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Is DCI broken?


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I have said this before & I will continue to say it...in order for Drum Corps to survive, it must return to the local level for recruiting members & shows. When DCI killed off all of the local circuits like DCM, it was only a matter of time, & that time is growing nearer. The current national model isn't sustainable. It is too expensive for corps to tour & it is too expensive for out of state members. Drum Corps need local kids to survive. Having said that, it makes it more difficult to recruit if a corps doesn't even practice or live in its namesake city. Perhaps Drum Corps should be structured like sports leagues, with 4 division, East, South, Central, & West, with the top 2 or 3 from each division meeting in the finals?

DCI currently seems to be marketing to the high school band member and family. The income needed to march fits that demographic I suppose. The supply, however, is limited. Seemingly enough to support 20 some DCI World Class Corps. It's the "some" that are struggling, and the supply seems to be just short of the demand.

The circuit that involves local kids does so by marketing to kids who may have never played an instrument in school because they couldn't afford one, or the lessons, or just didn't "hang" with that group. Their parents need something to do with them in the summer, because they both work, (if they are lucky enough to have a 2 parent household). These kids have as much, if not more, to gain from the experience of the activity. That can mean parades, local performances, and competitions close enough for grandma and grandpa to drive to and from in one night. Most of these parents and families are not worn out from spending the whole school year supporting their kids bands and orchestras, so they are probably more apt to support drum corps fundraising and volunteering. They don't need amps, alot of electronic pit equipment, props, leased coaches, staff busses etc. They need horns, drums, flags and a couple school busses and a box truck.

I don't see DCI being concerned for this market.

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Is DCI broken? IMO, it isn't but DCI does have serious issues and could be considered broken when another corps either shuts down earlier than expected or takes a year off to reorganize ( which has been the kiss of death for way too many corps) their finances. My personal experience in drum corps includes being a marching member, staff member, volunteer and fan for the past 38 years. In addition, I have had the pleasure of living with two long time D1 directors and I cannot begin to tell you the number of hours we spent discussing everything about DCI and individual corps. Do I have all the answers and cure all to what is going on with struggling corps? Not by a long shot. But here are some of my thoughts to discuss and ponder.

DCI is considered the governing body of its members. Are they taking enough responsibility and interest of all the World and Open class corps? I do know when the directors meet in the offseason, they request and pretty much pick and choose where they would like to tour for the upcoming season. It is their responsibility to see they have the financial resources to carry out their tour. This is where I see a lot more checks and balances are needed. I'm assuming DCI does have a controller and an auditor's office in place. Either group from DCI should have the ability to run an audit of every corps finances when it comes to planning their tour. And it should be as detailed as possible. How many vehicles is a corps planning to tour with? what is their budget for fuel, repair and charter costs and a reserve amount should also be in place for breakdowns. Anybody who has ever marched knows this is the norm in the activity DCI should also know the breakdown of how much money will be needed for food, housing site costs, driver and staff salaries and again a set reserve in place in case of unforseen circumstances. The reserve could be a percentage of the entire tour budget or a fixed amount. This is something DCI may have to learn by trial and error until a safe, set amount of funds can be figured out. If it looks like a corps cannot meet the budget to fund their desired tour, this is where their tour is reduced to stay within their means. They can still tour, but cannot risk their future by overextending themselves. I know alot of the money is not in place until nearly the start of a summer tour, but this is where corps have to be a little more active in upping their due deadlines. Maybe having the entire tour fee paid by members by sometime in March or at least a majority of it at that time and possibly 10-15% left of the balance due in May. This would give corps and DCI more time (6-8 weeks) to adjust their tour schedules if needed. I'm not talking about the top 5-6 corps as much as the rest of the groups.

In my conversations with my old directors and some others I know really well, there is one fact where a lot of corps get themselves into financial trouble. That is carrying over debt from a previous season to the next and depending on "this" year's money to pay off last years debt. I knew many members who were allowed to pay AFTER the season was over. Really? Is this sound management? I know some kids who actually told me, "Good luck collecting your money, I'm aged out", or "I'm done with drum corps anyway". I know of one treasurer of an open class corps who is volunteering and touring with a world class corps while his corps is on tour. The former director told me the current director and board president have no idea how to spend the money or what is needed on a day to day basis. They make their best guess and the treasurer approves it from hundreds of miles away. I'm expecting this corps to go under very soon as well I hate to say.

