How would you structure DCI ?

[alumniof]

A lot of great discussions and ideas on how to "fix" DCI's problems (such as corps folding, financial issues, community outreach, encourage new corps start-ups, appease music education, etc;) I thought I'd make a thread of it.

What would you do?

Edited August 18, 2013 by alumniof

[GUARDLING]

A lot of great discussions and ideas on how to "fix" DCI's problems (such as corps folding, financial issues, community outreach, encourage new corps start-ups, appease music education, etc;) I thought I'd make a thread of it.

I'll go first. This would be an OPEN CLASS MODEL. The DCI model would change from what it is to a BOA model. Regional Championships. A Super Regional. World Championships. Goodbye to the "tour" as we know it which is what is killing Open Class - the finances. Starting an Open Class Corps now is like buying your dream house after getting your first job out of college. (Hear me out)... What do you do during the week? Let's say it's Monday. You park at your HS rehearsal site for two days and you rehearse all day as normal on the first day and evening. On the second day, you set aside time to have a clinic for local band directors, band kids. Have master classes about marching, leadership, section master classes. Then, in the evening, you perform for them and the general public at the conclusion of the second day. This accomplishes so much it's crazy. First, you serve that band director and his students with something invaluable that he isn't getting anywhere else. It gets the students face to face with the drum corps and emotionally and physically involved. Second, for the "performance", that band program gets to sell concessions (so does the corps with their souvies) and the band kids will show up, they relate to you, know you, care about you because of what YOU have done FOR THEM on an experiential level and they become your fans, your "groupies". The band director benefits, their kids benefit, their program benefits because they capitalize monetarily on concessions (and whatever else they want to charge for) and everyone appreciates you and loves you for serving them. After the performance, the corps get on the bus and STAY IN THE SAME GENERAL AREA but does it again at another HS on the other side of town on Wednesday and Thursday. (Friday and Saturday you go to another site or your Regional).

On the weekend - go and play at a public venue - the malls - there is more than one in most places...or other public place if you're not a Regional. Or do a corps activity during the day or evening so it's a more comprehensive musical experience. The following week - then jump to the next major city over (for example in Texas - if you're in Dallas, jump over to Houston, then San Antonio, then....) What's the current model? "Hey, let us borrow your facilities....thanks.....sorry for the mess we left and send us an invoice for what we broke". At least in the eighties that's what it seemed to be like.

DCI needs to serve the community. And that needs to come from DCI. The general community, the music community such as band directors and their kids and their parents. They will return the serving of them with the support of you. Give and you shall receive. Income will come in when outcome goes out. Open Class doesn't need a contest every night. That's the World Class model. This is an Open Class model to encourage NEW CORPS and allow existing Open Class corps to survive. Now....World Class - make that what it is. Your showcase. Full time touring. But you have to put the OPEN CLASS kids together in the same venue during the summer at your Regional and Super Regional and World Championships because the kids want to see those World Class corps and the World Class corps should have an opportunity to see the Open Class and support them.

theres so many holes in all of this I dont know where to start to be honest...lets just start with its not 1965 and communitities have enough trouble keeping whats left of community programs.Then go for would you even get the kids... :smile:/>

actually a part of me would love to go back to a much simpliar time and the way things were , even in drum corps ( well some things ) but I would also love to pay 59cents a gallon for gas...there was so much great BITD ( not all I think we have selective memory when looking back ) But its 2013...the good and bad of that

Edited August 17, 2013 by GUARDLING

[alumniof]

Bump. Would really like to hear from others.

Edited August 18, 2013 by alumniof

[GUARDLING]

Are you trying tell to me its not 1965? McFly??? Okay...the Brady Bunch was on in the background when I was typing this.

look at you...you made a funny....... pretty good

[alumniof]

Bump.

[JKT90]

The first thing I would do is hold a meeting with the board and corps directors. The goal is to define issues, common goals, etc and give them a voice to express concerns, ideas, basically an open forum. Then myself and a steering committee would get together and prioritize said issues and goals and begin strategizing a plan. I would remove the old guard, keep them on as ambassadors or whatever, but definitely send a message that the old ways of doing things are changing.

Part of these changes would be:

1) Recruit someone with large non profit experience who has a demonstrated track record. Think America Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc. it would take some research to identify all the non profits, but you get the gist. This persons objective would be helping develop a business plan to achieve the overall goal, which is to fund raise, increase sponsorships.

2) Task my VP of Sales with a goal of identifying corporate sponsors. Leverage the buying power of DCI with the likes of a Costco or SAMs Club. Corps spend a ton of cash of food, plates, cups, drink, plastic utensils, etc and with a corporate discount from one of these super stores could result in some cost savings. Offer to also list them at DCI events as a corporate sponsor. Basically works in conjunction with my vp of operations.

