Dan Detweiler Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I have been known on occasion to "stir the pot" a bit just to see how riled up people can get. Sorry, but at least I admit it. ;) This is NOT one of those times however. Before I ask my question, I want people to know that this is not an attempt to lash out at any corps for making whatever decisions they feel are needed in their particular situation. That being said, in light of the news that yet another DCI corps has gone belly up in mid season, I am wondering what, if any, safeguards exist before the season starts to ensure that an organization is at least on solid enough financial ground to make a reasonable attempt to tour and make it to Indy. If seems to me that there are 150 sets of parents that invested a ton of money, not to mention time and for some their age out year, to send their child to an organization with the expectation that that corps be able to give them a full summer experience. Does anyone know if DCI has any sort of standards, financial or otherwise, that corps have to meet in order to be cleared to tour? It just seems that so much heartbreak and frustration could be avoided if there was some sort of accountability on the front end before corps get in over their heads. Hate it for those kids. Hate it for those corps. Hate it for the activity. It certainly sheds a very dim light on the activity in the eyes of the general public. Again, I am not trying to be judgmental of Coastal Surge or any other group that has found themselves in this situation. Just wondering if DCI has any policies in place to protect the members and their families before it is too late and they find themselves in this type of predicament. Dan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 (edited) DCI used to have an evaluation process that new members had to go thru in order to secure membership in DCI. For example, DCI requires all membership Corps to have on file with DCI a Liability Insurance policy, naming DCI as Additional Insured, that holds harmless DCI for any legal issues the new membership Corps might incur as far as liability exposures that might occur from such Corps on tour. This protects DCI ( not such Corps, nor Parents, marchers ). DCI also sends out a representative to determine if the Corps is capable of meeting its obligations of touring, and competing. However... as far as I know, DCI does not scrutinize the financial books of any of its membership Corps to determine its fiscal health, nor make judgement calls on its credit worthiness, fiscal shape. Lots of Drum Corps have gone under in the blink of an eye over the years.. usually at the end of tour, and they find themselves broke. But its not entirely rare for Corps to go financially belly up during tours either. One DCI Corps, many years ago, had their Corps go to Europe. While there, the Corps was found to be financially insolvent, marchers were stranded there in Europe, and parents, boosters had to step up to the plate in an emergency to pay for the young Corps members to have the money to transport them back to the US. You raised an interesting question here, imo. Parents really have to do their own due diligence to determine as much as possible the fiscal health of a Corps before committing their financial resources to these Corps on behalf of their Son or Daughter. If they are looking for DCI to do so on their behalf, thats probably a bit naive, imo. Edited July 23, 2015 by BRASSO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 seen this from various angels - inside, outside, donor, board member, and yes - admin it's very tough when this happens - especially so mid season or early in the spring (as it did with the corps I was in charge of) once the kids put in a ton of work already and paid dues etc our biggest priority in the heat of the moment was the members - paying back ALL dues paid, etc - and then helping place those interested in other programs our biggest "issue" in finding ourselves in the position was a lack of good foundation work to begin with (in the 3 years prior to "going live" with an organization), a seriously lack of volunteers, and frankly a lot of folks who didn't hold up their end of the promises made - whether it be time, donations or dollars -- there was certainly plenty of blame to go around the financial "fitness test" DCI now has in place is a great step - but it can only do so much as things can spiral downward quickly drum corps is frankly a huge black hole of money - new corps pay entry fees, buy equipment, buy uniforms, rent practice facilities, buy food, members pay little or no member dues for a "start up" and it spirals down hill from there it's frequently easy to cast blame - be it the "director" or the "administrative team" or the "community" or of course "DCI usually when one of these doesn't work out it is a combination of most of the above - with often volunteer staff and members left in the lurch I aim to start a DCI corps again some day - as my pockets grow deeper I will. Frankly I'd rather just fund it and set it off on a good start than beg and sell tshirts and scrape by The later is only a "pipe dream" all too often 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Dan, You bring us news about the Carolina corps which is new, as is the news. I never saw them actually compete in their short time out. They seemed to me to be more press releases than actual substance; perhaps I am wrong. However, I'm a firm believer that the admin of any corps has to build a strong locally performing ensemble of several seasons before they embrace the national tour model. Otherwise, it's merely adults using kids to hit the big time, a risk unworthy of the kids and the activity as a whole. In short, can the corps stand alone without DCI or does it need DCI in order for the organization to exist. If the second, they should not be included in the national tour. I guess I am still stung by how The Teal Sound kids were stranded in Glens Falls/Ft. Edwards. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 (edited) Dan, You bring us news about the Carolina corps which is new, as is the news. I never saw them actually compete in their short time out. They seemed to me to be more press releases than actual substance; perhaps I am wrong. However, I'm a firm believer that the admin of any corps has to build a strong locally performing ensemble of several seasons before they embrace the national tour model. Otherwise, it's merely adults using kids to hit the big time, a risk unworthy of the kids and the activity as a whole. In short, can the corps stand alone without DCI or does it need DCI in order for the organization to exist. If the second, they should not be included in the national tour. I guess I am still stung by how The Teal Sound kids were stranded in Glens Falls/Ft. Edwards. Totally agree The press release can help "hype up" interest and drive membership - but having been through the experience - I'd very much favor the "low profile, under promise and over deliver" approach in the future... Especially, as you say, when they're are young people involved. Edited July 23, 2015 by George Dixon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Holland Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I think there were underlying items that the admins were hoping would work themselves out. this time it didn't work out. sometimes they expect the show payouts to help, or sponsorship to pick up. really it goes back to not operating within your means. They were in a good spot for membership, with not many corps to recruit against. They were not in the best place to tour from. But there are worse. I think they had the idea that something or someone would come along, as long as everything looked like it was running smoothly, and help them out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortAndFast Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 DCI has a financial audit as a requirement of moving from Open Class to World Class. I don't believe there's any kind of financial scrutiny for Open Class corps, nor for remaining in World Class. So I doubt that DCI performed any kind of oversight here. The sad reality is that fielding a touring drum corps is ridiculously expensive, relative to other youth or music-ed nonprofits. It's much harder to build an organization that can reliably fund a drum corps than it is to be a drum corps. I'm sorry to see another organization fail. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 (edited) I know of more than one Corps Director, in a moment of deep devotion, or crazed desperation ( take your pick ) took out an emegency Heloc ( Home Equity Line of Credit ) on their primary home as a bridge loan to keep their Corps afloat. Just think about this for a moment. Let it wash around in our brains. You own a home. You are giving the bank as collateral for the loan your home. If you should default and can't pay back the bridge loan in the time required as a condition for the loan, the bank collects on their loan loss by foreclosing on your home, and you are on the street homeless, or you seek out friends, relatives to give you and your bride and kids a temporary room to stay off the streets and not joining the ranks of the homeless. Thankfully, the Corps Directors I know that did this, were able to keep their homes in the end... but their Corps ultimately went belly up, and are now long gone. Running a start up Drum Corps is not for the feint of heart, no siree Bob. Edited July 23, 2015 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I never saw them actually compete in their short time out. They seemed to me to be more press releases than actual substance; perhaps I am wrong. I was late getting to the first Pittsburgh show in 2013, a year in which Coastal Surge played in exhibition at a handful of shows, as I arrived just in time to see them exiting the field after they performed. I did see them play twice last year, both at Avon Lake and at the O.C. Finals in Michigan City. Their score at the latter was 64.575, which put them in eleventh place and less than a point behind the Colt Cadets. Based on the satisfactory show I saw, "A Southern Saga: Scenes from the Charlestowne Harbor", that felt like the right placement--and a more than respectable result for a corps' first year in competition. None of which says anything about their finances. Just a few weeks earlier in 2014, there had been a call for funding support on these forums posted by one of the members, which even then seemed like a bad omen. The life of a drum corps is precarious. Just last week, I posted this list of the corps who went active and inactive (in competition) over the past five years. But that's far from the full story. For instance, does everyone remember that just two seasons ago, Music City announced in the fall that they were shutting down--only to be resurrected a couple months later? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 (edited) Yes, Music City and every DCI touring corps has to ask where will the $700,000 needed each year come from?* * I am picking a large average of the costs and budgets of corps fielding a full ensemble and who participate in several weeks of the DCI national tour. Cf, "Garfield" the poster and numerous threads elsewhere on DCP for greater details. Edited July 23, 2015 by xandandl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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