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DCA Championships - How to Fix the Competition Problem


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I am surprised that a corps especially out of the NY/NJ/PA/CT area doesn't do a 2 year plan. Make the most technically difficult show possible and just go to one or two shows the first year of the show, get your butt handed to you in scores, and get good critiques, but don't do it in front of the crowd that will be at DCA the next season. Then that off season start camps in September perfecting the same show and in June everyone will be chasing you all season even if you lose half your practice time that season on bus rides to DCA territory, which would be paid for by the money you saved not going to Rochester the previous year. With 2 years to work on it you should have a technically brilliant very difficult show mastered.

You'd absolutely kill your recruiting if you did that. Kill it dead.

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Championships are in Rochester for a reason. DCA wouldn't have made the arrangements if there wasn't. Does that mean they will be there forever? Probably not. What they need are options, and I am fairly sure that options are being considered. Give Allen and the rest of the DCA staff some time to work through the options. We are committed to Rochester for two more years, I believe. Let's wait and see what's in the cards after that.

Dan

right. I mean i'm no fan of the place, even if 2 huge moments in my life happened there....but I get why it's there.

there's other ways than forcing stupid rules proposals on the corps to get ##### in the seats. all you have to do is look at DCI....3+ years, attendance going up.

and I do think one way to help would be if there was a regular season show or two available to watch online. As more people get to see DCi shows, and ina year like this one where the competition is tight, it helps drive butts into seats. the problem is most of the places DCA holds shows can't support running a feed

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You'd absolutely kill your recruiting if you did that. Kill it dead.

Correct. This reminds me of the model that Formula One uses, especially when they realize their car stinks that season. What makes F1 different is this:

Probably since the beginning of this 2015 season, likely even before, they have dedicated personnel and design staff working on the 2016 car already. When the 2016 car rolls out, the 2015 people become the 2017 designers. If this season's car really stinks- they take the staff that worked on the clunker and throw them into next year's car development early on. If the car is good and competing well, they keep developing the car throughout the season. If not they cut development early in the season and throw their efforts into next season's car.

In effect to do this in DCA, you'd need 2 staffs... and I think two entire corps. What design and instructional staff could keep their heads on and do both simultaneously without losing their ever-lovin' minds? Most likely you'd end up with two very mediocre shows, one being overly simple to the point of being corny and trite and the other over-written. You'd also have to push the members to commit to two year cycles of membership. Some could. But things happen. Money. Family problems. College. Job change. Burn-out. Health. Aaaaaaaand, how to you sell the fact to potential recruits that one year, you'll really stink, the other, have a chance for the medal? That's tough!

Now all that being said, it MIGHT be possible to have a special staff laying out ground for next season's program early on so that more is in place and of this year's program was a stinker, bring in the staff during the season for more input on the next season's program.

This is also fraught with issues. What does it do for the morale of a corps when they see the staff's thrown in the towel and started next year's show already? Who wants to be a part of that and go on the field knowing the management considers the season a failure already? :satisfied: In F1, at least the drivers and team are usually paid very well to do their jobs regardless, not the other way around.

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read the article

response is "oh god no"

1. reduce the emphasis on difficulty? Because "we are old" -- no

2. "retire" a 4 time champion - in other words "put the Bucs out to pasture now and then"

3. DCA Champion is on first??!! No - sucks as a audience member AND punishes success (this IS written by a liberal and you can tell)

4. Emphasize GE on the sheets? No - they picked (just fine) the best and most entertaining units. No one wants to hear Maleguana six times a night Blatissimo with 12 sloppy and unnecessary company fronts

5. "Design Team Draft"???!! What is this, communism? Socialism? What ever it is - this idea fails in an epic manner. FORCE someone to design their competitors program. THAT makes sense - not.

6. Ditch "subjective" judging. No - competition creates excellence. Always has an always will. Besides - Cadets2 will work their brass line for 2016 and may very well beat the Bucs - the corps this all is so clearly aimed at punishing

How about this "fix" instead. GET BETTER & beat the Bucs (or whoever) fair and square. Which is what this is clearly all about.