3) Begin an alumni/friends of DCI outreach program. Goal is to get a good vibe going, bring back disgruntled alums who walked away. Are there alums in high level positions at corporations now, or business owners we could partner with, sponsorship?

4) Creative direction, competition rules, etc would stay as is, the directors have a say, vote on resolutions and such, but the business direction I am talking about is not in their control. We would work together to advance the ball.

5) Due diligence to contact Universities at the level ii and iii size & JuCo's to see if we can begin moving away from high school gyms and stadiums, to using their facilities and stadiums. Multiple corps could stay at a college, while generally one can stay at a high school. Possible cost savings, better facilities, better parking, better fan experience.

6) For the Regional competitions, a fan can for either one show pay $9.99 to log on to DCI's website and vote on the corps placement, or for $19.99 you can vote on all the regionals. Those votes are tallied up and the fan favorite is presented the fan award on semi-finals. This has zero impact on actually judging.

7) Develop a judging standard, judge oversight person. Any judge suspected of playing favoritism is held accountable. And create an opportunity to bring on new judges, with a full curriculum of training...who's the next coming up?

8) I may consider moving DCI corp hq to a more tax friendly state. This needs work.

9) I would to brain storm on how can we reach John Q. Public? How can we turn a DCI show into a family fun night? I mean people go to the circis when they're in town, how do we get them? This needs works.

10) Unpopular here, but I would probably limit the number of corps to 17. The goal is parity and overall health of a corps. Open class shows with no one in attendance is not helping the overall goal...we can revisit when we see strong competition across the board in WC. By limiting corps, then those such as Troopers have opportunities to strongly compete...sometimes more isn't always better.

Imho, the product is diluted and corps come and go. An example I am thinking of is when Steve Jobs took back over Apple he felt they had too many products on the market and he cut most of them and decided to focus on one thing, and do it better than anyone else. We have to fix this. I would be open to suggestions, but I would limit the number of corps. We would have more kids going to fewer corps and the competition level would raise. This could lead to increasing the maximum size a corps can field. Maybe it goes from 150 to 190...(what number would fill an extra bus)? More revenue for the corps, and we work to leverage DCI buying power to reduce costs resulting in more to the bottom line for each corps. As the activity grows we look at adding back.

11) Can DCI do what BOA does? Can DCI market clinics, technicians, etc to universities, high schools? Can DCI run band competitions? Thinking of the YEA model here...

There are more, but this is a start.

Edited August 18, 2013 by JKT90

[garfield]

The first thing I would do is hold a meeting with the board and corps directors. The goal is to define issues, common goals, etc and give them a voice to express concerns, ideas, basically an open forum. Then myself and a steering committee would get together and prioritize said issues and goals and begin strategizing a plan. I would remove the old guard, keep them on as ambassadors or whatever, but definitely send a message that the old ways of doing things are changing.

Part of these changes would be:

1) Recruit someone with large non profit experience who has a demonstrated track record. Think America Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc. it would take some research to identify all the non profits, but you get the gist. This persons objective would be helping develop a business plan to achieve the overall goal, which is to fund raise, increase sponsorships.

2) Task my VP of Sales with a goal of identifying corporate sponsors. Leverage the buying power of DCI with the likes of a Costco or SAMs Club. Corps spend a ton of cash of food, plates, cups, drink, plastic utensils, etc and with a corporate discount from one of these super stores could result in some cost savings. Offer to also list them at DCI events as a corporate sponsor. Basically works in conjunction with my vp of operations.

3) Begin an alumni/friends of DCI outreach program. Goal is to get a good vibe going, bring back disgruntled alums who walked away. Are there alums in high level positions at corporations now, or business owners we could partner with, sponsorship?

4) Creative direction, competition rules, etc would stay as is, the directors have a say, vote on resolutions and such, but the business direction I am talking about is not in their control. We would work together to advance the ball.

5) Due diligence to contact Universities at the level ii and iii size & JuCo's to see if we can begin moving away from high school gyms and stadiums, to using their facilities and stadiums. Multiple corps could stay at a college, while generally one can stay at a high school. Possible cost savings, better facilities, better parking, better fan experience.

6) For the Regional competitions, a fan can for either one show pay $9.99 to log on to DCI's website and vote on the corps placement, or for $19.99 you can vote on all the regionals. Those votes are tallied up and the fan favorite is presented the fan award on semi-finals. This has zero impact on actually judging.

7) Develop a judging standard, judge oversight person. Any judge suspected of playing favoritism is held accountable. And create an opportunity to bring on new judges, with a full curriculum of training...who's the next coming up?

8) I may consider moving DCI corp hq to a more tax friendly state. This needs work.

