cixelsyd Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 DCI shouldn't exist to be any corps' mom. My view these days is leaning more toward letting corps fail. So even though your hair is still smoldering from that earlier post, when someone suggests reviewing the sustainability of a given corps before sending them on tour, you are opposed and prefer to let the corps go on the road and fail there, like Teal Sound. How is that preferable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobrien Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 (edited) ...when someone suggests reviewing the sustainability of a given corps before sending them on tour, you are opposed and prefer to let the corps go on the road and fail there, like Teal Sound. No one should have been surprised by that situation. Edited February 21, 2013 by mobrien 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Let them fail. Replace them with new ones that are built from zero based on best practices, with well-trained management and proper boards. Part of the reason why it is acceptable for organizations to be so poorly run is that there is an emotional or sentimental attachment. It is better to shift the mindset to something a bit more like a sports franchise where it can move or change names or be shut down or replaced. Quality of experience (for both participant and audience) is far more important than one the name of the group was or what color they were wearing or what city they were from or what quirky traditions they might have had. 3 months of eating well and being treated as a professional trumps decades of history. Which leaves me even more perplexed, trying to reconcile that with your suggestion that we let corps fail mid-tour, stranding kids in faraway states on random weeknights. Your idea of recruiting and training new corps managers has some merit. How do we make that happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Look, if there really is a massive demand out there for kids to participate in drum corps and for people to sit through a show with loads and loads of corps... new corps will spring up to replace those that fail. The situation will solve itself. In theory, yes. In practice, not that simple. Right now, the fact that some corps out there struggle to fill their lines and stadiums aren't exactly filled to capacity, suggests that supply of drum corps is greater than demand for the product in current form. And the fact that some other corps turn hundreds of kids away at auditions suggests the exact opposite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Word is that DCI did assign someone to review Teal Sound prior to last summer's tour, and the recommendation was that they not be allowed on the road. The recommendation was ignored. Really? That is the first I have heard of this. If true, it suggests that DCI makes the right recommendations. How those recommendations should be acted on is up for discussion, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobrien Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 (edited) And the fact that some other corps turn hundreds of kids away at auditions suggests the exact opposite. Not at all. Those kids who don't make the cut are often opting to sit out of marching altogether rather than marching at a corps that doesn't really do that much to excite them. The costs of membership in most of the World Class corps are relatively similar, unlike universities, where the price difference between Harvard and a much-less impressive school might be 50% or more. In a sane world, marching at a corps that's less competitive would be a lot cheaper than marching at a Top 6 corps, but it's not really the case. That being true, it's a disincentive for those who want to march to shift their sights down a little in the rankings if they fail to make the cut at BD or PR. Edited February 20, 2013 by mobrien Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Anyone who thinks DCI is doing "exceptionally well" at a time when they are only drawing 16,000 to Finals and returning to the drum corps a fraction of the corps' overall expenses in producing the product DCI sells is delusional. I see. DCI is keeping their head above water, barely. They have more mouths at their teats than they have resources to provide, and there's very little organizational focus on growing the audience past the existing moms and dads in the stands. There are no major corporate sponsors for the tour. DCI has lots of corporate sponsors. But I guess by "major" sponsor, you mean one that will put up seven figures to underwrite the cost of the tour? Now that would be delusional, as you say. If a major corporate sponsor was such a possibility, the Music in Motion, Inc. people would have signed one and we would be eagerly awaiting their 2013 tour. The judging system is designed to allow a relatively small coterie of judges and designers to form mutual admiration societies that make moving up the competitive ranks almost completely impossible (that's not to say that the top corps aren't also the most accomplished in terms of design and instruction, but that in the visual and guard captions, especially, if you're not in "the club", your work is less likely to be rewarded fairly). My comment about DCI doing well was in a financial context. I agree that judging is an area where change would be welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Not at all. Those kids who don't make the cut are often opting to sit out of marching altogether rather than marching at a corps that doesn't really do that much to excite them. Why do you assume that if a kid does not march elsewhere, that no other corps excites them? Maybe they lack the means to travel to a more distant corps. Maybe they try for other corps and again fail to make the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 (edited) Word is that DCI did assign someone to review Teal Sound prior to last summer's tour, and the recommendation was that they not be allowed on the road. The recommendation was ignored. *Most accurate info... DCI assigned someone to review Teal Sound prior to 'during' last summer's tour after it was discovered by DCI that Teal was in very deep ca-ca; DCI even attempted to help get the kids home, and the recommendation was that they not be allowed 'to continue' on the road. The recommendation resulted in Teal leaving tour and going home with help from DCI. Edited February 20, 2013 by Stu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 *Most accurate info... DCI assigned someone to review Teal Sound prior to 'during' last summer's tour after it was discovered by DCI that Teal was in very deep ca-ca; DCI even attempted to help get the kids home, and the recommendation was that they not be allowed 'to continue' on the road. The recommendation resulted in Teal leaving tour and going home with help from DCI. Yea, you're not right either. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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