garfield Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 I was going to post this in the "surprises" thread before I realized that that thread is meant to be performance-related. So I'll say it here... My prediction is that, by the end of this season, the whole and entire split created by the G-7 will evaporate. It will be gone, and we'll be surprised at how quickly that "G-7" is consigned to the ash heap. It may be false hope, I admit, but with what I'm hearing I'm more optimistic about the future of the activity than I have been since May, 2010. Yes, there will be a continued push to pay attention to the top-12, but it won't be the top-7 specifically, and there will be a resurgence of cooperation towards the goal of growth. All the corps are going to recognize that that they all are important in their own way, and they're going to recommit to support each, regardless of their requirements. That won't include abandoning any corps. Sorry, Dan. You're predicting a major explosion if nothing drastic is done but I disagree. I don't think we have to look for drastic. My hunch is that the rift will be healed quietly, with out any bellicose obviousness. Those of us who pay attention will notice it, and the average fan will be none-the-wiser. I'm not saying that shows will be more entertaining or that judging sheets will be changed. I'm talking about the adults taking control of the activity with recognition that each has different needs and a willingness to support those needs under the commitment to continued growth. I'm calling it, and I'm out on a limb. But I'm calling it, for sure and certain. Thank God. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 I am hearing a similar message G. It seems that...gasp...a lot of the issues are universal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 actually WGI markets to all segments of it's auidence, not just kids. You think a lot of kids are plunking down $90 for a subscription to their fan network? I've been to Dayton for percussion. The kids tickets are off on the sides, or way up where the view is, IMO eh at best. Especially for World class events, you have far more kids out in the lot...during the lower classes, they are in the marketplace. i'm told from guard world it's pretty uch the same. Now sure, a good chunk of the crowd, especially the lower classes, is parents. but the crowd for World is definitely a lot of adults. a lot. You must have misunderstood my point. What I was getting at is sure WGI and DCI both market to adults, and adults are in the stands, and adults are on fan network. But an 'overwhelming', and I mean 'overwhelming' majority of those adults are those who currently have, or formerly had, skin in the game either by having a child, or are related or friends of a youth, currently involved; or they themselves were formerly involved in their own youth. WGI is even more obscure the general uninitiated public adults than DCI. A typical non-DCI non-WGI affiliated Joe and Jane from XYZ town who have never heard of the activity, but are introduced via any marketing campaign, are more than likely not going to spend money to travel to Championships, spend money on a few nights motel, plunk down money for the tickets, spend money on the Fan Network, whether it is DCI or WGI; heck, the typical Joe and Jane would probably not even spend the money to go to a local area regional. Only those adults who have, or had, skin in the game are that interested to spend money on such a narrow niche; that was, and is, my point. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 You must have misunderstood my point. What I was getting at is sure WGI and DCI both market to adults, and adults are in the stands, and adults are on fan network. But an 'overwhelming', and I mean 'overwhelming' majority of those adults are those who currently have, or formerly had, skin in the game either by having a child, or are related or friends of a youth, currently involved; or they themselves were formerly involved in their own youth. WGI is even more obscure the general uninitiated public adults than DCI. A typical non-DCI non-WGI affiliated Joe and Jane from XYZ town who have never heard of the activity, but are introduced via any marketing campaign, are more than likely not going to spend money to travel to Championships, spend money on a few nights motel, plunk down money for the tickets, spend money on the Fan Network, whether it is DCI or WGI; heck, the typical Joe and Jane would probably not even spend the money to go to a local area regional. Only those adults who have, or had, skin in the game are that interested to spend money on such a narrow niche; that was, and is, my point. honestly, IMO, DCI does far less to market to adults. Where WGI is brialliant is they know they are a niche within a niche. They don't try to fill up massive arenas that hold 20,000 people. Dayton holds what...10K tops? but WGI, IMO has been on the forefront of how to make the Fan network work for them. They show every single units' performance championships week, live.Prelims, semis, finals. It doesn't hurt attendance. Where WGi is also brilliant is they let the local circuits bring in the Joes and Janes. get em hooked at a TIA show, or a MAIN show, or SCPA. If they get so hooked from there, odds are they get the fan network before they travel to Dayton, unless they have a major regional nearby. DCI could learn a lot from how WGI markets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PunkRawkBandGeek Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 And where do you propose it go in Chicago? I've more than once laid out the reasons Soldier Field would be a negative experience...from traffic, to the prohibitive cost of labor compared to other cities, to the