9) I would to brain storm on how can we reach John Q. Public? How can we turn a DCI show into a family fun night? I mean people go to the circis when they're in town, how do we get them? This needs works.

10) Unpopular here, but I would probably limit the number of corps to 17. The goal is parity and overall health of a corps. Open class shows with no one in attendance is not helping the overall goal...we can revisit when we see strong competition across the board in WC. By limiting corps, then those such as Troopers have opportunities to strongly compete...sometimes more isn't always better.

Imho, the product is diluted and corps come and go. An example I am thinking of is when Steve Jobs took back over Apple he felt they had too many products on the market and he cut most of them and decided to focus on one thing, and do it better than anyone else. We have to fix this. I would be open to suggestions, but I would limit the number of corps. We would have more kids going to fewer corps and the competition level would raise. This could lead to increasing the maximum size a corps can field. Maybe it goes from 150 to 190...(what number would fill an extra bus)? More revenue for the corps, and we work to leverage DCI buying power to reduce costs resulting in more to the bottom line for each corps. As the activity grows we look at adding back.

11) Can DCI do what BOA does? Can DCI market clinics, technicians, etc to universities, high schools? Can DCI run band competitions? Thinking of the YEA model here...

There are more, but this is a start.

Wow, lots here...

1. Doesn't Dan A have significant non-profit experience? Sure, it's not Red Cross size, but who in those much bigger operations is going to be willing to accept the position for the money that's paid to Dan? Add about $100m a year to Dan's salary and I think you might get some interest. Further, I'm not at all convinced that a non-profit leader is the right focus - how about a for-profit person instead?

2.Your idea of consolidating food/paper product purchases has merit and I'm sure it's been suggested in several iterations in the past and not as fully implemented as you envision. But, is that all your VP of sales is going to do? Once the connections are made, wouldn't it be cheaper to hire an intern to schedule logistics with the corps? What does your VP - Sales do next?

3. Before you implement any sort of "Friends" or alum program, know that many of the corps directors believe these programs are cost centers and worth review for ending. But I think the first thing you should do is identify who are your present Friends and what do they do? In over 25 years in the Friends program, nobody has ever asked me if I own a business or have corporate connections. I'd wager that more people here know what I do than do any on the DCI staff.

4. Except that I know of one director who's stated to several people that he would never be a part of an organization in which he didn't have control of the finances. He may be only one, but his business decisions seems important to many. This part of your plan also seems in conflict with your number 7.

5. I get your rationale for cost savings, but I'm afraid this would be tough to accomplish. Housing multiple corps at a college (big or small) presents the problem of practice fields. Possibly you could send the corps to other local school sites and rent their fields for practice, but you'll have multiple scheduling conflicts with school activities and, usually, a corps that's paying to stay at a school has priority in that scheduling. And don't forget about the cook truck; you'd force it to move twice every day - something cooks don't have the time to do and still feed on schedule. I'd also bet the cost savings in actual facility rental wouldn't favor colleges either And let's not forget that there are several times as many school districts (high, middle, and elementary) than there are colleges. The sheer numbers make the odds of finding willing partners much better in the school districts than in the college facilities.

6. Why would I, an ardent fan who's capable of spending significant money on my drum corps hobby, spend even $9.99 to register my vote for a fan favorite? If all I have to do is provide my demo info I might consider it, but what am I getting for my $9.99? A vote in a popularity pole that means exactly nothing to the results?

7. I think you saw this with the percussion judge on Friday night. He called what he saw, and my understanding is that he was called on the carpet while the other judges were warned to not let it happen again. On your other point, for several years ending about 3 years ago I used to sell extra tickets to a very nice guy. He was a BOA (or similar) judge and was working his way into judging DCI. Each year he'd describe his advancement. This year he came up to our seat level to watch the scores and Crown's encore. The night before (semis) he had judged music from the box. I think DCI is currently involved in replacing, or adding to, the judging roles at an active pace. Many of those come into the system from BOA, USBands, etc. My brother is also one of those.

8. DCI is a tax-exempt organization. How does a more tax-friendly state affect them?

9. Simple. Hire DanielRay!

10. How is Troopers "ability to compete" affected by limiting the number of corps? By cutting Troopers (or any other corps) off from performance opportunities actually make it more difficult for them? (think: Music City). What kind of "parity" are you talking about? Financial parity? Competitive parity? Please explain. DCI isn't Apple, and simply streamlining the business model to a limited number of corps solves little. And let's not forget that, had you had this rule in place 10 years ago it's not likely that Crown would have won this year.

11. If you'd like to have a copy of the G7 presentation from 2010 I'd be happy to send it to you. That presentation suggested that DCI should do none of these things and that only the corps have the ability to market in these directions.

