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stop the corps folding


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First don't put words in my mouth. I never said the moniker was not intended to evoke sports. I said it was a MARKETING slogan not a literal description of the activity.

As for why...

Because when marketing an unfamiliar product to a new audience, you attempt to link your widget to a high quality product they ARE familiar with. Do I really need to explain the marketing value of using "Major League" in the slogan? doh.gif Just as Major League baseball players are the very best at what they do, so too "Major League" marching musicians in the DCI are the best at what they do. The fact the the relationship hinges on that single fact (and that DCI and MLB share virtually nothing else in common) proves that this is commercial language.

I have no idea what possessed the decision makers at DCI choose ESPN. Perhaps they saw all the ridiculous "sports" with which the network filled their air time. Perhaps someone's brother's cousin's in-law worked for the network. Perhaps they thought ESPNs target demographic aligned with DCI's. No freaking idea. And pretty clearly a bad one in hindsight. Huge investment with tiny returns.

Nevertheless the point remains: it's a MARKETING slogan not a literal descriptor.

Correction: excellent conception poorly conceived.

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There's no question that drum corps is a game (the only aspect of that "Summer Music Games" marketing that they got right, IMO). All sports are games, but not all games are sports. Drum corps falls into the latter category.

Sure, drum corps performers display athletic prowess on occasion, but not in a sports-like way. It's no different than watching "So You Think You Can Dance". That show has dancers that display, at times, athletic skill. It's made up of choreographed performances. It's even judged subjectively. Is it a sport? No.

Neither are gymnastics or figure skating, and yet here we are. Perception supersedes reality.

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DCI may or may not think of itself as a sports league. It doesn't matter because DCI's opinion about itself doesn't affect whether a given policy used in sports would be effective in drum corps.

What do the corps themselves think they are? (Not that that is a decisive factor either.)

I don't think the corps see themselves as essentially sports teams. They think of themselves as performing arts summer schools that compete. They are both the school and the team, so they have a mixed identity as a type of activity. There's an inherent complexity there that makes it unreasonable to argue that since other sports do it, DCI should do it.

A sports league's first mission is to promote and support the sport.

A school's first mission is to educate, with promotion necessary but secondary.

Imagine if famous music schools started competing. Should they suddenly implement transfer rules and staff salary caps because they are now a sport?

Sports policies that interfere with education are unlikely to be adopted. Preventing students from changing their minds about what style of music they want to learn would be such a policy.

So a drum corps is a sports team, but it is also much more than that.

Now, if you want less predictable championships, you could require half of all members to be 17 or less, and 1/6 of them 15 or less.

But anyway I don't believe less predictable championships would lead to a greatly renewed interest in drum corps.

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It should also be mentioned that DCI now has potential competition in MiM. If DCI were to impose policies to level the playing field (which all these things seem designed to do), MiM would likely desert DCI completely in order to retain the best talent. It would then be corps like Madison and Boston that would be the "most punished for success" according to the various policies, and that's when MiM would have to decide whether to take the opportunity to open itself up to other corps. The dominos could then roll all the way to MiM replacing DCI entirely (or maybe all WC), but with the original seven directors retaining all the power.

Actually, if MiM were to allow itself to be led by an independent board composed of members of the performing arts community and some from the sports community (and maybe a professional fundraiser or two as well), maybe moving to MiM wouldn't be a bad thing. This activity has had two flawed models now; pre-DCI with leadership that serves other masters (AL, VFW, etc.) and DCI's divisive leaders who serve their own ends within the activity. While the DCI model is better than the pre-DCI model, trying with a dedicated board of people passionate about performing arts and sports could be the way to go.

There's no indication that MiM is doing this, is there? It's all pretty secretive over there, I think.

Edited by Pete Freedman
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As mentioned before, unnecessary spending on equipment, props, electronics, etc. is not the issue here... it is food, gas and housing costs.

The solution isn't a spending cap, but smarter spending and max tour spend based on previous year's financials. This all should happen at the PLANNING stage.

The cost of touring is pretty well understood by most groups that have been at it for many years. This should be put into a financial model that is available to all organizations to help plan better.

There should be levels of touring (within each performance class) where these levels are expense driven and according to number of persons (including staff), days on the road and miles driven.

Group I ($700k+) - X days, X people, X miles

Group II ($500k - $700k) - Y days, Y people, Y miles

Group III ($300k - $500k) - Z days, Z people, Z miles

Group IV (under $300k) - local only + optional finals trip

Individual corps should be required to submit a season/tour budget of what they can reasonably spend (with margin of error of 15-20%) that does not exceed 70% of their income (after cost of sales and core operating expenses). Debt load should also be factored in.

Tours are then planned within the window of that budget, forcing organizations to spend more wisely and save some for growth and unforeseen circumstances.

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DCI may or may not think of itself as a sports league. It doesn't matter because DCI's opinion about itself doesn't affect whether a given policy used in sports would be effective in drum corps.

What do the corps themselves think they are? (Not that that is a decisive factor either.)

I don't think the corps see themselves as essentially sports teams. They think of themselves as performing arts summer schools that compete. They are both the school and the team, so they have a mixed identity as a type of activity. There's an inherent complexity there that makes it unreasonable to argue that since other sports do it, DCI should do it.

A sports league's first mission is to promote and support the sport.

A school's first mission is to educate, with promotion necessary but secondary.

Imagine if famous music schools started competing. Should they suddenly implement transfer rules and staff salary caps because they are now a sport?

Sports policies that interfere with education are unlikely to be adopted. Preventing students from changing their minds about what style of music they want to learn would be such a policy.

So a drum corps is a sports team, but it is also much more than that.

Now, if you want less predictable championships, you could require half of all members to be 17 or less, and 1/6 of them 15 or less.

But anyway I don't believe less predictable championships would lead to a greatly renewed interest in drum corps.

Dude did you even read this?

1. Drum corps are not sports teams

2. Drum corps are traveling summer arts schools who happen to compete.

∴ Drum corps are sports teams.

blink.gif

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Dude did you even read this?

1. Drum corps are not sports teams

2. Drum corps are traveling summer arts schools who happen to compete.

∴ Drum corps are sports teams.

blink.gif

you keep typing this but it isn't accurate

Drum corps have ALL the attributes of sport.

Noun

An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others.

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