much larger problem with housing sites outside the city and the time it would take to get into Soldier Field (and why no corps would want to stay in Chicago itself), to the fact that Soldier Field is the smallest stadium in the NFL. Chicago is just not viable. I'm with you all the way there, Boo, but even so... I can't help but wonder what kind of acoustic environment it would yield. Something tells me it would be fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted April 9, 2013 Author Share Posted April 9, 2013 There are many corps that struggle to recruit top talent do to their geography, etc. Some of these have tried to remedy this by holding rehearsals and camps in other locations (Bluestars, Troopers, for example). The smarter thing would be to farm local talent from a much younger age. Well, you suggested they establish rehearsal bases near major airports. Is that no longer your advice? If corps were training kids in their feeder programs that ended up going to other corps... wouldn't the smarter thing be to not kill the feeder, but to examine why kids would want to leave and then fix those issues to result in increased retention? Okay, how about we try that? Here are the reasons that come to my mind. Some kids still cannot make the parent corps after any amount of feeder corps experience because their parent corps is a perennial top corps and a magnet for worldwide talent in our increasingly mobile world. Hundreds of kids from virtually all other corps (even a few other finalists) audition for the parent corps annually, knowing they are guaranteed another season of top ranking because placements never change much from year to year anymore. The parent corps prefers to take kids with prior world class experience for a number of reasons already cited in this thread. How do you fix that? a. Take the parent corps down to where they are in and out of top 12, and thus no longer a magnet for worldwide talent? b. Have the BOD of the parent corps mandate restriction of recruiting to a more local area? c. Bring back release rules? d. Push the feeder corps up into world class? Okay, another scenario. Feeder corps member decides to major in music education, and wants to learn from several esteemed instructors, so they decide to march with a different corps in each of their summers off from college. How do we fix that? Hire different staff each season? The "clinician" approach Academy took in their division II years comes to mind, and it must have been a nice educational experience, but to achieve world class performance levels requires greater staff continuity. Another one - sometimes, families have to move out of the area due to job changes. How would you fix that? It is so easy to frame all member departures as a failing of the corps, and suggest they "fix" it somehow. Not so easy to specify how. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 honestly, IMO, DCI does far less to market to adults. Where WGI is brialliant is they know they are a niche within a niche. They don't try to fill up massive arenas that hold 20,000 people. Dayton holds what...10K tops? but WGI, IMO has been on the forefront of how to make the Fan network work for them. They show every single units' performance championships week, live.Prelims, semis, finals. It doesn't hurt attendance. Where WGi is also brilliant is they let the local circuits bring in the Joes and Janes. get em hooked at a TIA show, or a MAIN show, or SCPA. If they get so hooked from there, odds are they get the fan network before they travel to Dayton, unless they have a major regional nearby. DCI could learn a lot from how WGI markets > Where WGI is brialliant is they know they are a niche within a niche. They don't try to fill up massive arenas... That was, and is, my point!! Now if we can just open the eyes of Danielray, Slingerland, and the others who have the obtuse disillusion of appealing to a massive stadium filling audience for DCI then we can get to discussing realistic ways to save DCI from implosion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 My prediction is that, by the end of this season, the whole and entire split created by the G-7 will evaporate. It will be gone, and we'll be surprised at how quickly that "G-7" is consigned to the ash heap. It may be false hope, I admit, but with what I'm hearing I'm more optimistic about the future of the activity than I have been since May, 2010. It sure would be good to see this prediction comes through, so I hope you are right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 I'm with you all the way there, Boo, but even so... I can't help but wonder what kind of acoustic environment it would yield. Something tells me it would be fantastic. While I've driven past it easily over a hundred times, I've never been inside of it. I wonder if one would be aware of the traffic noise on Lake Shore Drive, which is just yards away fro the concert side. As for incredible acoustic environments, it takes a lot to impress me since I've been to the Berry Center just outside Houston. The sound of drum corps in that place is like putting on a set of great headphones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 > Where WGI is brialliant is they know they are a niche within a niche. They don't try to fill up massive arenas... That was, and is, my point!! Now if we can just open the eyes of Danielray, Slingerland, and the others who have the obtuse disillusion of appealing to a massive stadium filling audience for DCI then we can get to discussing realistic ways to save DCI from implosion. I think we can grow the audience. but i think doing it Dan's way will kill off the diehards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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