations if I were there that I would combine. DCI, WGI, and the -- what's the third one there? Let's see.. The third organization I would -- I would merge, DCI, the... um... WGI and let's see... um... I can't. The third one, I can't. Sorry. Oops. LOL. John Stewart's version was pretty good, too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Interesting. Our show next year is on July 31st, the latest show we've ever had. (And we have a GREAT lineup this year - thanks John!)). In trying to connect our show with the Ohio State Fair, going on concurrently, we discovered that THIS company handles all the talent for the fair, and is now booking for 2013. You need to check out their client list and talent. Now, surely I'm not the only one who sees the correlation to this discussion, and I see two angles. The easy one is that DCI could be this for marching arts, all marching arts, pulling together venue booking and talent scheduling for the entire activity. Secondly, what if DCI turned over the show scheduling in its entirety to this company? Take DCI out of the scheduling/tour business entirely. OK, more realistically, collaborate with this company to cross market between activities in exchange for Triangle to perform some of the most duplicative tasks of the DCI tour. If those staff in DCI who were idled by the collaboration spent their time organizing the marching arts tour and generated more revenue than they were producing prior, it would be a good thing, wouldn't it? These are great ideas, but this assumes that DCI is operating on a "for profit" basis and are looking to maximize their profit at the expense of the business plan/mission statement. The reality, I suspect, is that DCI's primary objective is to guide their member corps around the country, play for as many fans possible within the established confines of their activity (marching band-eseque shows) all while keeping costs at a minimum for their member corps. While it's fun to hypothesize potentially high-yielding business ventures for drum corps (which would certainly radically shift the corps' primary focus of competing in DCI events), the further we get from DCI sponsored shows the further the activity gets away from its primary objective. Corps have tried to shift away from DCI competitions as the only focus, both successfully (Star to Blast!) and with mixed results (Blue Devils' theater ventures in the late 90's which seemed to pull great audiences, contained awesome fan-friendly music, and was done during seasons where Blue Devils A corps was successful: yet they still have shied away from the theater ventures for one reason or another). What you suggest is an intriguing idea, but in a business venture the big question is always, "what's in it for me," and in this case I don't think there is a high yield for either party. Fair music promoters want to book acts that bring high volume of customers, and drum corps don't do that. A joint venture with the fair circuit would likely mean little/no payoff for the drum corps. That being said, the Illinois Fair used to have a great little drum corps show (performed on a dirt track that was not that close to the regulation size football field) that had appreciative fans and paid corps a TON of money for their performance. There's a chance that this could happen, or perhaps some sort of cross-promotional event that would get Fair-goers interested in the drum corps show (and vice versa). But generally any business plan that pulls the corps further away from their established priorities is likely one that DCI and its member corps are not interested in exploring. What might seem like a good money-making venture from a pure business model might wildly clash with DCI's priorities and thus be not a valid business change for DCI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 My concern is tying into BOA or WGi involves tying into Scholastic Units. two totally different ballgames there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowtown Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 it all your eggs in one basket which exposes more liabilities what in it for them, why would they want to join up and be taken over by DCI? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrillmanSop06 Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 it all your eggs in one basket which exposes more liabilities what in it for them, why would they want to join up and be taken over by DCI? He's arguing that the legal entity formed as a result of such a melding would actually divide into separate entities for the express purpose of preventing current liabilities. I'm waiting for Music For All to eat all of them, anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mingusmonk Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 (edited) Nope; I win. He disclosed exactly what I was seeking; so, I win. What was veiled and needed to be disclosed exactly? The majority of the details that Daniel Ray shared about himself is publicly available. He even stated that in the early pages of this thread ... a month ago. I used the Google Box on The Internet Machine and figured out most of this. And I'm not the sharpest tool in the thread ... er ... shed, so that's not saying much. Except that some folks are either not attentive, or are a little lazy. Edited November 14, 2011 by mingusmonk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 (edited) These are great ideas, but this assumes that DCI is operating on a "for profit" basis and are looking to maximize their profit at the expense of the business plan/mission statement. The reality, I suspect, is that DCI's primary objective is to guide their member corps around the country, play for as many fans possible