Terri Schehr Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 (edited) 8 minutes ago, DAvery said: I guess I am one of those "seat poachers". My wife bought the tickets late this year and our seats were the last row in the top section, about the 20 yd line. I didn't realize (and maybe most of you don't either) these seats have a partially blocked view, as there is a rather large overhang. After two corps the temperature had risen about 15-20 degrees under this overhang. We found a couple of seats about ten rows in from of our seats and sat there the remainder of the show. We fully expected the owners of the seats to appear and we were prepared to return to our seats, but that never happened. Well. If they never showed, no problemo. No one has a problem with that. But when you're parking it in section 140, row 1, seat 11, and then asking the ticket holder for their ticket...problem. I'm going to take my leave from this thread now. Let's hope this is gotten under control. Edited August 16, 2017 by Terri Schehr 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 It's no secret how I feel, and I literally put my money where that feeling is this year. Our pink-shirted gate guard on Thursday was masterful and calmly told everyone entering that the sections were reserved for Friends. Most everyone was a little taken-aback, and some gave us the death stare as they left. I promised the guy I'd give him $1 for each poacher he booted out between shows and he kept it so clean that I stopped counting at 20. As I was leaving, I shoved a $20 bill in his hand and patted him on the back for an excellent job, over his protestations. The next day, I found out he's also a corps board member and he put my $20 into his corps' fuel fund. Over salad he told me about his adventures in volunteering during Finals week. Friday and Saturday, the gate was monitored by one of the long-term volunteers who's in her 60's (or 70's :-)) and still rides her Harley. She did a great job both nights, and it helped that, by that time, DCI had put signs up on the entry door showing exactly the type of plastic ticket needed to get in. Here's my opinion: The Friends program is a very worthwhile and enjoyable club, and everyone should join. You get a little "inside baseball", you get to attend a pretty fancy breakfast and hear from the execs of the activity. I joined in 1984, just a couple of years after the group was founded. For perspective, my first membership was the $25 basic membership and I sat on the perimeter of the Friends section (the first year I was in the endzone!). Today, I pay 100 times that amount and have been sitting in the same 10 seats in LOS since 2009, right smack on the 48 yard line, mid-way up in Sec 240. My name shows up in the program just like all the other Friends, albeit a little higher up the list. In the end, the Friends program survives on the notion that its block are the Good Seats that everyone covets. I'm sorry if it ruffles some feathers that the seats, at $150 each, are outside the budget of many fans, but that shouldn't stop DCI from charging the highest that the market will bear for those premium seats and not a penny less (I hope Dan isn't reading!) It is those who can and will pay those ticket prices for their experience that are exactly the same who pay many times that for premium seats at premium sports events, and DCI is no different. If DCI is going to charge what the market will bear, it is to their great advantage to protect those Friends seats from poachers to retain their coveted position. One person here already was prompted to join Friends specifically for that reason, and many came before him to get the "Good Seats". They're not going to be the Good Seats if one has to constantly do battle to be able to enjoy them. I don't look down my nose at those who don't have my seats, so l don't expect others to look down their nose because I do. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 2 hours ago, BoaDci said: I think open seats are fair game...unless someone tells you not to sit in them, or someone asks you to leave them. Open seats outside the Friends section are "fair game". But not in the Friends block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 1 hour ago, jeffmolnar said: It's the unwritten rule of the stadium. Poachers should leave immediately when confronted, however. And it is the written rule in DCI: The Friends section is not poachable. DCI's "Pink Shirt Brigade" made that point loud and clear this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 16 minutes ago, DAvery said: I guess I am one of those "seat poachers". My wife bought the tickets late this year and our seats were the last row in the top section, about the 20 yd line. I didn't realize (and maybe most of you don't either) these seats have a partially blocked view, as there is a rather large overhang. After two corps the temperature had risen about 15-20 degrees under this overhang. We found a couple of seats about ten rows in from of our seats and sat there the remainder of the show. We fully expected the owners of the seats to appear and we were prepared to return to our seats, but that never happened. I hardly call this seat poaching. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 Seat poachers suck. Scapegoating an entire generation for one bad experience sucks even more 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjoakes Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 5 minutes ago, garfield said: Today, I pay 100 times that amount and have been sitting in the same 10 seats in LOS since 2009, right smack on the 48 yard line, mid-way up in Sec 240. You are at DCI with 9 others? I'm impressed. Looking forward to my lanyard and expensive plastic tag next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 Just now, mjoakes said: You are at DCI with 9 others? I'm impressed. Looking forward to my lanyard and expensive plastic tag next year. Don't be. A few of us are family, a couple are close friends who marched, and the rest are a group of friends who've been buying my extras for almost a decade. Everyone pays for their ticket except my kids. DCI let's me buy ten 3-night tickets at a time and I always do because I know lots of people who want to go and are willing to pay the prices of admission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terri Schehr Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 Just now, garfield said: Don't be. A few of us are family, a couple are close friends who marched, and the rest are a group of friends who've been buying my extras for almost a decade. Everyone pays for their ticket except my kids. DCI let's me buy ten 3-night tickets at a time and I always do because I know lots of people who want to go and are willing to pay the prices of admission. We buy seven 3-night tickets so you have us beat. We do have a blast down there every year. It's like a block party in row 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Schehr Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 I'll keep this simple. I don't care where people sit as long as they don't sit in my seat. Two choices after the usual "you're not so stupid to think someone didn't purchase this seat" then I give them two choices; One - get up, apologize, leave and never come back. Two - I throw you over the railing and you have to explain to the usher how you got on the field. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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