Time to Sell DCI

[Jeff Ream]

You must be kidding there. MIM doesn't have this kind of money.

ah got ya to read then

:tongue:/>

[Jeff Ream]

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.

actually any year past year one is past expectations.

However you continue to duck, dodge, spin, parry and thrust the big questions. You continue to throw around your "expertise" without serious discussion beyond your usual throw #### against the wall and see if it sticks approach.

as Gahfield stated, your belief is DCI can go on as someone's tax write off. Knowing what i do of the business world, that has a very short shelf life. So what then for DCI?

Unless you know of a Warren Buffet type that has billions to play with and doesn't care, just loves drum corps, it's just more of your usual BS

[En929]

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.

Well, I try to add diversity. I'll be the one to post from the perspective as someone who is always broke lol.

Edited February 5, 2013 by En929

[Michael Boo]

...

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

No...it would mean it had survived 48 years past expectations.

[cowtown]

• checks to see if wallet is still in pocket *

not reading this thread fully

being a non-profit implies that the mission statement is not about making money so an investor, even one looking for a write or some accounting, fun wouldn’t be a very good investor if they invested in this

I could see Blue Devils doing a sort of entertainment corporation for profit, as they sort of are doing now but that would be limited to only the top few corps and at some point, the non-profit status will have to be yanked or they will have to more fully separate the division of the org to make sure they can keep their non-profit status in check. I’d be curious to know where that line is and we the toes need to be to keep non-profit status

This is generally where I disagree with most the board because most the board really doesn’t know what they are talking about….you may want to use some best practices of business in running a non-profit but non-profits need to be run as non-profits – they have their own skill sets, needs and demands that make them unique and running a Youth education experience as a business is going to short change your mission because it’s a conflict of priorities as the priorities were already defined by applying for non-profit status

[garfield]

• checks to see if wallet is still in pocket *

not reading this thread fully

being a non-profit implies that the mission statement is not about making money so an investor, even one looking for a write or some accounting, fun wouldn't be a very good investor if they invested in this

I could see Blue Devils doing a sort of entertainment corporation for profit, as they sort of are doing now but that would be limited to only the top few corps and at some point, the non-profit status will have to be yanked or they will have to more fully separate the division of the org to make sure they can keep their non-profit status in check. I'd be curious to know where that line is and we the toes need to be to keep non-profit status

This is generally where I disagree with most the board because most the board really doesn't know what they are talking about….you may want to use some best practices of business in running a non-profit but non-profits need to be run as non-profits – they have their own skill sets, needs and demands that make them unique and running a Youth education experience as a business is going to short change your mission because it's a conflict of priorities as the priorities were already defined by applying for non-profit status

For-Profit corporations have mission statements, too.

The line in the sand is, apparently, now to convert to for-profit status.

[drumcorpsdrummerman2012]

Some time ago, I brought up the topic concept of selling DCI to a group of private investors. Given that DCI continues to struggle to keep things together, driven primarily by financial pressures, this option seems more and more like the best path to continued sustainability, and likely the only viable option left for retaining the continuity and integrity of the DCI brand.

It is simply time for acceptance of the fact that DCI has pretty much reached the limit of its potential within the current structure and experience cap of management team. If management team has no experience building up a company with more than $20M+ in annual revenue... and growth has remained relatively flat... seems not going to ever get there.

There must be a change in management. There must be a change in attitude. There must be a change in structure.

In this scenario, DCI intellectual property, commitments, etc., would effectively be purchased from the non-profit organization by a new investor-owned for-profit entity (seems cleaner than converting existing non-profit entity). Clearing any outstanding debts or commitments of the non-profit org would be included into the terms of the purchase agreement.

Moving forward, a refocused and privately-held DCI would be focused on LONG-TERM returns, not short-term sustainability. In the short term, the aim would be to not only distribute as much revenue possible to corps (at least in the near-term to get them stable and increase participation), but would also focus on improving the competitiveness of all corps top to bottom in order to make the league more engaging and to provide greater geographic consistency in terms of quality.

Part of increasing competitiveness would be efforts to lower cost of participation to ensure that talented individuals are not sitting out due to financial reasons. This would be done though a combination of increased operational efficiency, growth in current revenue opportunities and development of new and diverse revenue streams.

Add to this aggressive efforts to shift perception of the activity and raise the profile in order to increase the reach and build future fan base.

Included as conditions of sale would be minimum commitment for revenue distribution to corps. In this model it makes sense to distribute as much revenue as possible to all corps, regardless of current competitive placement, in order to build up competitiveness of all groups. This would be viewed more as a short-term investment in these less competitive groups and cannot come at the cost of a decrease in revenues to any corps... basically all must current get more than they do now.

Also included in this should be a buy-back clause, where the member organizations may buy back various rights (name and other IP) if the investors do not meet specific conditions of the agreement.

