Donny Drum Corps Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 And finances were one of the reasons they folded. Folded???? I think not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goalieguy Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 Are you seeking a "release" to get back on track? Summary of thread: Northeast corps do not regularly travel to compete with Southern, Western, and Midwest corps in non-Northeastern locales. Financing questions reveal how many corps in the Northeast are barely financially sustainable. Some feel Northeast runs DCA as a cartel. MBI proposed as a financial model to consider. Changing situations offer reflections on past practices. Point of info - the poster that first used the "c" word in the thread was from one of "those" corps. Personally, I found it funny since I'm too ignorant to know how a cartel operates..To add a point if I may to your summary - some feel that travel is a large waste of rehearsal time and money in order to "get a read" outside of the local area - regardless of any possible gains for the circuit and those corps in the "long run". I feel those folks may be angry because of failures of previous attempt(s?) to travel west, and the experience was significantly substandard for the amount of the investment of time and capital. I guess the discussion about recruiting ops for DCA corps at regional bands competitions is a much better way to escape and/or evade the thread's original questions and issues proposed I'm still having fun reading this, aren't you all??? Pat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goalieguy Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 Folded???? I think not. Thank you Mr. Allen!! I hadn't heard that report..And I have some pretty good contacts(albeit 2nd hand) there.. Pat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 ......they say the touring model and travel killed so many corps, including the Kilts. Speaking of which... the comment I made about Kilties and Govies coming East during the regular season got conveniently ignored. I said then that I suppose they are being careful with their money. I guess that also doesn't apply to the NE units, huh!? I would ascertain your mention of the touring model killed the Kilts is in reference to when the corps went inactive during the junior corps years (early 80's). As a bit of history, the corps went inactive due to dwindling membership and the Racine area was economically hard pressed. Lack of substantial membership and less financial community support due to economic times caused the corps to go inactive. Locally based and loyal alumni of the junior corps started the present edition of the all age edition in 92 after two successful reunion alumni parade projects in the mid 80's and the corps DCI appearance at the championships in Madison. Now to the travel issue, for approximately 10 years the Kilties annually attended an east show over and above the championships. 2007 was our last eastward jaunt and that was to Empire's sponsored show in Salem, Ohio. (great show by the way) One of the major issues we found was the lack of sponsored offered housing. It was not unheard of in the majority of cases for the Kilts to leave early evening one night, travel throughout the entire night, arrive, rehearse, do the show, hop on the buses after the performance and travel right back. It created a lot of "wear and tear" on the membership itself. In the Midwest, housing is provided by the sponsors of the shows, it's part of the DCAC contracts. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kansan Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 (edited) They could, or not. Why? Give me more of a reason than "Why not?" Why? No one has really made any convincing case for why. No one. Just a drone to do it. From people who would readily jump on the bandwagon when they say the touring model and travel killed so many corps, including the Kilts. Speaking of which... the comment I made about Kilties and Govies coming East during the regular season got conveniently ignored. I said then that I suppose they are being careful with their money. I guess that also doesn't apply to the NE units, huh!? Why travel for a read when you don't have to? To be blunt, it's a waste of rehearsal time, something everyone says there's never enough of anymore- and also money. Again, what reason is there for the mountain to move to Mohammed besides "It would be nice to see a major NE corps out here." Yes, it would in a perfect world. It's not perfect. Money gets in the way, and it's not as easy to come by as some people seem to think. It comes with its own price.... Let's continue- doing this would indicate getting another income source. A major one if a corps is going to also do what it already does and stay solvent. I learned this from my Dad BITD when he ran the local Band Parent's organization: You have to be fair to the constituents you raise money from and not beat them to death with fund raisers, or they'll come to resent it and stop giving. You also need to make sure your fund raising is quality and does well for the people and time investment involved in the project. You also need to convince your constituents the project is important and essential. In this economy, convincing folks to donate for what would be interpreted as some kind of glorified band trip is tough, especially when it wouldn't be for the actual championship. To convince them you need new uniforms, a new truck, to build up the meal kitchen, or to create a fund to help needy members with their tuition is FAR more easier to do. The Bucs know this and I'm a soft touch for those kinds of things with them. Those things are important, not a trip to the Midwest as far as I'm personally concerned. My guess is many NE corps have reached a saturation point with that. Unless, you can find a Big Daddy Warbucks to toss