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DCA Predictions for 2015


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Kamaraq said that he would like to see DCA change the mini corps venue to a SoundSport type venue.

I say we like it as it is! They developed SoundSport after viewing the pioneers of the DCA mini corps event. There have been Class A corps that started as a mini corps. The biggest problem is that DCA has still failed to embrace the mini corps as a part of weekend. For the record, 2015 will be the Ghost Riders 20th anniversary as a continuous mini corps entry!!!!

My next prediction is that the White Sabers will go open class. I have no actual knowledge of this, but I strong gut feeling that it will happen. After 2 years of scoring well enough to be an open finalist, it is probably time to do so.

Donny Drum Corps

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Kamaraq said that he would like to see DCA change the mini corps venue to a SoundSport type venue.

I say we like it as it is! They developed SoundSport after viewing the pioneers of the DCA mini corps event. There have been Class A corps that started as a mini corps. The biggest problem is that DCA has still failed to embrace the mini corps as a part of weekend. For the record, 2015 will be the Ghost Riders 20th anniversary as a continuous mini corps entry!!!!

My next prediction is that the White Sabers will go open class. I have no actual knowledge of this, but I strong gut feeling that it will happen. After 2 years of scoring well enough to be an open finalist, it is probably time to do so.

Donny Drum Corps

quick question....as DCA weekend is set up to help make money for the member corps, how could DCA do this? I mean they set minis up as the main event at i&e, it easily gets the lions share of attention for that event.....what else could they do?

I have ideas, but....it would involve ticket prices. And that, IMO, would hurt mini corps far more than help it.

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what I am saying is there may be still be some activity in western and central NYS, had this idea been embraced for more than one show at DCA championship weekend. Empire had to travel 6 hours because there were no shows. If DCA could have put a mini corps category into these shows as one competition, a class A competition, and open competition, and alumni exhibitions such as St Joes, Scout House, Hamburg Kingsmen, United Alumni, Militaires. et al...would there still be shows in western and central NYS? Perhaps even a regional contest sometime in late July to tune up before DCA...who knows?

You just said, DCA weekend is set up to make money for the "member corps" only. I just said that mini corps and Alumni corps performances other than on DCA weekend should/could have been considered as members of DCA. Bring up mini corps or the Alumni corps at DCA congress and see the reaction you will get from the elite "member" corps.

There are still a ton of performances that we do all year round with Ghost Riders. Parades, BHOF, stage exhibitions and the like...now there are groups popping up like SDCA, SoundSport, the BHOF shows, Alumni shows, military tattoos, and DCA "non-member" corps are being offered significant funds or a chance to perform and to participate in. DCA could think outside the box of what the definition of member corps is before they are all doing soundsport, SDCA or BHOF shows. I am just saying...there are shows that being offered that are not DCA shows.

DA

Edited by Donny Drum Corps
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what I am saying is there may be still be some activity in western and central NYS, had this idea been embraced for more than one show at DCA championship weekend. Empire had to travel 6 hours because there were no shows. If DCA could have put a mini corps category into these shows as one competition, a class A competition, and open competition, and alumni exhibitions such as St Joes, Scout House, Hamburg Kingsmen, United Alumni, Militaires. et al...would there still be shows in western and central NYS? Perhaps even a regional contest sometime in late July to tune up before DCA...who knows?

You just said, DCA weekend is set up to make money for the "member corps" only. I just said that mini corps and Alumni corps performances other than on DCA weekend should/could have been considered as members of DCA. Bring up mini corps or the Alumni corps at DCA congress and see the reaction you will get from the elite "member" corps.

There are still a ton of performances that we do all year round with Ghost Riders. Parades, BHOF, stage exhibitions and the like...now there are groups popping up like SDCA, SoundSport, the BHOF shows, Alumni shows, military tattoos, and DCA "non-member" corps are being offered significant funds or a chance to perform and to participate in. DCA could think outside the box of what the definition of member corps is before they are all doing soundsport, SDCA or BHOF shows. I am just saying...there are shows that being offered that are not DCA shows.

