Sam98 Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 First thing: cut out about 20 of the staff member ("techs") that are a drain on resources for additional meals, fuel costs, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 so you have just transferred the costs to the members, where it would cost them individually more than having them all together with corps-provided housing and meals. This puts being a member even further out of reach for the less economically fortunate. You haven't reduced costs at all, just moved them to the backs of the members. My guess is you just raised the overall total cost of operating the corps over the entire season, as you eliminated the economy of scale you had when members moved in and lived/ate together. Of course, some of that increase is not visible to the corps as an expense, as it now belongs to the members. If you have an issue with the way our move-in housing is structured call out BD for being the culprit; we have been following their lead on transfering move-in costs over to the performers for a number of years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 Sounds like move-in date would remain the same. Will the corps still be together full-time during those two weeks of cancelled tour? Because if so, I wonder how much will be saved. You still have to feed the kids. You still might need to move your trailers, depending on the logistics of your rehearsal sites (which, in this case, you did not even start looking for until March). You will still need buses at times to get the corps to local performances, unless you cancel them too (which denies you critical local exposure, plus revenue from local contests, July 4th parades, etc.). There is an obvious saving on fuel costs, but the cost of breaking your existing lease contracts might cancel that out. A later move-in date may be necessary to achieve a real reduction of costs in this scenario. Good suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietcity Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I am in awe of Garfield's business acumen. Stu, you are getting schooled. And blaming BD for your housing policies? Lame-o. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 The question of moving the start of spring training is does the economic situation also put a change to the competitive ceiling of the group? Changing the move-in day by a week or two removes a ton of rehearsal time when the members are learning and perfecting their show. So that does mean they'd be at a competitive disadvantage for the rest of the summer. So would it become a situation where you're just happy you made it to the end of August in the black, even if the competitive aspect wasn't where it could have been? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 CONFIDENTIAL AND PRIVILEGED Important and Timely - Address Immediately Memo to: Stu, CEO, Fictitious Drum Corps Dear Stu, Word has reached the Board of Directors that you have been discussing, and may be considering, implementing a new, shortened tour schedule under the auspices of saving costs to remedy a current deficit in the corps funding. We strongly caution you against taking this action as we believe that by doing so you may be subjecting the corps to liability and exposing it to lawsuit. Our outside council has confirmed our concern that your actions to shorten the tour would constitute breaching a written agreement you signed with each marching member to provide them a "full, national tour" in return for their member dues. There is no language in that contract that allows the corps to shorten the tour and materially changing the experience for which marching members agreed and paid a fee. That said, you may consider changing the agreement terms if you rebate the portion of the marching member fee for the time the corps is not on tour, and if each marching-member agrees to such remuneration for consideration of your proposal. Should a member not agree to the renewed terms or sign the new contract, you may consider refunding his/her entire fee to eliminate their financial loss and reduce the corps' liability. However, you cannot fully eliminate the corps' liability due to the opportunity loss to each member had they joined another corps that would provide a full tour. In practical terms, council recognizes that most marchers are music majors for whom a seasonal tour with a World Class drum corps enhances the resume and bolsters hiring prospects. To remove that opportunity from the member's resume may be argued to be a basis for loss of future wages and as a basis for financial harm. Our current governance policy requires the Board to review and approve any legal contracts and obligations prior to engagement. As such we'll be happy to review your new member contract, including the daily rate and total remuneration for each member defined in the contract, should you decide to proceed with this method of solving the corps' funding problem. As always, you may feel free to contact the Board for clarification, as necessary. Respectfully, THE BOARD of DIRECTORS of Ficticious 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 I am in awe of Garfield's business acumen. Stu, you are getting schooled. And blaming BD for your housing policies? Lame-o. Garfield certainly does have great suggestions and that is the point of this exercise; which is to elicit great suggestions not banter of trivial attacking. And by the way, you read my reply to MikeD incorrectly; our corps has been using the move-in housing practice for a few years, and we do not have a problem with it nor do we blame BD. We have used it with no complaints from the performers. I just merely responded to MikeD that it was a plan designed by BD in which we adopted, and if he has a problem with the plan he actually has a problem with BD for developing the plan in the first place not just with us adopting the plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 CONFIDENTIAL AND PRIVILEGED Important and Timely - Address Immediately Memo to: Garfield, President, Fictitious Drum Corps Re: Memo to Stu Dear Garfield, Thank you for your concern. In no way will I place our organization in a breach of written contract. That said, the member contract, which was submitted to the Board and approved by the Board last year after review from the Board’s legal counsel, only references the tour schedule in the following manner: (Direct quote of the ‘only’ reference in the member contract concerning summer tour): “Tuition includes participation in XYZ such as summer tour performance opportunities, housing accommodations while on tour, instruction, food, equipment use, and other travel related expenditures during a summer tour schedule in which the corps shall participate in multiple DCI competitions.” italics mine There are no dates, no number of days, and no reference whatsoever to the length of the summer tour written into the contract. So please clarify where our organization would be in breach of said 'written' agreement. I await your response before possibly seeking shortening the summer tour schedule. Respectfully, Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Garfield certainly does have great suggestions and that is the point of this exercise; which is to elicit great suggestions not banter of trivial attacking. And by the way, you read my reply to MikeD incorrectly; our corps has been using the move-in housing practice for a few years, and we do not have a problem with it nor do we blame BD. We have used it with no complaints from the performers. I just merely responded to MikeD that it was a plan designed by BD in which we adopted, and if he has a problem with the plan he actually has a problem with BD for developing the plan in the first place not just with us adopting the plan. No, I don't have a problem with BD...what you did is to extend the time a member has to self-fund by two weeks, and then gave them two weeks less of a competitive experience...so you increased their cost yet reduced their benefit. "Since the corps emulates the move-in housing philosophy of the Blue Devils, we will inform the performers that they need to secure housing at the home base until to July 5 as opposed to June 20." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 No, I don't have a problem with BD...what you did is to extend the time a member has to self-fund by two weeks, and then gave them two weeks less of a competitive experience...so you increased their cost yet reduced their benefit. "Since the corps emulates the move-in housing philosophy of the Blue Devils, we will inform the performers that they need to secure housing at the home base until to July 5 as opposed to June 20." While the performance opportunity would be truncated, and that would need to be addressed, their out of pocket cost for move-in housing would not be increased. You failed to mention the Alumni Association offer, and that they are willing to use personal funds to help compensate the added expense to the members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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