I believe you have to have an off season budget and a season (tour) budget and they must be followed no matter what. If a corps has to go another season without new equipment, so be it. I understand everybody has a theme to a show, but at what price on new silks, color guard outfits and a pit instrument that may used in a show for four measures? You'll hear a lot of talk in at the stadium on what corps is using so and so horns or drums this year. My question is, were they donated by the company for the advertising and/or are they paid off in full? And is there a carryover on last year's equipment bill? If a 150 member corps is going to put you in the hole shoot for a lower number and see if it saves money. BITD Div 2 and 3 corps were affordable and toured by going with less and two of those corps have returned from bad times to constantly being in the top 15 every year as of late.

Bus contracts. Oh boy. If a corps (and a lot them do) charters buses nowadays, please tell me there is a number of face to face meetings with these companies. The chartered drivers should be informed what they are getting into and what to expect and not to expect i.e eating and sleeping with the corps at their sites, driving 6-8 hours mostly overnight, no hotels or meal per diem. There should be no surprises! It's no different that conducting a job interview. If the driver or corps reps doesn't feel this person is a match, move on to the next possible driver. Have all of this in writing ( I"d hope it already is) in the contract and have an attorney review it as well.

Corps member contracts. Member and parents need to be present and understand the contract and implications of a corps having to call it quits early for whatever reason. If from out of state, maybe a video conference call should be in place so parents can get all of their questions answered and understand any refund or no refund policies. Parents should not have to feel they are not taking a financial risk by their son/daughter joining a particular corps. A simple outline of the tour, the budget for the tour and any possible changes should be emailed out monthly to all the member's and their parents keeping them informed of the corps current financial state i.e dues collected at present time, amount forwarded to off season budget and amount forwarded to tour budget, projected amounts collected from next due dates etc...

Having said all that, (whew) I still believe DCI must be more proactive with every open and world class corps left

in our ranks. Back in the 1960's, Pete Rozelle was the commissioner of the NFL. When the upstart AFL came along, those teams were allowed to join the NFL. But Rozelle's greatest mark on the NFL was the way he stabilized the future. He signed TV contracts with NBC and CBS, but at his discretion, he demanded equal shares of TV revenue to each and every team giving them a guaranteed source of income. Sure they went ahead and signed their own local preseason TV deals and today club suites and the like, but the sharing of revenue was paramount in protecting all of his members. DCI needs to care and do just as much for Teal Sound as it does BD, Cadets or any other top 5 corps. Otherwise, we could see this sad story repeat itself with another corps somewhere down the road.

Just my thoughts and opinion.....

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DCI currently seems to be marketing to the high school band member and family. The income needed to march fits that demographic I suppose. The supply, however, is limited. Seemingly enough to support 20 some DCI World Class Corps. It's the "some" that are struggling, and the supply seems to be just short of the demand.

The circuit that involves local kids does so by marketing to kids who may have never played an instrument in school because they couldn't afford one, or the lessons, or just didn't "hang" with that group. Their parents need something to do with them in the summer, because they both work, (if they are lucky enough to have a 2 parent household). These kids have as much, if not more, to gain from the experience of the activity. That can mean parades, local performances, and competitions close enough for grandma and grandpa to drive to and from in one night. Most of these parents and families are not worn out from spending the whole school year supporting their kids bands and orchestras, so they are probably more apt to support drum corps fundraising and volunteering. They don't need amps, alot of electronic pit equipment, props, leased coaches, staff busses etc. They need horns, drums, flags and a couple school busses and a box truck.

I don't see DCI being concerned for this market.

wow sounds like my early days...all a nice thought BUT I would also like to spend 40cents for gas and neither are going to happen again.......even if you could find local kids interested the local support is gone in so many ways...Cost would still be extremely high for everything from equipment to even a bad facility to practice...It was great BITD in many ways but I do think those days are long gone..much different time.....maybe in some ways much nicer

Edited by GUARDLING
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Yes, he is a lawyer, but an entertainment lawyer, so he understands the business, as that is what puts groceries in his kitchen. And he was instrumental in the resurrection of DCA from a mostly northeastern group of 14 or so corps to a nation-wide circuit over the last 10 years.

Like it or not, he knows what he is talking about.

Oh, I'm not saying he doesn't....but asking an attorney to explain anything briefly is like asking for my hair to grow back!

