Fred Windish Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 (edited) With gas prices as high as they currently are, and given historical evidence that prices will rise much more for the summer driving season, we could be looking at $3.90-$4.00 per gallon on the East Coast, more than $5.00 on the West Coast. Question . . . Are you planning to travel LESS to enjoy drum corps shows in person this summer? I am. A 200 mile round trip will cost AT LEAST $40 for gasoline. One hundred ($100) considering IRS guidelines. Add in admission tickets, tolls, snacks, etc., and a fellow and his wife/gal attending a regular weekend drum corps show will run at least $150. Or, one needs to earn nearly $200 (before taxes) to cover such a trip. Bring on pay-per-view! Edited February 21, 2013 by Fred Windish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Tell you if and when we get this fiscal cliff thing resolved..... s/ guy who works for Dept of Defense and looking at an unpaid day off every two weeks starting in a month or so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Not only the fans attending shows... but I can't even imagine what it costs a corps... whether it's a DCI touring corps or a DCA weekend corps... in fuel money to move those corps for the summer. I do wonder if this entire activity has a shelf life. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickhaltsforlife Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Diesel prices are crazy. And corps are super sizing while they should have been down sizing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 There will always be money for the things most important to each person. If it gets to the point that going to more than one drum corps show is taking away money from basic necessities, (which includes going to drum corps shows for many of us), then difficult choices will have to be made. I just read where gas prices might be between $4 and $5 a gallon this summer. If that were to occur, I suspect some drum corps fans who have to travel far to get to shows might have to make such a difficult decision and decide to pay the rent instead. With the economic challenges we appear to possibly be facing, now is the time for all corps to come together to keep all the units alive...not the time to go off on their own and leave most others to founder for themselves. This is what I hope will be the legacy of some of the discussions going on now...that there are results we haven't considered yet and that ultimately, a new model is discovered that benefits ALL. But I'm also hoping to find a unicorn in my mailbox, so what do I know? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 There will always be money for the things most important to each person. If it gets to the point that going to more than one drum corps show is taking away money from basic necessities, (which includes going to drum corps shows for many of us), then difficult choices will have to be made. I just read where gas prices might be between $4 and $5 a gallon this summer. If that were to occur, I suspect some drum corps fans who have to travel far to get to shows might have to make such a difficult decision and decide to pay the rent instead. With the economic challenges we appear to possibly be facing, now is the time for all corps to come together to keep all the units alive...not the time to go off on their own and leave most others to founder for themselves. This is what I hope will be the legacy of some of the discussions going on now...that there are results we haven't considered yet and that ultimately, a new model is discovered that benefits ALL. But I'm also hoping to find a unicorn in my mailbox, so what do I know? :thumbup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted February 21, 2013 Author Share Posted February 21, 2013 Michael, thanks for your reply. In my mind, this situation might NOT be about paying rent, but in determining value. In other words, does attending a drum corps event 400 miles away still have the same value it once did? Value meaning best use of funds per unit. I happen to be financially comfortable, but I am careful about how I spend. I assess purchases by current value, not habit or tradition. There IS a line out there, even for someone like me. I'm afraid the coming season will be adversely affected by the cost of travel, more so than last year. My hope is, by proposing this question now, we gain information helpful in understanding what's ahead for this activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quad Aces Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 With gas prices as high as they currently are, and given historical evidence that prices will rise much more for the summer driving season, we could be looking at $3.90-$4.00 per gallon on the East Coast, more than $5.00 on the West Coast. Question . . . Are you planning to travel LESS to enjoy drum corps shows in person this summer? I am. A 200 mile round trip will cost AT LEAST $40 for gasoline. One hundred ($100) considering IRS guidelines. Add in admission tickets, tolls, snacks, etc., and a fellow and his wife/gal attending a regular weekend drum corps show will run at least $150. Or, one needs to earn nearly $200 (before taxes) to cover such a trip. Bring on pay-per-view! Question: Is this the same type of drum corps trip that you normally would make each year? If so, the potential increase in gas money is only around $5 - $10 total (if you assume that gas last summer was around $3.00 - $3.50 per gallon, which is probably safe to assume). Is an increase of only $5 - $10 total in gas compared to last year enough to keep you from attending a show? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TESB Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 (edited) Not only the fans attending shows... but I can't even imagine what it costs a corps... whether it's a DCI touring corps or a DCA weekend corps... in fuel money to move those corps for the summer. I do wonder if this entire activity has a shelf life. Idk why this is getting negative votes, this is probably the most realistic scenario. If anything kills the activity as we know it (a bunch of kids and staff and millions worth of equipment going on a near two month multi million dollar cross country tour on buses and trucks) it will be largely due to the financial limitations of transportation. Posts with rallying cries for fans not attending shows and threatening DCI with financial ruin because BD wins too much get plenty of up votes but don't make any sense. Pointless blue red, makers takers politicking aside, usable oil won't be around forever (or even sooner, cheap enough gas won't be around such that corps can feasibly travel like they do without extravagant tour fees) and we'll never be able to replicate the capacity to which we depend on fossil fuels for transportation with alternative fuels, none of that is controversial. I'm not saying corps will die, corps will probably always be around for kids, but the activity as we've become accustomed to it probably has a shelf life. If anything, the long term effect could be the localization of corps that do minimal travelling and we could see numbers of corps like we did in the 60s and 70s. Thinking aloud, but the only way I could imagine corps getting around like they do now when gas becomes unrealistically expensive is by rail, which is how entertaining groups got around before automobiles got the monopoly on primary transportation. That depends on a lot of things like getting to a point where the rail infrastructure could support such ventures. But above all, I think it's undeniable the activity has a shelf life like anything and DCI won't die because you don't like the Blue Devils. Cherish it while it's still here because you never know when we'll get to the point where people coming into the activity now won't be able to put their kids through the same system as they went through. Edited February 21, 2013 by TESB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted February 21, 2013 Author Share Posted February 21, 2013 (edited) Is an increase of only $5 - $10 total in gas compared to last year enough to keep you from attending a show? Excellent question, Quad Aces! My answer is yes. I draw lines. The gas increase, together with current inflated prices of everything else related to such a trip combines to bring that line closer. If inflation continues, and I believe it will due to government's behavior, another $10-20 will be added to the same trip next year. Maybe another $10-20 the following year, etc. I should note, we no longer attend Broadway shows as we once did 3-4 times per year. From where I live, transportation to the city, ticket pricing, service charges, etc. make going to Broadway (for 2 people) a $500-600 expense. This for a 2 hour, 30 minute pleasure? Not in today's world. Edited February 21, 2013 by Fred Windish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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