within the established confines of their activity (marching band-eseque shows) all while keeping costs at a minimum for their member corps. Interestingly, you hit on one but missed on the other, all while nailing my point for me. The primary reason for DCI to exist is, in fact, to play for as many fans as possible and generate as much revenue as possible for its member corps, while keeping expenses to those corps at a minimum and, as a result passing through as much of that revenue to the corps as possible. There is nothing in DCI's charter (to my knowledge) that requires it to be a non-profit entity only while it attains these goals. A for-profit division dedicated to running a marching arts tour is fine and dandy, as long as it maximizes the revenues to its member corps. (Personal opinion: ALL MEMBER CORPS, not just those who self-proclaim or demonstrate superior placement status). While it's fun to hypothesize potentially high-yielding business ventures for drum corps (which would certainly radically shift the corps' primary focus of competing in DCI events) Why would a corps that has for-profit ventures radically shift the corps' primary focus? No one is suggesting that the MM's run the corps' ventures (exclusively, although there are interesting opportunities for MM's to showcase their talent and get PAID to do so). , the further we get from DCI sponsored shows the further the activity gets away from its primary objective. Shows won't stop being sponsored by DCI. But DCI will be supported by a business venture that makes it possible to exhibit it's corps to more people, more often. Corps have tried to shift away from DCI competitions as the only focus, both successfully (Star to Blast!) and with mixed results (Blue Devils' theater ventures in the late 90's which seemed to pull great audiences, contained awesome fan-friendly music, and was done during seasons where Blue Devils A corps was successful: yet they still have shied away from the theater ventures for one reason or another). Duplicating what Star did on Broadway is not what's being considered. But supporting the activity with for-profit business ventures, ala Bill Cook's recipe, is exactly what's being considered. What you suggest is an intriguing idea, but in a business venture the big question is always, "what's in it for me," and in this case I don't think there is a high yield for either party. Fair music promoters want to book acts that bring high volume of customers, and drum corps don't do that. A joint venture with the fair circuit would likely mean little/no payoff for the drum corps. That being said, the Illinois Fair used to have a great little drum corps show (performed on a dirt track that was not that close to the regulation size football field) that had appreciative fans and paid corps a TON of money for their performance. There's a chance that this could happen, or perhaps some sort of cross-promotional event that would get Fair-goers interested in the drum corps show (and vice versa). Getting fair-goers would be an ancillary benefit, but one that would not be the primary focus of a collaboration. Triangle books fair events. DCI could book marching arts events (and even "small group" events as well), the same way that Triangle books touring bands. If you're a fair and you want to book a band, you call Triangle. If you're a school district, or a tours and travel agency of a city, and you want to book a marching arts show/competition, you contact DCI. But generally any business plan that pulls the corps further away from their established priorities is likely one that DCI and its member corps are not interested in exploring. What might seem like a good money-making venture from a pure business model might wildly clash with DCI's priorities and thus be not a valid business change for DCI. EDIT: After re-rereading, the idea is not to have the corps run the for-profit business of DCI. DCI already has that proven expertise. But, of course, if an individual corps can implement a for-profit business to support its corps primary focus, that would just magnify the effect of the core premise. I disagree and, in my view and ironically, this is at the heart of the current "disquiet" in the drum corps activity. The "Top" corps want DCI to focus on its priority of running an activity that produces as much revenue for the member corps. If a for-profit venture such as centralizing all of the marching arts circuits into one entity produces revenues that can more-fully support the corps (ALL OF THEM) I think you'd see a mass acceptance of the idea by the member-corps directors (well, maybe with the exception of one). DCI's got a proven infrastructure to mount a mammoth undertaking each year by booking more than 100 shows across the country. It just so happens that the marching band circuit (and WGI, et al) runs at a time that, generally, does not compete with DCI. DCI's assets could be expanded and used to organize those shows as well. And provide judging. And do it in a way that preserves the "sponsorship" of the circuits and their local nature. I'm sure MFA could gain some efficiency by not having to dedicate assets to booking venues and contracting judges. I don't see anything about that being a core competency on MFA's website. Edited November 14, 2011 by garfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 He's arguing that the legal entity formed as a result of such a melding would actually divide into separate entities for the express purpose of preventing current liabilities. I'm waiting for Music For All to eat all of them, anyway. They have 86,000 participants. DCI has 6500 +-. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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