Slingerland Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 (edited) Ok, so let's go with $9 per day - that's an additional $46,600 for 50 members (additional, remember). And let's stipulate to the higher fuel costs. (the coach rental and driver costs are very realistic for the corps who know what they're doing; some of the big boys get professional drivers who work for less than what they'd make working for a bus company). If it costs them $90k to add that number of kids, and the members are paying $2800 each (on the low end for most of the WC corps at the top), that's still $50k in net. Regiment was at $3200 last year - for them, this would be an additional $70k in net. I'd go further though, and say that with each new member added, you get the added ancillary benefits of that many more family members who are now potential clients for fundraising exercises, t-shirt sales, etc, etc, so the actual cash value would likely be significantly improved. Again, not saying I think this is necessarily a good idea, but it's also something that could prove beneficial to the handful of corps who would be able to use the increased size. Edited September 4, 2014 by Slingerland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibexpercussion Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 Because it is harder to get into a group should not be a reason to increase the maximum allowable members. Solution to it being harder to get in.....practice more! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornTeacher Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 Because it is harder to get into a group should not be a reason to increase the maximum allowable members. Solution to it being harder to get in.....practice more! You are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Old School!! (P.S. -- I LOVE it!!!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 I totally get that argument, but you could make that argument for setting the member limit at 200, 150, 128, 100, 50, or 25. And it seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face to tell corps to keep cutting potentially qualified members - most of whom will not audition for other corps - because they're not qualified *enough.* (Though I suspect it's mostly academic for all but the top corps anyways - how many corps this year marched a full 150?) Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjf20 Posted September 4, 2014 Author Share Posted September 4, 2014 I completely understand why it's a bad idea, smaller drum corps are dropping like flies, that being said I think the G7 (and maybe some other corps) might push for it like others have already said, although it would be nice to see bigger guards like Boston. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyRyder_FMM Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 The membership level is directly related to bus size, as others have stated. Didn't we go from 128 to 136 to 150 as bus seating increased? I'm pretty sure a few G7 corps have proposed increasing membership size. An extra 10 kids at $3k each adds more to the budget than it costs. Hopefully this won't go through anytime soon. 150 works. Your math is a bit off my friend. Members don't pay half the cost of their membership now. Adding more members does not necessarily help that. Besides, when your busses are at capacity, additional members mean an additional bus. You don't put a 55/56 passenger bus on the road for 10 kids. You put another 50 kids on the field to fill the bus. Another 50 kids means another equipment trailer. It will likely mean a new kitchen trailer. It will mean more staff, which may mean more vehicles for staff. Adding another 50 kids (another bus - the proposal that a couple of corps have in mind) would be the death of the activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyRyder_FMM Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 Would it though? Are the 990's detailed enough to determine this? One more bus lease (and driver, if your corps doesn't have it's own). A full tour fuel increase. 50 more instruments/equip to buy. Space for 50 more instruments/equip to travel (new bigger truck? $$ Or additional truck $$ would be plus more fuel) Increase staff by 1, 2 or 3. Add another 50 headcount to each meal you serve. Uniform an additional 50. Does $150,000 in fees really cover all of this with extra $$ left at the end? The simple answer to your question is NO, it does not cover all the costs of adding 50 more members. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mingusmonk Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 The simple answer to your question is NO, it does not cover all the costs of adding 50 more members. Thanks. I appreciate that you took the time to share your real world experience to the thread. Even if it was the short and simple answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 (Though I suspect it's mostly academic for all but the top corps anyways - how many corps this year marched a full 150?) Mike Most world class corps. I think all of them down to PC and Mandarins were between 140-150. Cascades and Pio are of course much smaller, and I think Surf was a bit lower than the max. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Ah, interesting. Then if we are seeing 15-17 full corps going out, then it seems that we may actually indeed be bumping against top limits, which might suggest a need for expansion. If you can't get more corps, get bigger corps. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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