danielray Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 The Hitler card has been played, so I'm not sure there's anywhere for this conversation to go but up. Godwin's Law in action. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 If Hop, Gibbs, D-Ray, Slingerland, et al want to believe the drum corps activity can 'go to the next level' in the world of commercial pop entertainment and start competing with the big names within the commercial pop entertainment industry then I say take the G7/MiM and go have at it. However, my contention is that while updates and upgrades are occasionally needed to keep up with technology, no matter how much lipstick, make-up, and short skirt you put on the lady to make her commercially appealing in the main-stream pop culture, when the skirt flies up, and a marketing ploy such as a wardrobe malfunction occurs, she will still be shown as the 70 plus year old lady she actually is. So, why not continue to present her with a sense of class and respect similar to centuries old symphonic orchestras. These orchestras may not bring in the year-to-year revenue that Lady Ga Ga currently does, but I guarantee you that 200 years from now those orchestras will still be performing Mozart and Beethoven while the memory of Ga Ga will only appear in the archives of a collection of publications somewhere in cyberspace. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Godwin's Law in action. And the least you could do is be honest enough to acknowledge that you started us down that road by bringing in the word Dictator to the discourse within this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 If Hop, Gibbs, D-Ray, Slingerland, et al You are somehow thinking that Dave and George are some giddy couple that finish each other's sentences. They're not really all that aligned on quite a lot of things... just on a few. I'm also not fully aligned with either and my opinions DEFINITELY do not reflect theirs or anyone associated with their organizations. Not even close. My views are simply my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slingerland Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 (edited) It is just not accurate to point to an organization whose revenue is growing at the rate DCI is (in this economy), and say they are "stuck in the mud". The only thing that matters is the amount of money DCI can disburse to the corps, since that's their primary purpose, as an organization (all the mission statement fol de rol notwithstanding). Is that number going up significantly these days? If they show another $1m in revenues but their expenses are up by the same $1m, and those additional expenses aren't shown as money that was paid out to the product makers, it's not really "growth" except in numeric terms. The Finals audience has settled in at 15-17,000 - better than Miami in '83, but not exactly stellar, Go ahead and discount Finals attendance as an important metric, but do so knowing that you mean you don't understand the idea of maximizing opportunities, since there are NO other nights of the year when DCI can realize so much extra money as they could by selling another 10,000 seats to Finals. Wanna guess how much more money DCI could distribute to each WC corps if they sold those extra seats? $25,000 each corps - for an additional expense to DCI of exactly $0 in stadium costs. Has there been a study commissioned to find out why more people aren't going to Indy? Has it been done and the organization decided to ignore the results? I don't look at a C student and think they're achieving all they can if I know for a fact that they could be getting Bs or As with a better attitude and a better approach. But believing that this is as good as it can get in drum corps is a big part of the problem with where things are now. Edited March 19, 2013 by Slingerland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 (edited) Here's what I see . . . Policies out of Washington have created the most challenging environment for drum corps seen during our lifetimes. I mean, we have extended high unemployment, stagnant wages, additional taxation, rising costs for food, shelter, travel, healthcare, utilities, and a general uncertainty about the future. Discretionary income is low for most everyone, including the corps. People WILL cut back simply to keep their heads above water. You can deny some of this, but the real elephant in the room is our current economy. Not show design, instrumentation, and judging. I'm afraid this will all become move obvious in just a few months. Everyone needs to adjust and simply hold on. Hold on for better days, really. No Dan Acheson, George Hopkins, or danielrays can correct what this activity is up against. We all CAN adjust, just not eliminate these pressures. Unfortunately, that should mean cut back and preserve what one has. Cut usual expenses, put off new purchases, downsize, etc. We can tweak things, but that's about it. Not necessarily bad, just not real effective. This isn't time to get cute, just hope to ride this all out, TOGETHER. No Superman is coming to save drum corps. Thoughts? Edited March 19, 2013 by Fred Windish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 You are somehow thinking that Dave and George are some giddy couple that finish each other's sentences. They're not really all that aligned on quite a lot of things... just on a few. I'm also not fully aligned with either and my opinions DEFINITELY do not reflect theirs or anyone associated with their organizations. Not even close. My views are simply my own. Ya also have some wonderful swamp land for sale besides all of that snake oil and wrist watches, don't ya!! By the way, the image of Hop and Gibbs as a 'giddy couple' you just placed forever in my skull is rather funny albeit frightening; thanks!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Policies out of Washington... Please do not get this thread shut down due to 'political' banter, please, please, please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickhaltsforlife Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Why not? Only a handful of posts were actually worthwhile in this thread to read... other than that this thread is pretty much the same as the thread that was closed before this one... Seriously.. can't wait until the season. I'm tired of this political bull #### and just want to watch some drum corps. Yeah... this stuff is serious business.. but I don't see anything serious going on to actually fix the issues of DCI.. which the biggest problem is the egomaniacs running our most recent competitively successful corps... And do you know what? As much as I'm not fan of some corps and their directors... I sure as hell cannot wait to see what they put on the field this year. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 You are, of course, 'assuming' that Hop is not the All Powerful Dictator Commish!!! Honestly...he may have some of the ideas, but I think he's thrown out in front to be the mouthpiece many times because he's good at taking the ####. He's the CM Punk of DCI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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