some cash your way. OK, so finals gets moved to Racine, WI, Madison Wisconsin or somewhere away from the East Coast. Now, what do they do, what do they do? I'm just trying to break through and see if anyone on the East Coast is aware what the corps outside of that region have to do to make it to DCA Finals. It's kind of frustrating to see East Coast folks saying, oh we could never travel outside our region, it's just too expensive. So it's not expensive for everyone else to travel? If we ever get to make the trip, I would expect each of our members would have to fork over $1,000.00 plus dollars plus incidentals in order to make the trip. I'm also perplexed why some people think it's forboden to have members pay to participate. I was under the impression it's a hobby and members were expected to pay to play. I guess if a Corps manages to land a sponsorship or two that always helps but is that the norm? I understand DCA Finals is on the East Coast and it's never going to move because I guess Drum Corps lives and dies on the East Coast. Edited September 20, 2013 by Kansan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 The best 'why' I can think of is it's for the good of DCA as an organization, including all the member corps. If you ask around the marching arts communities (high school bands, WGI drumlines and guards, etc) in this area if they had ever heard of DCI, the answer would be a resounding "YES". If you ask that same group if they'd ever heard of DCA, the answer would be a staunch "NO". Even when I started as a marching member in MBI in the late 90's it took me a couple years to really know what DCA was. I guess the biggest question to ask is; Does DCA want to grow? Does DCA care that few people west of Ohio (outside core drum corps nerds) have never heard of the 12-time DCA champion Reading Buccaneers? so just advertising the Bucs or cabs are coming instantly means more ##### in the seats? You think it's that easy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 OK, so finals gets moved to Racine, WI, Madison Wisconsin or somewhere away from the East Coast. Now, what do they do, what do they do? I'm just trying to break through and see if anyone on the East Coast is aware what the corps outside of that region have to do to make it to DCA Finals. It's kind of frustrating to see East Coast folks saying, oh we could never travel outside our region, it's just too expensive. So it's not expensive for everyone else to travel? If we ever get to make the trip, I would expect each of our members would have to fork over $1,000.00 plus dollars plus incidentals in order to make the trip. I'm also perplexed why some people think it's forboden to have members pay to participate. I was under the impression it's a hobby and members were expected to pay to play. I guess if a Corps manages to land a sponsorship or two that always helps but is that the norm? I understand DCA Finals is on the East Coast and it's never going to move because I guess Drum Corps lives and dies on the East Coast. 1st, your assuming the DCA corps would vote for the move. It's pretty safe to say even corps with a vote not from the NE wouldn't vote for it. Why? attendance won't match what you get here at this time....and the corps make money off of finals. no drum corps doesn't live and die here. But, tell me what DCA show outside of the Northeast brings in even 3000 paying fans? You'll need at least that to make up for the fans that won't travel if finals does move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kansan Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 1st, your assuming the DCA corps would vote for the move. It's pretty safe to say even corps with a vote not from the NE wouldn't vote for it. Why? attendance won't match what you get here at this time....and the corps make money off of finals. no drum corps doesn't live and die here. But, tell me what DCA show outside of the Northeast brings in even 3000 paying fans? You'll need at least that to make up for the fans that won't travel if finals does move. I was stating a hypothetical. I do know those are Drum Corps towns that possibly could draw a good amount of people. I'll have to make the trip to finals get a headcount someday. I would think they would need more than 3K people in the stands to be able to pay all the expenses of Hosting a finals show. All the HighSchool stadiums in my area seat around 5K people. The local DCI show pulls in 3K to 5K people and is just breaking even but that's a different animal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 so just advertising the Bucs or cabs are coming instantly means more ##### in the seats? You think it's that easy? Yes, it is that easy in some parts of the country (a slam-dunk in Racine as example); especially in the Cabs case. It's called "branding"; a term unheard of decades ago but unknowingly used when forming some of the most memorable and iconic drum corps organizations of today. A unique style of music, a unique style of uniform, etc.......recognizable and relate-able to the drum corps aficionado and the general public. Cabs, Troopers, Kilties, as example, fall into that category of being relate-able over a vast geographic area. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 It's a challenging dilemma, isn't it? Let's assume adding the Caballeros to a Midwest show is a guarantee of 1500 additional spectators (who would not otherwise be there) purchasing tickets for that show. A real slam dunk! That's an easily available $20,000 added to the budget. Now then, for the good of the order, the Midwest show sponsor offers the new-found $20,000 to the Caballeros to help them pay for the trip. the Caballeros agree to provide payment for all other expenses their corps incurs. Problem solved? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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