ErieSopMike Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 (edited) Mike hits on one of the real issues at hand when starting up or maintaining a corps. I can teach. I can play. Put a dollar sign on it and I'm in trouble. Many of us in the activity are. Too many examples of folks like me figuring the money will flow like spice on Arrakis and will take care of itself, and the corps folds through their ignorance. I know better about myself and what I cannot do well. Growing a team is the way to go. Many models and paths are available to do it. But most importantly the business end of things underpinning the team has to grow and be sustainable, and people like me need people they can trust to make sure that happens. Thank God Westshore had Larry, Craig, and Chuck BITD doing exactly that for us. Whether Larry Hershman meant to do this, he did really impress on me from a young age that the business end of the corps had to be spot on, well-run, transparent, and sustainable for anything worthwhile to take place. The problem is that I don't know beans about how exactly to do that. Well, you sir, are one that I'd love to work with on seeing what could be done. I'm not a financial genius, nor does any one person have to be (if you are one, that's a plus, lol) but a few meetings, phone calls/emails and some time, who knows what you can come up with. I've learned that it's okay to contact other corps and see what they did, are doing. Does that mean you'll follow what another group did down to the last dot? no. But it can help to establish a framework from which to build upon. Edited September 23, 2015 by ErieSopMike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucbari Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Ahem...I think a group that used to be called "Holy Name" might also have a shot at being called the Big One! You are of course right on as well...and there are more! I used to compete in the GSC at shows with St Andrews...note I don't say "compete against", given the 15-20 points between us. We did have one thing in common...brass guy Bucky Swan. My first corps the Raiders of 88 was in the GSC and like you my first instructor was the aforementioned Mr. Swan. The best thing the Buccaneers have done is that some DCA corps have stepped up their game - Cabs, Fusion Corps, CV and of course MBI. Some corps weren't able to keep up fell by the wayside. This is -harshly as it may appear- a part of the evolutionary process. I also question if there is less , what I would call institutional loyalty to DCA corps today then BITD and this is hurting both competition and attendance at shows. A MM marches a year or 2 with C2 as an example and then moves on to a top12 DCI corps and then that's it. In Sunrisers and Bucs when I marched we had people that marched 10 or even 15 years and after they stopped marching they always went to shows. With the current MM paradigm is that the case today? I don't think so. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightmareBC Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 I also question if there is less , what I would call institutional loyalty to DCA corps today then BITD and this is hurting both competition and attendance at shows. A MM marches a year or 2 with C2 as an example and then moves on to a top12 DCI corps and then that's it. In Sunrisers and Bucs when I marched we had people that marched 10 or even 15 years and after they stopped marching they always went to shows. With the current MM paradigm is that the case today? I don't think so. I respectfully disagree with your last statement. However I will concede that the scales are tipped a little bit more towards members spending a few years at a corps to gain experience and then go to DCI. Yet I can tell you from personal experience that there are still plenty of members who stick around for years. I personally just finished my 10th year, there are two people who also finished their tenth year with me. There are also people who finished their 11th, 15th, 17th, etc. So that is still very much the case in today's atmosphere. More importantly though, even if people aren't marching, the next year you can probably see them at the home show, and the year after. Even though more members may be using DCA as a chance to gain experience, they still make connections with the people around them and gain a family atmosphere. People stop marching for a bunch of reasons, but my personal experience is that everyone shows up again in one way or another for the people. That hasn't changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 i can honestly say of the 128 people i marched with my last year in 1996, maybe 10 go to DCA events Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyGuy66 Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 I agree Jeff. For all the years I marched Cabs (10) I see very few that I marched with still attending DCA regular season shows and even fewer of them at championship weekend. It just may be the demands of life. People get married, start families, buy homes, work commitments, finances, interests change etc etc. I guess there are a myriad of reasons. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 I agree Jeff. For all the years I marched Cabs (10) I see very few that I marched with still attending DCA regular season shows and even fewer of them at championship weekend. It just may be the demands of life. People get married, start families, buy homes, work commitments, finances, interests change etc etc. I guess there are a myriad of reasons. exactly. tons of reasons. when finals were in MD, I did a slight jump in the attendees....but IMO, the loss of the Hershey show killed the connections for many of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucbari Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 (edited) i can honestly say of the 128 people i marched with my last year in 1996, maybe 10 go to DCA events And we're talking almost 20 years ago Jeff. Has the disconnect gotten worse? Edited September 28, 2015 by Bucbari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucbari Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Cheer up! If they gave a trophy for trashing hotel rooms, Renegades would win every year! Maybe this is the solution. ahhhhh...some stories, for legal reasons need to stay in the vault, would curl your hair about the Sunrisers in the 80's. IM Fran and he would enlighten you. And we were called "the milk and cookies kids". The Renegades? Rank amateurs compared to Sun...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Holland Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 I'll comment on members coming the reverse. When I marched (Jr corps), i knew a few people who would then go fill holes, but never actually joined a DCA corps for a full season. I have students now that came off of DCI tour, and went to plug a few holes, but have no intention of joining DCA for real. They said that when you come from one set of expectations, to another, it changes the game, and it wasn't their cup of tea. It wasn't bad, just different. They said they might plug a hole in the future, and one said they might consider joining for a real season, but their experience wasn't so amazing that they got excited about it. It was more of a... "i guess if I don't have something else to do..." remark I got. Myself, I have no desire to march ever again. I do enjoy teaching, and playing onstage which is where I belong now, but I have friends who marched DCA, and once they felt it was time to retire, they attended finals or shows maybe once, or twice, but it didn't stay a constant in their life. I will say those that marched DCI, tend to attempt to go to shows more often than my friends who marched DCA. I think maybe its because you can only do it for a finite amount of time, and then you don't get to do it anymore, whereas DCA has a feeling to some of them as "I can always go back if I want to". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 ahhhhh...some stories, for legal reasons need to stay in the vault, would curl your hair about the Sunrisers in the 80's. IM Fran and he would enlighten you. And we were called "the milk and cookies kids". The Renegades? Rank amateurs compared to Sun...lol Without going into detail.... there is a considerable amount of truth in this post. The 1970s and 80s with a certain corps... well... not for the faint of heart. LOL. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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