danielray Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 One of the challenges that up and coming corps have with moving up in ranks is member retention... getting kids to stay with the corps, rather than move up to a top tier corps. One thought would be to offer very talented young performers multi-year contracts. In this scenario, they would receive a reduced cost of participation, up front, for every year they agree to lock in. For example, a kid with 5 years to march could be offered a 5 year contract where the cost of participation is dramatically reduced on the assumption that they would remain all 5 years. Instead of say a full $2,000, they would pay $200 less for every year on the contract past the first. So, on a 5 year contract, the kid would only end up paying only $1,200 per year. If the kid were to leave, in order to be released, they would need to pay the balance owed on the contract. For example, if the kid left after 2 years, they would have to pay a balance of $1,400. I know Madison has done something similar with reduced fees for returning vets, but in this case, it would encourage the best young talent to come as they could receive the benefit up front... and it creates a strong incentive to stay. In this model, corps could quickly develop stability by recruiting the best young talent to lock in multi-year contracts when positions open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrillmanSop06 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 One of the challenges that up and coming corps have with moving up in ranks is member retention... getting kids to stay with the corps, rather than move up to a top tier corps. One thought would be to offer very talented young performers multi-year contracts. In this scenario, they would receive a reduced cost of participation, up front, for every year they agree to lock in. For example, a kid with 5 years to march could be offered a 5 year contract where the cost of participation is dramatically reduced on the assumption that they would remain all 5 years. Instead of say a full $2,000, they would pay $200 less for every year on the contract past the first. So, on a 5 year contract, the kid would only end up paying only $1,200 per year. If the kid were to leave, in order to be released, they would need to pay the balance owed on the contract. For example, if the kid left after 2 years, they would have to pay a balance of $1,400. I know Madison has done something similar with reduced fees for returning vets, but in this case, it would encourage the best young talent to come as they could receive the benefit up front... and it creates a strong incentive to stay. In this model, corps could quickly develop stability by recruiting the best young talent to lock in multi-year contracts when positions open. If a member has a bad experience, they should be under no obligation to continue. The current vet discounts most corps offer are a good start but most young people are NOT in a position to commit to multiple seasons. Some are, sure. But the vast majority are definitely not. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 If a member has a bad experience, they should be under no obligation to continue. Of course not... just need to pay the balance on their contract. The current vet discounts most corps offer are a good start but most young people are NOT in a position to commit to multiple seasons. Some are, sure. But the vast majority are definitely not. They don't have to commit.. can be optional. A kid could go to the corps as an uncontracted performer and pay full price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrillmanSop06 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Of course not... just need to pay the balance on their contract. They don't have to commit.. can be optional. A kid could go to the corps as an uncontracted performer and pay full price. I'm just saying no one who had any semblance of common sense would sign it. I think corps could OFFER it as an option to returning veterans for the duration of their marching years, though. It would be irresponsible to offer this to first-year members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 I'm just saying no one who had any semblance of common sense would sign it. I think corps could OFFER it as an option to returning veterans for the duration of their marching years, though. It would be irresponsible to offer this to first-year members. Why irresponsible? If the kid has a bad experience the first year... they pay the balance of what would be the full-tour fee for only that year and move on. All this does is provide the same incentive that some other corps do, but in reverse... lowering the barrier to entry for talented young players. The kid is not locked into anything more than they would be above the standard tour fee that is prorated based on time spent. If kids are having a bad experience somewhere.... it is a completely different issue... often times is an issue of the kid, not so much the corps. Years ago... probably the corps... these days... not as likely, at least in WC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Daniel: Just how much free time do you have? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Milano Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Daniel: Just how much free time do you have? . . . says the man with 20,000+ posts . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 Daniel: Just how much free time do you have? Don't sleep much.... multi-task. I get a lot done. This is leisure for me... how I wind down and shut the brain down. :-) Good night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Don't sleep much.... multi-task. I get a lot done. This is leisure for me... how I wind down and shut the brain down. :-) Good night. Well, I will agree with you that DCP is very good therapy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 . . . says the man with 20,000+ posts . . . Hey; that's nothing. Jeff Ream has over 145,000 posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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