TOC/G7 Related Discussion

[danielray]

Now, danielray . . .

Put all the "cute" aside. What can this activity do to bring more people through the gates?

(seriously)

Lower the cost of tickets.

Generate additional revenue from non-drum corps sources (i've elaborated on this loads of times)... in order to return more money to the corps... with the goal of lowering the cost of participation... to get more talented kids participating that is sitting on the sidelines for financial reasons.... to increase the parity of corps top to bottom... to make it more competitive... to increase the level of interest.

Also, it is not about making more money from the gate, it is about revenue diversification. I've gone on and on about this. There is nothing new to say here.

[BRASSO]

Remember though, Beetlejuice also went Harvard;

Whenever someone informs me that they went to an Ivy League University, I do my level best to try and not hold this against them.

It probably was not their fault. They most likely were unduly influenced. So I provide them my silent sympathies and utmost respect for their unfortunate earlier circumstances.

Edited April 5, 2013 by BRASSO

[Fred Windish]

I certainly agree with lowering the cost of tickets! But, so far, I don't have a clear vision of the non-drum corps revenue sources that remain to you, untapped. I mean, drum corps presents for sale what it does. Unfortunately, not enough people are buying it. They're not stupid. It's just that what we now offer doesn't work for enough of them.

Are you saying typewriters can still be sold, but as something else, and to someone else? Sold in a different way, if only typewriter merchants understood how? With all due respect, danielray, you have NOT been specific enough for me. I have spent a career listening to theoretical solutions to various education problems. Sadly, the proposed solutions were never really specific enough for me to discover something new, nor demonstrated in actual practice. I had VERY little patience with most consultants who presented to me. Not enough meat on their bones.

Edited April 5, 2013 by Fred Windish

[kickhaltsforlife]

I am upset over the total disrespect and lack of mention of Toto. Seriously folks...

Edited April 6, 2013 by kickhaltsforlife

[Slingerland]

Put all the "cute" aside. What can this activity do to bring more people through the gates?

Be more interesting and less clique-ky.

The prices aren't the problem. The value is the problem. Too many corps don't seem to get that if you're appearing in front of people who paid $35-50 to see you, they deserve not just "a good try", but as close to a home run as you can deliver.

You can say "f__ the judges" as long as your alternative statement is " and make the people happy." But if you act like the ugly kid waiting for the hotty to invite you for a dance, and try to make the judges like you - at the expense of actually getting the audience interested in you - you're in a lose/lose position.

Edited April 6, 2013 by Slingerland

[Fred Windish]

Yes, I suppose it is about value. I can easily afford the price per ticket. I just choose not to spend the dollars. I suppose it's because I don't see enough value, don't see the same gain I once did. I realize this sounds terrible, but, I refuse to do things 'just because."

[Slingerland]

Yes, I suppose it is about value. I can easily afford the price per ticket. I just choose not to spend the dollars. I suppose it's because I don't see enough value, don't see the same gain I once did. I realize this sounds terrible, but, I refuse to do things 'just because."

And there's a truth that can't be written into any DCI rules. Growing the audience - and the money - is about the entertainment value. Not "feeling good" about supporting a youth activity, but feeling good because whoever was just on the field rocked your world.

Edited April 6, 2013 by Slingerland

[Fred Windish]

Right you are, Slingerland. The current product doesn't "jack-up" enough people. It misses that certain "mark" folks expect to reach in exchange for their dollars. We are selling tickets to something that strokes OUR being, but, that's just not enough to sustain what we do. We need OTHERS to buy-in. Buy-in to satisfy their needs, not just our needs. Mainstream works! Today's drum corps entertainment option is much too limited in appeal. We CAN be generic and perfect at the same time. Why are we rejecting this?

[Slingerland]

Mainstream works! Today's drum corps entertainment option is much too limited in appeal.

I'd actually disagree with the idea that something has to be mainstream to be popular.

"American Idol" is mainstream. It's also brain-dead.

"The Book of Mormon", on the other hand, is very much not mainstream - but it's selling out, because it's both smarter and more entertaining than anything else anyone has attempted in a B'way musical in the last ten or fifteen years ("Urinetown" was its closest competitor).

Drum corps can be entertaining without playing nothing but pop music or old Buddy Rich charts. It can also be entertaining WHILE playing pop music and Buddy Rich charts. In the end, you know how to create smart entertainment or you don't.

Edited April 6, 2013 by Slingerland

[Fred Windish]

To me, mainstream means whatever is most likely to sell to the greatest amount of potential customers. That could well be something as crudely named as Urinetown, so long as what people experience during their live Urinetown purchase provides what they hoped to receive for their dollars. I do get the "You're in Town" possibility.

Obviously, drum corps playing Happy Birthday to You won't cut it. Neither will drum corps playing what some staff member decides is a Bernstein chart, yet adapted to be better than what Bernstein already sold to the masses. Forget about it!

I believe basic music formulas that resonate to nearly everyone are out there to be included. We need more of those things. To me, there's a lot of junk coming out of today's corps. Junk of too limited appeal.