Time to Sell DCI

[skywhopper]

If I wasn't here... what fun would DCP be?

Seriously, DCP has lost a lot of diversity over the past few years... making it a bit stale... a bit too Jurassic Park.

I'm just saying, you're way too productive for just one message board, and perhaps we can leverage the resource that is your topic-generation rate into less prolific message boards and generate revenue for building the open source, virtual, privately held, for-profit DCP of the future.

[danielray]

I have seen your point Dan...the point is your point is not based in any form of reality known to man kind.

Could be that we might live in slightly different realities.

But, by divulging more info here, you've opened up a new can of worms....what happens after 2020? Say the economy tanks again? They could watch their zillions on paper go up in flames....taking DCi down with it. so really, by offering more information, you actually make it worse than what you originally started with.

DCI lasting until 2020 under any circumstances is an absolute miracle in any case. It would mean it had survived 25 years past expectations.

[BRASSO]

The first issue here is that DCI makes absolutely zero sense as a standalone entity. In fact, if it chooses to remain solitary, its days are clearly numbered.

Key in this is the difference between valuable and profitable. There are many things that are highly valuable in business (particularly in negation) that are not exactly profitable. This is the space that DCI occupies.

Can DCI, if positioned right, become an entity generating $20-30M a year in revenue? Yep. But it should never be profitable. It has a very unique value in a particular ecosystem, where it is useful to not be profitable as it is very defensible to not be.

Drawing parallels, it is quite interesting that Blast was a for profit venture that had considerable losses initially and that Cook divested himself once it became profitable. Definitely something to be learned here. There are limits to write downs for charitable contributions... yet there is much greater flexibility with write-downs on investments in for-profit ventures that have a longer window of maturity, provided there is shown a continual need for investment to keep afloat. Time losses to capital gains. Again, something to be learned here.

The biggest, most fundamental difference between the For Profit " Blast " commercial venture and the Non Profit Educational venture called " DCI Drum Corps " is the fundamental manner upon which each venture looked at " the customer ". In respect to " Blast ", the customer was" the audience ". As such, the show design of " Blast " took on a decidely friendly, appealing approach to entertaining the audience as the end all and the be all. The " audience, ergo the " customer " was everything. " Blast" wanted to make a buck. It was fully commercial and manned by paid performers that were paid " to entertain " the customer........ DCI Drum Corps has a primary " customer " too. But it is not primarily " the audience ". The primary customer of DCI Drum Corps are " students ". They pay for the right to be educated and then judged on their collective abilities. The calling thus is quite different. DCI is not a commercial, for profit enterprise. Its primary goal is " education ". Not education of the audience. Education of its students. The audience is NOT its primary customer, although to be sure, in the long run, a very important one. Thus, the mission of the commercial venture " Blast " is vastly different mission that that of " DCI Drum Corps". It is not then all that suprising that after the Star of Indiana left DCI they quickly abandoned their more esoteric, cerebral, etc type DCI shows, for a more fan friendly, more appealing, more audience friendly show in the theatre production " Blast ". They utilized mostly familiar music and tradition based Drum Corps visual moves copied from Corps from the 70's. This made sense because as a commercial venture interested in making a profit.... a buck, it was incumbent upon them then to appeal to a diverse audience from around the world, not to a handful of DCI ajudges that would be judging them on aspects that frabnkly had very little to do with audience appeal of the show.

Edited February 5, 2013 by BRASSO

[danielray]

The biggest, most fundamental difference between the For Profit " Blast " commercial venture and the Non Profit Educational venture called " DCI Drum Corps " is the fundamental manner upon which each venture looked at " the customer ". In respect to " Blast ", the customer was" the audience ". As such, the show design of " Blast " took on a decidely friendy, appealing approach to entertaining the audience as the end all and the be all. The " audience, ergo the " customer " was everything. " Blast" wanted to make a buck. It was fully commercial and manned by paid performers that were paid " to entertain " the customer........ DCI Drum Corps has a primary " customer " too. But it is not primarily " the audience ". The primary customer of DCI Drum Corps are " students ". TQhey pay for the right to be educated and then judged on their collective abilities. TAhe calling thus is quite different. DCI is not a commercial, for profit enterprise. Its primary goal is " education ". Not education of the audience. Education of its students. The audience is NOT its primary customer, although to be sure, in the long run, a very important one. Thus, the mission of the commercial venture " Blast " is vastly different mission that that of " DCI Drum Corps". It is not then all that suprising that after the Star of Indiana left DCI they quickly abandoned their more esoteric, cerebral,etc type DCI shows, for a more fan friendly, more appealing, more audience friendly show in the theatre production " Blast ". They utilized mostly familiar music and tradition based Drum Corps visual moves copied from Corps from the 70's. This made sense because as a commercial venture interested in making a profit.... a buck, it ewas incumbent upon them to appeal to a diverse audience from around the world, not to a handful of DCI ajudges that would be judging them on aspects that had very little to do with audience appeal.

Would be lovely if you used more paragraphs and less quotations. I really do want to understand you, but it hurts my head.

[BRASSO]

Would be lovely if you used more paragraphs and less quotations. I really do want to understand you, but it hurts my head.

" lovely " ? Ok, I'll keep your suggestion in mind. I don't want you to get a Midol headache here, so I'll think about writing in a more " lovely " style when I can..... but look, no promises here as I have trouble doing " lovely " sometimes.

[Michael Boo]

...I really do want to understand you, but it hurts my head.

Oh, this one is way too easy.

On the other hand, I think I'll go take some candy away from a baby instead.

[MikeN]

unles MIM is the investor

:ph34r:/>/>

They only have $3250 x 7 to spend.

Mike

[MikeN]

Could be that we might live in slightly different realities.

DCI lasting until 2020 under any circumstances is an absolute miracle in any case. It would mean it had survived 25 years past expectations.

Whose expectations? How do you figure?

Mike

[BRASSO]

I really do want to understand you, but it hurts my head.

I aim to please. Call this lady. She's not bad looking either while she works on your headache.

Edited February 5, 2013 by BRASSO

[danielray]

Can you tell me where the market will close tomorrow?

Most likely at the doors.