I appreciate your lengthy thoughts and comments, but I see little reason in what you write to prompt me to send your name into DCI for nomination to the post of Grand Poobah.

(All with high sardonic respect).

[dcibrando]

Go back to regional events....have a new scholastic or weekend class with finals in mid or late July before schools start

Edited August 19, 2013 by dcibrando

[ripper]

start by having all corps have an equal say on all things that affect all corps

[JKT90]

Wow, lots here...

1. Doesn't Dan A have significant non-profit experience? Sure, it's not Red Cross size, but who in those much bigger operations is going to be willing to accept the position for the money that's paid to Dan? Add about $100m a year to Dan's salary and I think you might get some interest. Further, I'm not at all convinced that a non-profit leader is the right focus - how about a for-profit person instead?

2.Your idea of consolidating food/paper product purchases has merit and I'm sure it's been suggested in several iterations in the past and not as fully implemented as you envision. But, is that all your VP of sales is going to do? Once the connections are made, wouldn't it be cheaper to hire an intern to schedule logistics with the corps? What does your VP - Sales do next?

3. Before you implement any sort of "Friends" or alum program, know that many of the corps directors believe these programs are cost centers and worth review for ending. But I think the first thing you should do is identify who are your present Friends and what do they do? In over 25 years in the Friends program, nobody has ever asked me if I own a business or have corporate connections. I'd wager that more people here know what I do than do any on the DCI staff.

4. Except that I know of one director who's stated to several people that he would never be a part of an organization in which he didn't have control of the finances. He may be only one, but his business decisions seems important to many. This part of your plan also seems in conflict with your number 7.

5. I get your rationale for cost savings, but I'm afraid this would be tough to accomplish. Housing multiple corps at a college (big or small) presents the problem of practice fields. Possibly you could send the corps to other local school sites and rent their fields for practice, but you'll have multiple scheduling conflicts with school activities and, usually, a corps that's paying to stay at a school has priority in that scheduling. And don't forget about the cook truck; you'd force it to move twice every day - something cooks don't have the time to do and still feed on schedule. I'd also bet the cost savings in actual facility rental wouldn't favor colleges either And let's not forget that there are several times as many school districts (high, middle, and elementary) than there are colleges. The sheer numbers make the odds of finding willing partners much better in the school districts than in the college facilities.

6. Why would I, an ardent fan who's capable of spending significant money on my drum corps hobby, spend even $9.99 to register my vote for a fan favorite? If all I have to do is provide my demo info I might consider it, but what am I getting for my $9.99? A vote in a popularity pole that means exactly nothing to the results?

7. I think you saw this with the percussion judge on Friday night. He called what he saw, and my understanding is that he was called on the carpet while the other judges were warned to not let it happen again. On your other point, for several years ending about 3 years ago I used to sell extra tickets to a very nice guy. He was a BOA (or similar) judge and was working his way into judging DCI. Each year he'd describe his advancement. This year he came up to our seat level to watch the scores and Crown's encore. The night before (semis) he had judged music from the box. I think DCI is currently involved in replacing, or adding to, the judging roles at an active pace. Many of those come into the system from BOA, USBands, etc. My brother is also one of those.

8. DCI is a tax-exempt organization. How does a more tax-friendly state affect them?

9. Simple. Hire DanielRay!

10. How is Troopers "ability to compete" affected by limiting the number of corps? By cutting Troopers (or any other corps) off from performance opportunities actually make it more difficult for them? (think: Music City). What kind of "parity" are you talking about? Financial parity? Competitive parity? Please explain. DCI isn't Apple, and simply streamlining the business model to a limited number of corps solves little. And let's not forget that, had you had this rule in place 10 years ago it's not likely that Crown would have won this year.

11. If you'd like to have a copy of the G7 presentation from 2010 I'd be happy to send it to you. That presentation suggested that DCI should do none of these things and that only the corps have the ability to market in these directions.

I appreciate your lengthy thoughts and comments, but I see little reason in what you write to prompt me to send your name into DCI for nomination to the post of Grand Poobah.

(All with high sardonic respect).

Ha, yeah, I don't blame you...can you tell I have the house to myself.

I don't know Dan's background...for profit individual could work perhaps.

If you don't want to pay the $9.99 for a fan vote, that's fine. I would and would like to have that option.

I didn't know DCI was tax exempt..I knew the corps were. Thanks for clarifying.

My Sales person would focus on, in conjuction with Operations, growing sponsorships, fostering relationships. Outside of the bus sponsor and the Marine corps, it seems all sponsors are in the music industry.

The last re: the Troopers, what I meant is I think the product is diluted with too many corps, and a lot of corps closing up shop...with fewer corps but the same number of individuals wanting to march, I think more talent would be in camps (fewer to choose from).