DA

ok...but....if you let minis into regular season shows, they'll want cash. Will a sponsor pay that or be willing to pay that?

DCA doesn't have the deepest judging pool in the world, so you'd be asking them to bring in a panel where 3/4 people do the lions share of the work then add in an A or Open corps...again,....money issues for the host?

and...to get the definition of a member corps changed, you have to get the member corps to agree. so instead of splitting the pie 10-12 ways, no you're looking at 15-18 ways? Again, to do that...you need to sell tickets for minis on finals weekend. Then, you're also looking at the probability of licensing issues again, which I know more than a few complained about.....so any $$ minis could make goes right back out the window.

the best thing DCA could do is maybe make their own division, where they don't touch the pie the member corps get now. But to make it worth their while...tickets for mini events at finals.

The bottom line to me, seems like a question I ask time and time again when someone says "move finals here"......will minis put enough paying ##### every 18 inches ( aka in a seat0 to justify the changes. I know the numbers from when Five Star tried to run a minis show with ticket prices....it wasn't good.

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Ok...but when asked about DCA just past 2014...more fans (than not) said the 2 most entertaining corps of the whole weekend were Star United and Ghost Riders. Others might say Cabs Alumni and Bridgemen Alumni were the most entertaining. Many people I talked to, including savvy veteran fans, were walking out of prelims and finals complaining about the lack of "entertaining" corps and shows that were becoming similar in design qualities.

Believe me Jeff...I know about this whole (only for the member corps) situation. But there are other parts of the DCA experience that just don't get the respect that the WHOLE experience of a DCA weekend entails, that includes the Alumni show. When people come to their first DCA, they go home talking about not just the member corps, they talk about the whole weekend experience. For me that should be a selling point that makes it different from the DCI experience. Now DCI is catching on with the drum battles and soundsport venues. They got that idea from DCA...believe me.

The Five Star show was during the day of one of the biggest stage shows of the drum corps world, and most corps members that could have been at that mini corps show were practicing. That cut down drastically the fan base that "would be" ticket buyers, IMO. While I applaud the 5 star guys for doing this, they would have to figure this to happen. Would they have come if they weren't practicing? I am not sure, but would venture to say "maybe" at least.

No big deal...I am just thinking out loud. I believe that is more than DCA brass may be doing on how preserve the activity and the circuit itself, I may be wrong, I have been wrong ,many times.

DA

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Ok...but when asked about DCA just past 2014...more fans (than not) said the 2 most entertaining corps of the whole weekend were Star United and Ghost Riders. Others might say Cabs Alumni and Bridgemen Alumni were the most entertaining. Many people I talked to, including savvy veteran fans, were walking out of prelims and finals complaining about the lack of "entertaining" corps and shows that were becoming similar in design qualities.

Cite your source. And no, anecdotal evidence doesn't count.

Seriously, mini-corps is cool. The DCA mini-corps championship is cool. Mini-corps in exhibition to fill ten minutes at the start or end of a regular show? Somewhat cool. A mini-corps division in competition at regular season shows? Not at all cool, and a likely disaster as they are absolutely no real draw, and for all the financial reasons Jeff stated above. You want to see more fan in the lot watching warmups? Add a mini-corps division during the season.

Mini-corps deserve their own show, with their own venue...where *they* are the focus. It works at DCA (with a great deal of help from the cash bar), but it would work even better on a regular basis in conjunction with SoundSport. That's why I suggested a move to SoundSport rules, which would amount to no change at all for existing mini-corps. SoundSport is going to grow leaps and bounds over the next few years, especially in conjunction with WGI Winds. If anything, mini-corps need to jump on that bandwagon, and compete during indoor season.

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So mini corps and alumni corps don't compete. Maybe I said that wrong. They still could be used to fill in the gaps where there are not enough corps that do compete.