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wow sounds like my early days...all a nice thought BUT I would also like to spend 40cents for gas and neither are going to happen again.......even if you could find local kids interested the local support is gone in so many ways...Cost would still be extremely high for everything from equipment to even a bad facility to practice...It was great BITD in many ways but I do think those days are long gone..much different time.....maybe in some ways much nicer

Agreed...not sure about the much nicer part though. Certainly practicing in parking lots, riding school buses, and playing out of tune dented horns and 10 year old bass drums will never be considered Marching Music's Major League, that is for sure!

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I have said this before & I will continue to say it...in order for Drum Corps to survive, it must return to the local level for recruiting members & shows. When DCI killed off all of the local circuits like DCM, it was only a matter of time, & that time is growing nearer. The current national model isn't sustainable. It is too expensive for corps to tour & it is too expensive for out of state members. Drum Corps need local kids to survive. Having said that, it makes it more difficult to recruit if a corps doesn't even practice or live in its namesake city. Perhaps Drum Corps should be structured like sports leagues, with 4 division, East, South, Central, & West, with the top 2 or 3 from each division meeting in the finals?

Were would the Canadian Drum Corps fit in ( I think there might be all of 2 left)? There used to be more Corps from Canada then are currently in the WC division (which are all American). It won't be long and there will be no non-American Drum Corps in existence. Drum Corps International will have to become Drum Corps America.

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. How many corps do we need to lose to wake up here?

Lee Rudnicki

Lee, by my count, we've lost over 100 corps in the past 30-35 years. When the top member corps directors vote for rule changes that require corps to invest in tens of thousands and in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars in new equipment in order to have a shot at competitiveness..... Economic laws eventually kick in. We can expect this trend to continue until only a small handful of super corps are left in the activity.

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IMO we have REALLY jumped the gun here!

We need to start with one FACT FIRST!

Did Teal's finances CAUSE the bus problem

OR

Did the bus problem cause the financial problem?

BIG DIFFERENCE between the two!

Not many corps have the money to fill TWO bus contracts in one year!!!

I'm thinking that possibly the bus contracting company or the drivers did not understand that this was more than a trip to Massachusetts - and bailed out of the contract leaving Teal having to come up with more contract money.

How would you plan financially for THAT?

The same way Cascades should of planed on there equipment truck being rear ended last year, YOU CAN'T. You can have a emergency fund but does that ever have enough in it to cover something major?

I have also been thinking (correct me if wrong) by missing a show because of the bus problem doesn't that mean they also lost performance money too? Doesn't every penny on tour count.

I do agree that until we have facts about what happened it is all just rumor, and speculation.

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Is DCI to blame? No (as others have said).

To start with, each corps, which operates as a non-profit organization, is responsible for their own success or failure (on and off the field). It's all starts with local management, staff, volunteers, and friends and alumni of the corps. Nobody knows better the finances for each corps than the director, management staff, and board of directors. The process starts there, and the most important checks must be done locally.

I wasn't aware that DCI was doing some financial checks (if they are), but a lot can go wrong there. It depends on what information the corps gives DCI, and often times a corps might give them a projection (based on membership, incoming revenue (from bingo, fundraisers, etc.), sponsorship, and the projected costs. If this so-called "check" was completed in the spring, then a lot can happen in a month or two before tour begins. You can lose a sponsor or two, your fundraisers may not produce what you thought they were going to, some of your members may not have the money to march, busing costs can end up being more than you thought, housing sites can be lost and the new sites you find end up costing more. Food budgets can run amuck on tour.

I've long said that DCI can't solve these problems. They are simply the parent organization representing an ASSOCIATION of drum and bugle corps. That association is not a 100% revenue-sharing operation. It is the job of each corps to raise their cash locally, regionally, and through whatever fundraisers they can. DCI can provide services for media, allowing us to view the corps online, and also allowing us to download audio and video with the proceeds going out to the corps. The same of course happens with show revenue. Short of that it is the job of each corps to raise their money.

These words strike me as the wisest so far.

There are several excellent suggestions from other posters, especially regarding periodic evaluation of member corps - but this incident reminds us that a DCI evaluation is not a substitute for responsible corps administration. Teal Sound was the corps most recently promoted to world class, and thus the beneficiary of the freshest and most rigorous evaluation. Yet this evaluation process did not inoculate the corps against all future problems.

Many fine people worked hard for years building Teal Sound to a world class program. Some of those people are no longer there. Changes in corps management have triggered re-evaluation for some corps and not others. Maybe there should be some sort of briefing, orientation or evaluation provided for all corps leadership changes, just to make sure that essential administrative knowledge remains in place through any transition.

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