Satellite Operations

[Piper]

Most corps memberships today just aren't as geographically parochial as they once were. Now you never know who's going to show up on your doorstep or where they're going to come from. Texas is kind of a no-brainer. It probably has more marching bands than cattle ranches and not many Drum Corps per population - plenty of talent to go around there.

[Grumpy]

I don't know if this is still the case, but BAC had held winter camps in Florida and had a pretty healthy number of participants from that area...I heard from some alums it was because, at least at the time, most of their staff and a good amount of the staff's students were located in Florida. This was a few years ago, don't know if their situation has changed. In the spring they had continued their all days in New Hampshire, with the exception of last year because they began tour in CA.

[2muchcoffeeman]

For 40 years the Troopers have had to rely not only on out-of-town members, but out-of-state members. They hold out-of-market camps in several different locations. This fall, they'll hold auditions in Cheyenne, Indy, Austin, Las Vegas and Daytona Beach. Notice you don't see the word "Casper" in there. For Troop, which lives smack in the middle of the least-populated state in the Union, occupying the Time Zone The World Forgot, recruiting from outside the home base is not some recent strategic move made for competitive reasons. It's been a necessity for survival for a long time.

Troop has begun a program to partner with Wyoming high school music programs, partly to be a good neighbor to those schools, but also to help revive participation in the corps by Wyoming kids.

[BRASSO]

As best I can tell, 12 WC corps will be having auditions in Texas this year. Five on the weekend of Nov. 17 alone.

Corps are trying to " hook 'em horns " ?

[flammaster]

I had a nice conversation with the souvie lady for Boston this summer and she told me the bulk of their members come from Florida.

[SpiritVet]

One of the most fascinating dynamics of how DCI operates has always been, to me, corps that recruit membership from areas that are not local to their organizations' administrative headquarters and are, in fact, often on the opposite end of the country.

It is no secret that the Bluecoats built their success after their return to finals in the early 2000s by recruiting heavily from Texas and holding monthly rehearsal camps in the state as, at the time, they were the only corps to do so. I know Phantom Regiment, the Cavaliers, Santa Clara Vanguard, and Boston Crusaders hold satellite auditions in Texas, as well.

What I'm most interested in, though, are satellite operations like the aforementioned Bluecoats and Boston Crusaders. One seemed to target the Texas market in general, while I think one might argue that the "special relationship" at one point shared between BAC and TSHS at one point greatly redefined the corps and created (what I believe is) a highly successful model for operating a drum corps that is the only one based on a majority of the corps membership residing in a specific area nowhere near the corps HQ city.

Another example of this "satellite" phenom I've observed was Southwind Drum and Bugle Corps and Broken Arrow HS in Broken Arrow, OK; also Carolina Crown and Avon HS, IN; the list goes on.

For those of you who participated in organizations with these satellite operations in place, that was your experience like? Did it provide the corps with more talent or just more hangers-on who never made it to alldays? Did these satellite communities benefit greatly from an approach to DCI expansion that was more like "colonization" and less like typical, fully-fleshed, top-to-bottom local organizations? What were some of the pros and cons?

Personally, I believe that "vertical alignment" between performing arts organizations is the way that DCI will truly expand and corps that master their "colonization" programs will be greatly rewarded for it. Programs like Bluecoats, BAC, and Crown have been steadily rewarded in their placements (I believe due to an increased talent pool) compared to groups like Glassmen, Colts, Troopers, Spirit, etc. who have not aggressively sought to expand the talent pool their corps draw from annually.

Any thoughts? Agree? Disagree? Anecdotal experience would be fantastic.

I'd disagree with grouping Spirit with corps that haven't expanded their reach/not been rewarded placement wise. Spirit has for the past year held a Texas audition camp, which I expect to be as well attended as other corps recruiting from the area. Like other corps, several staff members teach or have connections to various programs in Texas, and we've seen consistent membership from various Texas sources. But in general, Spirit's home reach is a very large area, with consistent membership from obvious places like Georgia and Alabama, as well as recent connections and large groups coming from southern Mississippi (and USM specifically), all over Tennessee, and even the Carolinas. Additionally, we've seen membership from the Midwest (especially Michigan), Pennsylvania, Virginia (specifically targeting the JMU and George Mason programs), and lately we've developed a connection to some California programs with one or two individuals making the trip out. With all of this branching out for talent, Spirit has seen rewards in placement, being one of two corps that has improved in placement every year since the 2009 season.