Edited by George Dixon
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read the article

response is "oh god no"

1. reduce the emphasis on difficulty? Because "we are old" -- no

2. "retire" a 4 time champion - in other words "put the Bucs out to pasture now and then"

3. DCA Champion is on first??!! No - sucks as a audience member AND punishes success (this IS written by a liberal and you can tell)

4. Emphasize GE on the sheets? No - they picked (just fine) the best and most entertaining units. No one wants to hear Maleguana six times a night Blatissimo with 12 sloppy and unnecessary company fronts

5. "Design Team Draft"???!! What is this, communism? Socialism? What ever it is - this idea fails in an epic manner. FORCE someone to design their competitors program. THAT makes sense - not.

6. Ditch "subjective" judging. No - competition creates excellence. Always has an always will. Besides - Cadets2 will work their brass line for 2016 and may very well beat the Bucs - the corps this all is so clearly aimed at punishing

How about this "fix" instead. GET BETTER & beat the Bucs (or whoever) fair and square. Which is what this is clearly all about.

We're overlooking one thing (to an extent)...

The judges.

They're going to do what they're going to do. The performers can only control what they do and whatever the judges decide beyond that should not bear "punishment" to those performers.

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read the article

response is "oh god no"

1. reduce the emphasis on difficulty? Because "we are old" -- no

2. "retire" a 4 time champion - in other words "put the Bucs out to pasture now and then"

3. DCA Champion is on first??!! No - sucks as a audience member AND punishes success (this IS written by a liberal and you can tell)

4. Emphasize GE on the sheets? No - they picked (just fine) the best and most entertaining units. No one wants to hear Maleguana six times a night Blatissimo with 12 sloppy and unnecessary company fronts

5. "Design Team Draft"???!! What is this, communism? Socialism? What ever it is - this idea fails in an epic manner. FORCE someone to design their competitors program. THAT makes sense - not.

6. Ditch "subjective" judging. No - competition creates excellence. Always has an always will. Besides - Cadets2 will work their brass line for 2016 and may very well beat the Bucs - the corps this all is so clearly aimed at punishing

How about this "fix" instead. GET BETTER & beat the Bucs (or whoever) fair and square. Which is what this is clearly all about.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

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We're overlooking one thing (to an extent)...

The judges.

They're going to do what they're going to do. The performers can only control what they do and whatever the judges decide beyond that should not bear "punishment" to those performers.

and the judges direction comes from the corps telling them what they want

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Having judged at many levels for over 30 years, it bothers me that people seem to feel like all judges are corrupt and incompetent. As a whole, judges are highly trained, educated, honest people that are making a call based on their own history and a set of criterion spelled out on the back of the sheets. Whenever you are placed in a position of ranking groups somebody is going to be upset by your opinions. Are there those that are better than others? Of course. Are there some that maybe shouldn't be put in the position they are in? Possibly. But on the whole, they get it right more often than not. We may not like the outcome, but when taken as a whole, they do a pretty amazing job. Having listened to all of our tapes from finals, I was very impressed with most of the commentary. Did I agree with all of their rankings? No. But when all is said and done, I am not prepared to throw them all over a cliff and say the system is flawed and needs to be abandoned. I am a firm believer that if you are putting a good product out there on a consistent basis, people are going to take notice. After all, that is all the performers can do anyway, and that is where I choose to place my efforts.

As always, just my 2 cents.

Dan

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cant believe this is actually a conversation.

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Read the article. Response is, 'Oh, God, no".

1. Reduce the emphasis on difficulty? Because "we are old" -- no.

2. "Retire" a four-time champion -- in other words "put the Bucs out to pasture now and then".

3. DCA Champion is on first??!! No -- sucks as a audience member AND punishes success (this IS written by a liberal and you can tell).

4. Emphasize GE on the sheets? No - they picked (just fine) the best and most entertaining units. No one wants to hear "Malaguena" six times a night blastissimo with twelve sloppy and unnecessary company fronts.

5. "Design Team Draft"???!! What is this, Communism? Socialism? What ever it is -- this idea fails in an epic manner. FORCE someone to design their competitors program. THAT makes sense - not.

6. Ditch "subjective" judging. No -- competition creates excellence. Always has and always will. Besides - Cadets2 will work their brass line for 2016 and may very well beat the Bucs (the corps this all is so clearly aimed at punishing).

How about this "fix" instead. GET BETTER & beat the Bucs (or whoever) fair and square. Which is what this is clearly all about.

Ahem. This liberal, on liberal grounds, agrees with your overall position.

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