chaos001 Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Let's see, one flight each to seven corps, one to DCI headquarters, and one to the family home. About right? :tongue:/>/> He was definitely at BD's BOD meeting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 He was definitely at BD's BOD meeting. I'm jealous... seriously... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie1223 Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 (edited) 501c3 organizations such as DCI, subsequent drum corps, and other youth non-profits were never intended to be 'personal gain Careers' for executives or staff. Yet that is the way they are appearing to go especially in the light of where the G7 want to take the activity. If the G7 want to go pro, eliminate the so-called poor performing corps while those corps are fiscally viable, make the drum corps activity about major league extremely high performance and monetary personal gain, instead of about providing services for the youth as the 501c3 mission is all about, then the G7 should create a for-profit corporation and more power to them. Otherwise DCI and the other corps should be first about the services for the youth ahead of any adult personal financial gain. That is what I am concerned about in the future for DCI. Making a career in a non-profit is not uncommon. And I think the fact non-profit music education organizations like YEA and Blue Devils are large enough to offer careers for staff is a great thing... I'm not sure why you are against that? It is not about adult personal financial gain. If it IS then by LAW they will no longer be able to be 501c3. I mean the Law is pretty clear and right now all the corps are within the jurisdiction of a 501c3. The second they are no longer operating as 501c3 the government will get involved. So it seems your concern is that they are not operating as 501c3's but as long as they maintain their 501c3 status THEY ARE. Wanting to restructure DCI is not a "for-profit" move. And wanting more money from shows is not a move that "non-profits" should be bared from doing. All of these things are perfectly legitimate business practices for a 501c3. you may disagree but I believe the law says otherwise. you should be comforted in knowing that if Executive compensation for 501c3's becomes excessive or if an organization no longer qualifies for tax exempt status then the IRS will get involved. Right now this not an issue and I think that all the corps want to maintain their 501c3 status and aware of the consequences. So while your concern is valiant I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. Edited February 22, 2013 by charlie1223 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 In the percussion world, at least, that's almost a certainty at this point (based on registration for Finals, and I think WGI said they were looking at a 9% growth from last year - far larger than they were projecting originally) guard wise i believe is the same as last year, maybe a touch higher...arent they using like 4 venues on Thursday alone? Perc ussion is definitely up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 (edited) Jeff, that is not the real issue here. The real issue is people pretending that the current model is sustainable. It has reached the breaking point. Drum corps is a pretty cool activity, but is something that can only continue to exist in any form remotely resemlibg the currebt if it is subsidized by revenues entirely unrelated to drum corps/bands, etc. The only way to keep things going in a way that is even close to the current product on the field is if very bold steps are taken and aggressive changes are made. If there is not a radical new plan put together over the next year that everyone buys into... the DCI is done. The brand could potentially limp along for a few more years, but unless there is a radical management and strategy change, it will not survive. Dan, The real issue here is you not grasping many of us have BEEN SAYING THAT! What's worse, with all of the "needed changes" added to DCI, many pushed by people back on the board....ya know, the ones that admitted in their latest manifesto they don't even have solutions to fixing it....is leading me back to something I have said on here time, and time, and time again. It wasn't broken. They broke it. They refuse to go back and see what did work, and what they changed that clearly hasn't worked, and adapted. No, they just push for more and more change, yet they never ####### learn from their mistakes. And yet the activity is supposed to blindly trust these 7, just because they happen to place in the top 8 spots most of the time? yes, some things need to change. Some need to change back to what they were. the BIGGEST change DCI needs is less corps director say over the business end, and the bylaws need amended to give Dan Acheson serious teeth like Selig or Goodell has. DCI needs real marketing, and to stop just catering to the 15 year old who maybe sees one show a year if his director can get discounted tickets. Edited February 22, 2013 by Jeff Ream 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Dan, The real issue here is you not grasping many of us have BEEN SAYING THAT! What's worse, with all of the "needed changes" added to DCI, many pushed by people back on the board....ya know, the ones that admitted in their latest manifesto they don't even have solutions to fixing it....is leading me back to something I have said on here time, and time, and time again. It wasn't broken. They broke it. They refuse to go back and see what did work, and what they changed that clearly hasn't worked, and adapted. No, they just push for more and more change, yet they never ####### learn from their mistakes. And yet the activity is supposed to blindly trust these 7, just because they happen to place in the top 8 spots most of the time? yes, some things need to change. Some need to change back to what they were. the BIGGEST change DCI needs is less corps director say over the business end, and the bylaws need amended to give Dan Acheson serious teeth like Selig or Goodell has. DCI needs real marketing, and to stop just catering to the 15 year old who maybe sees one show a year if his director can get discounted