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Are Championships too expensive?


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It would be great if there were some actual figures for what DCA has to pay the hosts for the stadium, so we could know whether Cadets2 are saving in the long run by having to pay for hotel rooms now.

If the corps are losing money, they can vote to change the arrangements for 2016-2017 (I assume the Rochester contract is like the Annapolis contract and that it is finalize).

Edited by N.E. Brigand
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Well the director of C2 was at Bucs for quite a few years so he knew what all was involved with Championships weekend.

Exactly!

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C2 Does have a vote at the table now. Provided that they are at championships this year and pay their bill.

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This was posted to Facebook this evening. I read it 3 times to make sure of what I was reading. Is it me, or are they asking for help and bashing the DCA and the DCA Championship Model at the same time. Did they not know what they were getting in to before they decided to field a DCA corps? I think a better investment might be hiring a PR person. I can't believe that a non profit with their visibility doesn't think through what they release under their name on social media.

Hey all ...

As you know we have Cadets 2 ... on the way to Annapolis.

Our goal, over a few fast years, is to run the corps at a break even. We have help from YAMAHA, and other partners, but for 2012, the corps cost $90K to run, and this year ... we have been doing really well ...

... EXCEPT NOW!!!

DCA, which is an inexpensive alternative to DCI, forces the corps to stay at the hotel for three nights. Thats 150 room nights or $16,874.29

And we ... do not need the rooms. We could have stayed at a school.

But to date ... there is no change and suddenly, the costs of running C2 start to make you wonder. $16K here, 12K for buses, $5K for food and the final weekend is $33K.

And unlike some corps, we can't make the kids pay for this weekend. Heck ... We come home Sunday night. The rooms are empty. YES ... Sunday night we lose $5600.00!!!

So, before you bemoan that DCA does this ... that is for another day. What we are working to do, is to see if we can get 128 people to sponsor 128 kids for their room charge for the three days.

That's $122.00.

I did it .. and the last time I looked 18 other people have done it.

This will wipe out that hotel bill. And this will make it possible for Cadets2 to have a fabulous weekend and for YEA! to look forward to 2014 with a better plan for a better corps and an awesome experience for these kids.

DCA has some potential ...

and the Cadets 2 model may be something we can all expand on.

But we do need a little help. As a not for profit, as a youth program, and as an agency that works for others, we are asking for folks to come on board.

Gang ...

Empire Statesmen will be performing for the last time this year in Annapolis. We plan to be in Rochester. We want to give Reading, and Hawthorne and others a run for their money for years to come.

We have 3 days to interest 100 folks in our future.

We have three days to ease the fiscal pain of this program.

We have three days to make sure that this all makes sense for today and for tomorrow.

DCA doesn't force a corps to stay in hotel rooms for three nights; any corps can stay home.

A corps signs up for a certain amount of rooms in the Spring and has until early August to adjust; up or down. If a corps has too many rooms, that error falls on the individual corps not DCA.

DCA doesn't force/assign a corps to a certain hotel; a list is offered for each corps to choose from.....it is a first come first serve and if a particular facility is full, a corps may had reacted too late and has to look at the remainder of facility options available.

At the business meeting

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Well thats a 180 from everything i've ever heard.... at least as far as having to stay at a hotel in general

Truth? Or not...?

Edited by euponitone
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DCA doesn't force a corps to stay in hotel rooms for three nights; any corps can stay home.

A corps signs up for a certain amount of rooms in the Spring and has until early August to adjust; up or down. If a corps has too many rooms, that error falls on the individual corps not DCA.

DCA doesn't force/assign a corps to a certain hotel; a list is offered for each corps to choose from.....it is a first come first serve and if a particular facility is full, a corps may had reacted too late and has to look at the remainder of facility options available.

At the business meeting

Pretty much the way I understood it the years I was involved.

We gave DCA our list about 3 -4 weeks out if memory serves. Finalizing our room assigments 2 weeks before the trip. Room captains were responcible for collecting and paying the rooms. If any rooms were not collected on it fell on the corps managment to pick up the remainder of the unpaid bill. There was ALWAYS a unpaid bill.

Edited by camel lips
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Can't speak for other corps or situations but I believe our rooms in Annapolis are less expensive that what we've paid in Rochester the last few years. That may come as a surprise to some folks.

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This might be of help to Hopkins and C2? http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/jaw-dropping-castles-rent/story?id=20079663

Then again, if they are flummoxed about paying for rooms for Sunday night which will be empty because they have already headed home, I am certain that there are plenty of homeless folks in any city, Baltimore and Annapolis included, who would love to get in out of the rain and dark and would appreciate a free bed and warm shower. That would probably end the hotel putting a choke hold on the corps for minimum nights needed.

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And if the corps have to guarantee a certain number of rooms, it's not that hard on the hotels. Would be interesting if another groups have to reserve a certain number of rooms for other events. I've heard of locking in the number of rooms your group wants and there is a penalty if someone backs out. But basically "You have to pay for X number of rooms.... rotsa ruck finding the bodies", new one on me.....

As for the room rates depends on how crowded the hotels in the area are. For Antique Car show in Hershey a group might get a break if they have stayed in the same place for a long time but usually the problem is finding rooms. If there are plenty of vacanies in the area with some grunt work they might find someone willing to deal.

when you reserve rooms for DCI in Indy, you go through DCI. Now because the corps arent staying at thehotels, they can't do nearly as much of a guarantee because who knows early on what attendance will be right? So trust me, you pay a lot more for the rooms.

DCA has the same issue with planning for fans...you can't guarantee what attendance will be. But knowing that the corps have hotels guaranteed, it does help pass on some savings ( usually) to the fans. I know for all of the years in Rachacha or Scranton, I paid less at the Comfort Suites than I would have had I gone there even a week later.

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