TboneBtonegirl Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Well I was just doing some research on open class v.s. world class tour fees and I found it REALLY strange that one of the "lower" open class corps (whos name will not be mentioned) tour fee for 2014 was $3,000!! Thats about $1,000-1,$1,300 more than all of the other open class corps and even most world class corps! Its also about $500-$600 less than the cadets tour fee. I'm not sure why it is so expensive but I just found that really odd. As I said before they're a "lower" open class corps. Not even top 6. Is there a reason for this?? Its really blowing my mind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Those who have actually paid tour fees will have a better idea than I, but maybe the number of mm may has something to do with it. They probably still use a kitchen/equipment trailers, souvie vehicle, and possibly three buses that still eat up fuel. Depending where their HQ's is could mean more miles to cover if they have a decent number of shows. That fee may cover other costs that are kept separate by other corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Well I was just doing some research on open class v.s. world class tour fees and I found it REALLY strange that one of the "lower" open class corps (whos name will not be mentioned) tour fee for 2014 was $3,000!! Thats about $1,000-1,$1,300 more than all of the other open class corps and even most world class corps! Its also about $500-$600 less than the cadets tour fee. I'm not sure why it is so expensive but I just found that really odd. As I said before they're a "lower" open class corps. Not even top 6. Is there a reason for this?? Its really blowing my mind! Don't make the mistake of equating placement with cost. I'm sure this is waaaaaaay to simplistic, but for the sake of argument.... The corps management sits down and calculates all of the costs to operate their corps for the upcoming season, from start to finish. Unis, Instruments, staff, housing, food, busses, trucks, insurance...more stuff I'm probably missing. It comes to $X. Then they look at where the revenue will come from so that $X cost is offset by $X revenue. What type of fundraisers do they have? How much will the receive from DCI performance fees? From parades and other non-competition performances? What are the other sources of revenue, if any. They add all that up and come up with $Y. The cost of operations is $X; the non-tuition expected revenue is $Y. Now they need to figure out how much the members will have to provide...this is the tuition. So...they subtract revenue from cost, and that remaining balance is how much they need to charge the members...call it $Z. $X - $Y = $Z. Divide $Z by the total membership (M), and that becomes the indivudual tuition cost ($OUCH!). $Z/M = $OUCH! it really has almost nothing to do with placement. Again, that is waaaaay to simplistic, but at least it gives you an idea of how a tuition can be calculated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Last year's DCA Class A champions, the White Sabers, charge no membership fees. Obviously they must have some sort of sponsor or benefactor, and costs are lower in DCA to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Could be increased travel costs because of distance, along with not having many other fundraising opportunities outside of tour fees. Some corps can charge less for tour if they have a viable bingo program/ huge fundraising op/ sponsorship. Some corps though don't have those chances, so they have to charge more for tour fees to balance the books. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 There's a reason why BD has some of the lowest marching fees in the activity (although other fees apply, apparently). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TboneBtonegirl Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 Could be increased travel costs because of distance, along with not having many other fundraising opportunities outside of tour fees. Some corps can charge less for tour if they have a viable bingo program/ huge fundraising op/ sponsorship. Some corps though don't have those chances, so they have to charge more for tour fees to balance the books. That makes sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Could be increased travel costs because of distance, along with not having many other fundraising opportunities outside of tour fees. Some corps can charge less for tour if they have a viable bingo program/ huge fundraising op/ sponsorship. Some corps though don't have those chances, so they have to charge more for tour fees to balance the books. The Kilties annual fundraising event: http://www.greatlakesbrewfest.com/main.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Freedman Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 So I'm guessing there's no chart of tour fees? I would think DCI would collect that info each year, along with additional fees. It would need to be done just before audition season to be useful to prospective members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 There's a reason why BD has some of the lowest marching fees in the activity (although other fees apply, apparently). That's a little deceptive. BD members are responsible for a lot of costs that other corps provide as part of tuition (ST). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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