Again...just thinking out loud. Alumni corps and mini corps are just not considered as part of DCA, even though they are. That is the point of all of this.

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Ok...but when asked about DCA just past 2014...more fans (than not) said the 2 most entertaining corps of the whole weekend were Star United and Ghost Riders. Others might say Cabs Alumni and Bridgemen Alumni were the most entertaining. Many people I talked to, including savvy veteran fans, were walking out of prelims and finals complaining about the lack of "entertaining" corps and shows that were becoming similar in design qualities.

Believe me Jeff...I know about this whole (only for the member corps) situation. But there are other parts of the DCA experience that just don't get the respect that the WHOLE experience of a DCA weekend entails, that includes the Alumni show. When people come to their first DCA, they go home talking about not just the member corps, they talk about the whole weekend experience. For me that should be a selling point that makes it different from the DCI experience. Now DCI is catching on with the drum battles and soundsport venues. They got that idea from DCA...believe me.

The Five Star show was during the day of one of the biggest stage shows of the drum corps world, and most corps members that could have been at that mini corps show were practicing. That cut down drastically the fan base that "would be" ticket buyers, IMO. While I applaud the 5 star guys for doing this, they would have to figure this to happen. Would they have come if they weren't practicing? I am not sure, but would venture to say "maybe" at least.

No big deal...I am just thinking out loud. I believe that is more than DCA brass may be doing on how preserve the activity and the circuit itself, I may be wrong, I have been wrong ,many times.

DA

Well, then let me ask this when it comes to being asked about who enjoyed what:

how many people paid to watch the corps at the stadium?

How many people for free showed up to watch minis?

Now the only mini I saw was Star online, and I liked them, but I was far more intrigued by the shows on the field, and have been for several years. I think I last hit the minis show in 08, and really, tired of the whole scene. A part of the reason was the mini's weren't IMO, getting the attention they deserved from the fans there...they were too into the social aspects. And, lol, when Star came on, there was quite a bit of "this aint drum corps classical music blah blah blah" going on behind me.

I like the alumni show, but Donny...as the activity evolves and the fan base changes.....younger audiences just aren't that into old style drum corps. I could watch Cabs alumni every week. Many of the corps there....anymore....I have no interest in paying to see again. I really don't.

I know westshore scheduled time off for the minis show. I saw 8 members there besides myself. I asked people "hey why weren't you there?" #1 answer...no interest.

Mini corps is a great thing. But the popularity is not at the level of whats on the field, and I don't think it ever will be. And, if you want to talk respect...well, if you want more respect, generate money for DCA. You do that, then opinions may change. If I'm teaching a corps, and i'm in the hunt, no offense to minis, rehearsal time is far better for my corps than watching and I quote " a bunch of old guys trying to see who can play the highest notes...oh and Star"

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So mini corps and alumni corps don't compete. Maybe I said that wrong. They still could be used to fill in the gaps where there are not enough corps that do compete.

Again...just thinking out loud. Alumni corps and mini corps are just not considered as part of DCA, even though they are. That is the point of all of this.

actually Donnie, I think only the minis and alumni corps...and not all of them...consider themselves part of DCA. The bylaws of DCA make it pretty clear and always have about who is part of DCA.

And alumni corps is facing it's own issue.....corps need to adapt to draw in younger bodies. The fan base that wants to see 60's style shows is slowly dying off.

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The mini corps I write for and teach is far from a bunch of old guys trying to see who can hit the highest note, and you know that. We have some old guys in the baritone line that still can play. However, the last several years have been Star and Ghost Riders and whoever else shows up. This will be the Ghost Riders 20th year in DCA competition as hard as that may be to believe. Last year's show was very diverse with the different groups that came in.

But I digress, pretend I didn't say anything about the topic. I know better than to come over here and say something that is not the norm, so I will go back to Facebook now.

DA

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