Jeff Ream Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 DCI programming is not the issue..... the money in DCI is not increasing the number of adult members in the audience, but increase the connections with youth. The money is in youth sponsors. For youth, the programming is not broken, just a bit behind the times in comparison to other marching music activities. programming is an issue. You can load up with kids, but those kids have a short shelf life. Adults who stick around will spend a lot, can travel to more events that cost more etc. DCI has been trying the kids first thing since what....97? What has it gotten them? Kids can't afford the big bucks shows ( unless DCi gives discounts, which cuts into profit) and there's fewer and fewer shows for kids to go to nationwide.You have to have a balance. If you want your company to be stable, you have to RETAIN as you add. DCI adds, but it's barely replacing what left 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Then you'll see a group of corps - more than 7, no doubt - who'll decide that they don't want to be stuck on a ship that is going down, and they'll create something new to take DCI's place. The status quo really isn't an option, and neither is "growing" an audience from 25,000 at Finals to 15,000 at Finals, and sticking the suckers who show up with higher ticket prices to make up for the difference in sales volume. BTW, the cost per corps, if you divvy up by 40, would only be $5k each to bring in a director who could bring with him the contacts that help make selling and creating new markets for drum corps a reality. The current salaries would be deducted from any additional expense. Only some drum corps people would find the idea of spending an additional $200k in order to increase gross revenues by $4 or 5 million to be a bad investment. But businesses ARE the the people who work there; their ideas, their work, their managerial ability. Failing to invest enough to bring in the best people for the needs at hand is the type of mistake you don't get to make too often. the problem is....they sunk their own ship. They refuse to look back at what has and hasn't worked, they just charge ahead continuing to claim "change is good". Hell 7 of them tried to take over in a coup de tat, and in their own declaration of Godliness, they themselves admitted they don't have the answers to right the ship they punched a hole in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Does anyone here have or know where I can get a copy of the current DCI bylaws? This would answer many questions for me, including how to respond to the idea of selling the assets to a private enterprise. In addition DCI's own decision to disband and distribute its assets, there are federal and state laws governing dissolution and distribution of non-profit assets. These are generally found in bylaws. These regulations are made in the interest of the organization, as opposed to any individual or group of individuals, and the governmental bodies that grant organizations non-profit status. you can't even get their rulebook or sheets without an inside source 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickhaltsforlife Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Does anyone here have or know where I can get a copy of the current DCI bylaws? This would answer many questions for me, including how to respond to the idea of selling the assets to a private enterprise. In addition DCI's own decision to disband and distribute its assets, there are federal and state laws governing dissolution and distribution of non-profit assets. These are generally found in bylaws. These regulations are made in the interest of the organization, as opposed to any individual or group of individuals, and the governmental bodies that grant organizations non-profit status. Good luck with this one!! I think people have tried before. Supposedly you might be able to call and order a copy? Not sure though. I'd love to read the bylaws myself. I seriously don't get what the big secret is with DCI. That is the whole problem with everything. It's a big ####### secret. Seriosuly.. you could forget what DCI is in the off season sometimes... I know I forget some corps exist... only reason I know DCI still exists is because they update their facebook everyday with pointless ####.. and every once in a while a cool 1 minute video clip of a random show with a random corps that doesn't exist anymore! Whatever.. I digress. Half of the fans of DCI probably have no clue at all about the TOC/G7 drama.. and don't realize that DCI could be gone after this year. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 programming is an issue. You can load up with kids, but those kids have a short shelf life. Adults who stick around will spend a lot, can travel to more events that cost more etc. DCI has been trying the kids first thing since what....97? What has it gotten them? Kids can't afford the big bucks shows ( unless DCi gives discounts, which cuts into profit) and there's fewer and fewer shows for kids to go to nationwide.You have to have a balance. If you want your company to be stable, you have to RETAIN as you add. DCI adds, but it's barely replacing what left I keep trying to explain this point... but here it goes again... The money is not really in show revenue. It is in sponsorship... and... additional events (corporate and mainstream) that are produced by DCI as a year-round for-profit events company that funnels these additional profits back into distributing to individual corps. The most financially stable drum corps out there get most of their revenue from other sources that have absolutely nothing to do with drum corps, ticket sales, donations, etc. There is no money in the drum corps performance, but there is money in DCI as both a brand and channel, and in DCI as a diverse events company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 I keep trying to explain this point... but here it goes again... The money is not really in show revenue. It is in sponsorship... and... additional events (corporate and mainstream) that are produced by DCI as a year-round for-profit events company that funnels these additional profits back into distributing to individual corps. The most financially stable drum corps out there get most of their revenue from other sources that have absolutely nothing to do with drum corps, ticket sales, donations, etc. There is no money in the drum corps performance, but there is money in DCI as both a brand and channel, and in DCI as a diverse events company. What sort of "corporate and mainstream" events do you envision will be available in the off-season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 I keep trying to explain this point... but here it goes again... The money is not really in show revenue. It is in sponsorship... and... additional events (corporate and mainstream) that are produced by DCI as a year-round for-profit events company that funnels these additional profits back into distributing to individual corps. The most financially stable drum corps out there get most of their revenue from other sources that have absolutely nothing to do with drum corps, ticket sales, donations, etc. There is no money in the drum corps performance, but there is money in DCI as both a brand and channel, and in DCI as a diverse events company. yes, the money is in sponsorship....if people watch. constantly turning over your audience doesn't help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 yes, the money is in sponsorship....if people watch. constantly turning over your audience doesn't help. It is about sponsoring events that other kids watch.... not about adult fans. They are not as valuable to sponsors as youth. Youth are VERY tough to get and DCI has a very solid and unique segment of the youth market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) What sort of "corporate and mainstream" events do you envision will be available in the off-season? Things like Beyonce concerts.... monster truck pulls... whatever sort of stadium or arena events you could imagine. On the corporate side... you name it... anything that occurs in a convention center, arena, whatever. DCI has experience running large scale stadium events. Absolutely pointless to use this only for drum corps events, where there is no money. Edited March 21, 2013 by danielray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 The present Board members (some of whom are no doubt reading this thread) will have to acknowledge that none of them have the ability to be that guy (if they did, they'd be CEOs at $30m organizations, and not running $1m drum corps), and commit the organization to professionalizing at the top in a way that hasn't been done yet. And the member corps will have to be willing to accept that if they brought in an outside eye from the world of sports or event marketing, that she or he would likely want to make some changes in product that would take some elements of the product control out of the hands of the corps directors and their staffs. There's room for growth here, but it's going to require the current leadership of the corps and of DCI themselves to realize that they're going to need to commit resources to getting the type of league management who's not going to be afraid to push the corps to be more marketable than they are now. Can't disagree with any of this - it's really common sense. However, Mr. Hopkins thinks of himself as a business and marketing guru, and he has the college course credits to prove it. The other directors, for years, placed their faith in him to lead the activity, and he is one of their own, purportedly keenly aware of what drum corps of all stripes need to survive and thrive. I'm sure you'll understand and appreciate the apprehension on the part of the directors in accepting the guidance of someone from the outside. Sure, I agree with you that it must be done, but you're asking member corps to vote to remove themselves from the process and blindly follow someone from the "outside". What is the approach to them to give them the confidence that the next guy (or team) who brings proposals, controversial or not, are trustworthy in a way NOT like the G7 leaders? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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