Bottom line, DCI under the current model and management is not sustainable. it seems more and more that the best solution moving forward, the one that will keep the activity going for the foreseeable future, is to package DCI to start shopping to potential private investors.

***yaaaaawwwwwn***

***snorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre***

[jasgre2000]

Some time ago, I brought up the topic concept of selling DCI to a group of private investors. Given that DCI continues to struggle to keep things together, driven primarily by financial pressures, this option seems more and more like the best path to continued sustainability, and likely the only viable option left for retaining the continuity and integrity of the DCI brand.

It is simply time for acceptance of the fact that DCI has pretty much reached the limit of its potential within the current structure and experience cap of management team. If management team has no experience building up a company with more than $20M+ in annual revenue... and growth has remained relatively flat... seems not going to ever get there.

There must be a change in management. There must be a change in attitude. There must be a change in structure.

In this scenario, DCI intellectual property, commitments, etc., would effectively be purchased from the non-profit organization by a new investor-owned for-profit entity (seems cleaner than converting existing non-profit entity). Clearing any outstanding debts or commitments of the non-profit org would be included into the terms of the purchase agreement.

Moving forward, a refocused and privately-held DCI would be focused on LONG-TERM returns, not short-term sustainability. In the short term, the aim would be to not only distribute as much revenue possible to corps (at least in the near-term to get them stable and increase participation), but would also focus on improving the competitiveness of all corps top to bottom in order to make the league more engaging and to provide greater geographic consistency in terms of quality.

Part of increasing competitiveness would be efforts to lower cost of participation to ensure that talented individuals are not sitting out due to financial reasons. This would be done though a combination of increased operational efficiency, growth in current revenue opportunities and development of new and diverse revenue streams.

Add to this aggressive efforts to shift perception of the activity and raise the profile in order to increase the reach and build future fan base.

Included as conditions of sale would be minimum commitment for revenue distribution to corps. In this model it makes sense to distribute as much revenue as possible to all corps, regardless of current competitive placement, in order to build up competitiveness of all groups. This would be viewed more as a short-term investment in these less competitive groups and cannot come at the cost of a decrease in revenues to any corps... basically all must current get more than they do now.

Also included in this should be a buy-back clause, where the member organizations may buy back various rights (name and other IP) if the investors do not meet specific conditions of the agreement.

Bottom line, DCI under the current model and management is not sustainable. it seems more and more that the best solution moving forward, the one that will keep the activity going for the foreseeable future, is to package DCI to start shopping to potential private investors.

Is DCI struggling to keep things together? I have always been under the impression that DCI, as an organization, was doing just fine financially. There may be individual corps that are struggling, but do we have evidence that DCI is on the verge of going under? What would a group of private investors do to help?

[danielray]

Is DCI struggling to keep things together? I have always been under the impression that DCI, as an organization, was doing just fine financially. There may be individual corps that are struggling, but do we have evidence that DCI is on the verge of going under?

They are not exactly going under, but they are not in a position where they are close to sustainable at current rates and within the current model.

Leaner operations and revenue diversification are the key words here.

To clarify, leaner operations don't necessarily mean less people, but the whole approach to commitments.

What would a group of private investors do to help?

Accelerate the above points and expand marketing efforts.

The biggest thing I can't really get my head around is ticket pricing. DCI can't/won't take the risk to lower ticket pricing and fill each stadium (no more shows at high school stadiums!!!).

With full stadiums, there are greater opportunities for sponsorship of a unified tour. This should be where emphasis should be on the event side.

The larger issue is that people are fighting over a piece of a pie, rather than using the ingredients they already have to simply bake more pies.

DCI should simply be a company with distinct units - events, media and merchandising. Each of these units should be utilizing the resources and capabilities required for producing for drum corps and focus primarily on corporate and entertainment revenues for each line of business. Drum corps then becomes subsidized by revenues from these units, rather than relying solely on revenues from drum corps shows and the narrow scope of the drum corps audience.

This is such an obvious solution, that it is quite baffling that this has not been thought of.

For this to be effective, DCI needs to get the hell out of Indianapolis from both an operations perspective and a finals perspective.

There are no clients in Indianapolis and there is absolutely no media there. DCI doesn't really need a physical presence, but needs sales reps in key cities where they can be meeting and pitching corporate/entertainment clients and potential sponsors on a daily basis. Finals needs to be within a short drive of a major media hub - New York, DC, Chicago, Atlanta, LA. Finals should rotate and only between these cities.

Drum corps is not interesting enough for anyone in media to fly across the country for, but they would drive across town for some easy filler content.

I get pretty tired of people that keep saying that drum corps can't attract attention or can't get major sponsors, etc. If they believe this, then the task is simply out of their range.

Anyway, these are all things that can be adjusted with proper investment that would change the strategy, recruit and incentivize management that could pull something like this off (retain current guys at current salaries as consultants... not a big deal).

This is the path forward.

[Jeff Ream]

hell has frozen over, I agree with Daniel on one point...

finals needs to get out of Indy