tickets. First point... I do not think that DCI can be fixed from within. There is no proposed solution that I have seen that is actually viable or that is anything more than simply a bandaid. The reality here is that the talent and experience required to maximize the potential of the DCI brand does not exist within the sphere of drum corps. Strange as it may seem, the people with the greatest opportunity to impact the future of the DCI brand have no connection to it. Over the past couple of weeks I also spent a few days in meetings a sports related project. It was pretty fascinating seeing the difference between what they thought was practical and achievable vs. drum corps. These are the kind of guys that send a text to a guy about broadcast stuff and have other guys from EPSN calling him minutes later... called him 3 times during the course of a simple meeting. These are the kind of guys that casually set up one on one lunch meetings with CEO of one of the world's largest sportswear companies in order to talk sponsorship. This is the world that DCI can play in (and should... it has every bit the potential... how many millions of band kids are out there that can be influenced by DCI?). No one connected with drum corps is ever going to get them there though... and this is something that needs to be recognized and accepted internally. This is one of the things people can't seem to get over. About giving Dan more control? That is exactly the opposite direction of where this needs to go if it is going to survive, let alone thrive. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Actually, no. According to this article on 501c3 website... it doesn't say that wages and salaries should be minimized. It says that they should be reasonable and says that compensations over 250,000 for executives are not uncommon. But the article also speaks about regulations on executive pay (Due Diligence and Arms-length) but it does not say that compensation should be minimized. Yeah, the CEO of the Susan G Koman non-profit was around half a million dollars a year. The CEO of the National Boy Scouts makes well over $1 million a year. Large salaries for non-profit executives can definitely run high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 But, you see, there is another way it can continue to exist and thrive under the current model, and that is to grow the activity organically by getting kids interested in performing and marching. DLB and SS are the first solid ideas to do so in many years. Grow attendance organically, grow participation organically. The only solution is not from the top down, trying to force a product into regional buckets that intend to draw fewer fans at a higher price in glitzy stadiums that are accessible to a small portion of the consuming public. Is DCI in the "kid" business or in the "return as much money as possible to the corps" business? The world of drum corps is not a closed system where only so much money is available and the argument is how it's to be divided. Corps can be returned more money if the focus is placed on getting kids involved instead of how to split up the existing pie. If something "radical" needs done, I'd suggest the least invasive procedure would be best first. Put the emphasis on getting kids to join Pio, Mandarins, Surf, Open Class, where they CAN make the cut, and the activity can grow organically, grow the size of the pie to split, and re-emphasize the importance of and satisfaction of marching a corps that doesn't necessarily come with a ring. Here is the reality... DCI confuses their own brand by mixing major and minor leagues together and pretending they are on the same level. There is also some need for an acceptance of reality when it comes to kids not only spending their time, but hard earned money on the drum corps experience. It actually costs more for kids to participate in Pioneer than Vanguard. Think about that for a second... a kid has to spend more to participate in Pioneer than one of the top corps out there. This is no slight to Pioneer, they do great stuff, but the type of experience is not exactly comparable... and many kids would rather save their money and practice for the next season. To pretend that kids are willing to spend the same amount of money to participate in Pioneer vs. Vanguard is disconnected from reality. If Pioneer were free, however, or even considerably less than the cost of top tier corps... then there is a valid argument there. Anyway, DCI is not the one that should put emphasis on getting kids to join other corps... those corps should do this. If kids don't go there it is the fault of those individual organizations, not DCI. DCI should focus on producing events and media.... period. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 danielray, unless you provide many more SPECIFICS, I can't buy the view Dan A. represents a problem for DCI. Until YOU, sir, can describe exactly what problem Dan presents, AND offer a better solution, you are nothing more than a "hit and run" artist, in my mind . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 (edited) ... I do not think that DCI can be fixed from within. There is no proposed solution that I have seen that is actually viable or that is anything more than simply a bandaid. ... The reality here is that the talent and experience required to maximize the potential of the DCI brand does not exist within the sphere of drum corps. Strange as it may seem, the people with the greatest opportunity to impact the future of the DCI brand have no connection to it. So, by that, I take it you have: 1) strongly counseled Hopkins, Gibbs, Fiedler, et al that they are incompetent (quote: "The reality here is that the talent and experience required to maximize the potential of the DCI brand does not exist within the sphere of drum corps"), and 2) also counseled them to get completely out of the business of producing events and media, and turn the entirety of the business side completely over to other people who do have, what did you write, oh yeah "... the talent and experience required to maximize the potential...". Edited February 22, 2013 by Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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