MikeN Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Honestly? I think, yes, WGI-esque "jammies" are the future, and the near future at that. They're not that expensive, relatively, especially when part of the cost is shifted to the members, and the "wow" factor/potential is much higher than the traditional uniforms. Have to say, I thought BD looked pretty danged awesome at the start of their show last year, and was actually disappointed that they covered up as it went along. And using BD as an example, why should they (using traditional jackets) be locked into a blue color palette each year? Or blue + (whatever the guard is wearing). Allowing diversification in color would make the drill stand out in even sharper relief in some cases, and create some really neat visual tricks. Mike 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 (edited) Honestly? I think, yes, WGI-esque "jammies" are the future, and the near future at that. They're not that expensive, relatively, especially when part of the cost is shifted to the members, and the "wow" factor/potential is much higher than the traditional uniforms. Have to say, I thought BD looked pretty danged awesome at the start of their show last year, and was actually disappointed that they covered up as it went along. And using BD as an example, why should they (using traditional jackets) be locked into a blue color palette each year? Or blue + (whatever the guard is wearing). Allowing diversification in color would make the drill stand out in even sharper relief in some cases, and create some really neat visual tricks. Mike All of this probably needs to be viewed in the context of just who do we envision our fruture audience growth is primarily going to come from. If its the WGI- Marching Band realm then the " WGI- esque Jammies " costumes that you are referring to most likely will not be all that problematic with this demographic. On the other hand, if the goal is to reach out more to the general public, then I'm not so sure that this " WGI Jammies " look is going to reverse the loss of audience numbers, and turn it around so that we get more audience growth. Also, the music and visual shows of the future probably also need to be viewed in this context also, ie... who is our future " customer " that we can turn into a long time repeat " customer ", ie a " fan ". Edited April 23, 2013 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Good point. Right now, DCI's customer are DCI performers, their parents, and high school band students that will be impressed by high-quality versions of what they're already doing. I don't think that's a revelation; they've been pretty open about it for years. Of course, the retention rate of turning FMM's into fans is really, *really* low right now - and I have no real idea why that is. Maybe because with an average time of 1.5 years in WC (from DCI's own statistics), there's not enough time to build strong ties between a marcher and an organization? Again, I'm purely speculating here. Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Haven't read the entire thread, so I don't know if it's been mentioned but on the DCA side, I believe the Sunrisers dressed in costume for their 2011 Les Mis show and brought favorable attention from the judges. Yes, they did. And they generated quite a bit of buzz on the DCA side for doing so. Honestly, it was a tough sell initially for some of the Sunrisers alumni. I was among the alumni skeptics at first... "what... no orange and blue????" (The corps' colors.) But the more I thought about it, and then when I saw the corps that summer, I realized the "full corps in costume" thing was a great idea, at least in my opinion!!! However, I'm not sure it was a complete home run as far as the judges were concerned. I know at least one visual judge didn't care for it, at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 (edited) And yes... from what I understand, the Les Mis costuming cost Sun less money than if they had purchased a full set of "traditional" uniforms that summer. Of course, that probably wouldn't always be the case for all corps, especially if a given corps decides to go with really elaborate costuming. Perhaps that's how decisions like this need to be handled... on a "bang for the buck" basis. Edited April 23, 2013 by Fran Haring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Yes, they did. And they generated quite a bit of buzz on the DCA side for doing so. Honestly, it was a tough sell initially for some of the Sunrisers alumni. I was among the alumni skeptics at first... "what... no orange and blue????" (The corps' colors.) But the more I thought about it, and then when I saw the corps that summer, I realized the "full corps in costume" thing was a great idea, at least in my opinion!!! However, I'm not sure it was a complete home run as far as the judges were concerned. I know at least one visual judge didn't care for it, at all. Surf's "School's Out" show, and the next year their Elvis Vegas show when they were in Div II were memorable for corps of ANY divsion. "School's Out" was one of my favorites of the summer of any corps. Both shows done in full costume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 (edited) Good point. Right now, DCI's customer are DCI performers, their parents, and high school band students that will be impressed by high-quality versions of what they're already doing. I don't think that's a revelation; they've been pretty open about it for years. Of course, the retention rate of turning FMM's into fans is really, *really* low right now - and I have no real idea why that is. Maybe because with an average time of 1.5 years in WC (from DCI's own statistics), there's not enough time to build strong ties between a marcher and an organization? Again, I'm purely speculating here. Mike I believe your " speculation " probably is close to what is probably happening, MikeN. DCI drum Corps is probably seen as a good 1-3 year investment and training ground that looks good on a future resume if one is a Music Major hoping to one day work in the school's Music Dept's, especially the High School and College environment including their school's Bands. This is perfectly understandable too as a reason for participation. This is quite different however where in previous eras participation in Drum Corps was not primarily seen by most marchers as something that would have future tangible career implications ( except of course the intangible benefits derived that would have " pay offs " re. time management skills, teamwork skills, discipline, and so forth, no matter the career path ). DCI Drum Corps will need the current marchers to remain in the activity in larger numbers in future years as either volunteers or spectator fans for the activity to survive financially. Edited April 23, 2013 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 I can only assume people have been having this conversation since drum corps started, and I don't think it's ever going to go away. People will always think that drum corps in their era is better than everyone else's. Guess people can either grow up and still support the corps of today, or find a different hobby? I still find drum corps entertaining, but I've only been around it for 10 years now. Maybe after 40 I'll feel different, but I still know it's a bunch of kids performing for adults and kids in the stands. Maybe that's what is the most important, not just what we individually want? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 (edited) I can only assume people have been having this conversation since drum corps started, and I don't think it's ever going to go away. Yes, people did have this conversation since Drum Corps started.... just a lot more of them were having these discussions. The focus now however is not on having this conversation and whether or not the " conversation " may or may not go away. The focus now is what can DCI do now to prevent the "activity " itself from going away. There was always " conversation " in previous era's, especially in the 60's, 70's on whether or not fans liked the rapid and wholesale changes taking place. Some did. Some did not. But the " conversation " rarely focused on the fact that the activity would cease to exist altogether if we continued on the current path. What is different about today's " conversation " is that among fans and now Corps themselves, we ARE having this serious " conversation " about what the activity needs to do to survive now. Thats the stage we now have arrived at. This " conversation revolving around literal survival is long overdue according to many, and " change " needs to happen now I think we all agree. What Changes are needed to attempt to save the activity is what this thread " conversation" is now all about. Edited April 24, 2013 by BRASSO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 Of course, the retention rate of turning FMM's into fans is really, *really* low right now - and I have no real idea why that is. Maybe because with an average time of 1.5 years in WC (from DCI's own statistics), there's not enough time to build strong ties between a marcher and an organization? Again, I'm purely speculating here. Mike Is it? Is there clear cut data that definitively (since you use the verbiage "of course," implying that its obvious) states this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.