alumniof Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 This is not how the real world works. This is not what paying consumers want. You don't buy Rolling Stones tickets and expect them to be the opening act for Nickleback. I saw as many corps live this year as I possibly could... so many great groups, but the reality is that there is a wide range of performance levels out there (much of which is certainly tied to age and experience levels). Drum corps is in the entertainment business... should both entertain and also be a business. Random order makes little sense, and as you describe it... you are using it to force paying customers to behave in a certain way. The solution, instead, should be market research... communication with the customer... to find out what it is they really want and give them that. The real world isn't working. DCI doesn't care about the consumer. The consumer doesn't want to watch of so they don't show. I don't like TV commercials. Most people don't. You put it in between anyway and it sells. I do know this....the audience likes to pee and get concessions and if its WC..WC...WC...I'm ###### that I can't get food or I'll miss. Which is why intermission is always a line at the restroom and concessions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimefan Posted August 20, 2013 Author Share Posted August 20, 2013 Crown had the most expensive props ever put on the field. How much do all those extra bass drums, gongs and timpani cost? How's that compare to something you can slap together from Home Depot? Carefull, I got over 19 negatives just for bringing up this thread and even daring to say that props, or spending large sums of money can buy a championship. The drums and timps won't be looked at as props by a lot of people. Spending 300,000 more in one year will be blown off. I will get twenty more negatives for even mentioning this. End result, is I don't care. Truth will be heard and people will be mad. For the record, I was pulling for Crown to win, as I thought they had the winning show this year. Not my favorite, but they won by winning it on the field. The show was written to win, and they executed it to win. No matter how many negatives this got, the thread is on 23 pages and it got people thinking and talking about an activity I love and how to save the few corps that are left. Have a wonderful and loving day everyone. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 The real world isn't working. DCI doesn't care about the consumer. The consumer doesn't want to watch of so they don't show. I don't like TV commercials. Most people don't. You put it in between anyway and it sells. I do know this....the audience likes to pee and get concessions and if its WC..WC...WC...I'm ###### that I can't get food or I'll miss. Which is why intermission is always a line at the restroom and concessions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Why do you think they wouldn't go for that? Exposure, limelight, ticket sales, for the WC corps. Unless you are contending that they (Gibbs, Hop, et al) would 'want' to give up one of the three shows in which many fans are purchasing tickets to see the WC corps perform. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Daniel Ray... Not that long ago, relative to the history of DCI, I performed with a top-five top-tier gold medal corps that is now a part of the G7. And during that time period we took a few lower division corps under our wing of guidance, not monetary support, but guidance support. We promoted the shucks out of those corps to the public; informing all we could talk with to go see them perform; the show, we said, was/is inside the stadium with them not out here watching us warm-up. We knew that the essence of DCI was just as much in the last placing lower division corps as it was in our possibility of winning the top-tier division; and we wanted to not only respect those lower division corps but also help them with their interaction within the essence of DCI. Serious question: What happened to that mentality since I left the performing field until now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 This is the biggest issue (and food prices are tightly-linked to fuel prices). Not much DCI can do about this. They can certainly restructure OC so that it is more of a regional or regional + optional finals trip model. This could encourage a lot more corps to crop up. Forcing every group to be limited to a regional model, however, makes no sense as there are some corps that are a draw nationally and these same groups tend to have the revenue streams to be able to adapt. Again, I do think there should be some tiers of touring within the classes that can help better sustain all groups. I appreciate this rationalization, and I intuitively think it has merit, but this information is vacuumous until and unless we know how much revenues per corps increased in the same time. The chart you show suggests that diesel increased at about 8.7% per year during the 11 years from '02 to '13. We need to see the revenue increases per corps to know if the higher fuel expense actually crimped the corps. I may have an old 990 or two from 2002 in my files (part of a project I worked on several years ago), but I'll not be able to dig for it for a day or so. In the mean time, if anyone has any per-corps financials (specifically gross revenue) please post for comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pearlsnaredrummer77 Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Cut the size of corps to 128. Establish formal funnel routes from g7 auditions to other corps Limit spending on pit Establish a minimum # of years for use of instruments Cut pit size Eliminate electronics & synths Reestablish regional tours with top corps only meeting infrequently (builds drama) Establish standardized maximum staff salaries Age out for World 20 Age put for Open 21 I know none of these suggestions will be popular, but the theme is cutting costs and encouraging more open corps and increase their attractiveness and performance opportunities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 This is hilarious and perfectly placed. It describes exactly the confusion I was having reading the post to which he was responding. A little work on diction and syntax will go a long way towards making your points alumniof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Carefull, I got over 19 negatives just for bringing up this thread and even daring to say that props, or spending large sums of money can buy a championship. The drums and timps won't be looked at as props by a lot of people. Spending 300,000 more in one year will be blown off. I will get twenty more negatives for even mentioning this. End result, is I don't care. Truth will be heard and people will be mad. For the record, I was pulling for Crown to win, as I thought they had the winning show this year. Not my favorite, but they won by winning it on the field. The show was written to win, and they executed it to win. No matter how many negatives this got, the thread is on 23 pages and it got people thinking and talking about an activity I love and how to save the few corps that are left. Have a wonderful and loving day everyone. I hate to tell you this but the people who are "chatting" about this subject here have been doing so for many years before you popped in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 (edited) Someone here suggested that Crown spent $300,000 more to win in 2013. Can anyone find that post? I'd like to know the source of this information considering Crown's 2012 990 is not out yet, let alone this year's. Of course I'm an idiot. I can't figure out what I was thinking. Crown's 2012 990 is most certainly out; I referenced it in a prior post! Jeesh. I need a vacation. Edited August 21, 2013 by garfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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