Recruitment Problems, Financial Stress, and Poor Leadership, Oh My!

[BRASSO]

22 minutes ago, KeithHall said:

So there is no doubt that Florida has a ton of talent for drum corps BUT not for a corps in Florida! 

 Other states come to mind too with this. Indiana for one. There is sufficient MM talent in this state. Staffers too. DCI has lots of big shows in this state, lots of exposure, including its World Class, Open, and Regiionals Championships for a lot of years ( way more than the Florida re. shows/ exposure the last 2 decades for certain). But no major World Class  Division  Corps have come out of the state of Indiana since Star of Indiana left the scene over 20 years ago.

Edited April 25, 2018 by BRASSO

[N.E. Brigand]

1 minute ago, BRASSO said:

Other states come to mind too with this. Indiana for one. There's MM talent in that state. Staffers too. DCI has lots of big shows in the state, lots of exposure, including its championships for a lot of years. But no major corps have come out of this state since Star of Indiana left the scene over 20 years ago.

Major corps can draw nationally, though, so the quality of local talent matters less at that point.

[BRASSO]

7 minutes ago, N.E. Brigand said:

Major corps can draw nationally, though, so the quality of local talent matters less at that point.

 True.  the State of Iowa has more DCI Corps/ DCI shows than the State of New York does now too.. Its all changed.

Edited April 25, 2018 by BRASSO

[Lead]

19 minutes ago, BRASSO said:

 Other states come to mind too with this. Indiana for one. There is sufficient MM talent in this state. Staffers too. DCI has lots of big shows in this state, lots of exposure, including its World Class, Open, and Regiionals Championships for a lot of years ( way more than the Florida re. shows/ exposure the last 2 decades for certain). But no major World Class  Division  Corps have come out of the state of Indiana since Star of Indiana left the scene over 20 years ago.

I think a lot of it has to do with the strength of the High School Band programs. Look at the top 2-3 national states for High School Band - Indiana, Texas, Florida - TONS of talent but among those three states, 2 WC corps (Crossmen and Genesis). 

My students have my blessing to march corps, and LOTS of students here (Indiana) march corps... but the notion of fielding a corps has gotten no traction since Star.

[BRASSO]

42 minutes ago, Lead said:

I think a lot of it has to do with the strength of the High School Band programs. Look at the top 2-3 national states for High School Band - Indiana, Texas, Florida - TONS of talent but among those three states, 2 WC corps (Crossmen and Genesis). 

My students have my blessing to march corps, and LOTS of students here (Indiana) march corps... but the notion of fielding a corps has gotten no traction since Star.

 Sounsdsport, WGI are very doable for start ups, imo. Its a whole entire different thing however to put the institutional infrastructure together that can make a sustainable go of it with Open Class/ World Class level type of Corps. And when we get to the top tier of World Class Div. of  DCI, all these Corps have had decades worth of trial and error adjustments they have undergone to make them last for as long as they have. I believe that Carolina Crown is the only Corps to begin as a start up, and then make it to the upper tier of DCI World Class competition in the last 35 years. And it took them 5 years to make it to World Class Div .level, and over as decade from their inception to make it into the upper tier of WC.. Its not easy., Its difficult. It takes both a lot of organizational know how, as well as a lot of fundraising acumen. Florida is by no means the only state to lose its Corps either. Many individual states, as a matter of fact, have lost far more Drum Corps over the years than the combined states of Florida, Texas, and Indiana have ever had in the numbers of Drum Corps in existence in their collective state's histories.

Edited April 25, 2018 by BRASSO

[BigW]

42 minutes ago, Lead said:

I think a lot of it has to do with the strength of the High School Band programs. Look at the top 2-3 national states for High School Band - Indiana, Texas, Florida - TONS of talent but among those three states, 2 WC corps (Crossmen and Genesis). 

My students have my blessing to march corps, and LOTS of students here (Indiana) march corps... but the notion of fielding a corps has gotten no traction since Star.

And that notion was because of a successful businessman with a carefully developed plan with enough seed money to make it happen.

[BRASSO]

7 minutes ago, BigW said:

And that notion was because of a successful businessman with a carefully developed plan with enough seed money to make it happen.

 Yes. I believe you are referring to Bill Cook, Star of Indiana. I believe I also heard that he was the 2nd wealthiest person in the State of Indiana back then..... only behind the Irsay Family that were the owners of the Indianapolis Colts, among other ventures over the years.

Edited April 25, 2018 by BRASSO

[BigW]

1 minute ago, BRASSO said:

 Yes. I believe you are referring to Bill Cook, Star of Indiana. I believe I also heard that he was the 2nd wealthiest person in the State of Indiana back then..... only behind the Irsay Family that were the owners of the Indianapolis Colts, among other ventures.

Yes, indeed. The one thing that impressed me was how he created some enterprises within the corps to make sure it sustained itself and that it wasn't a black hole/money pit for him. Very radical for the time.

[MisterA]

On 4/24/2018 at 12:09 AM, BRASSO said:

 History is not kind to Corps that tell us they " intend to return ".  A few have over the years, but not very many at all..

It does seem that so many corps have gone "inactive" for the one season, but then never return. And other than Magic of Orlando, who was successful their first year back(but still ended up folding again several years later) , most corps end up disappointed in recruitment, and are only a shell of what they used to be. In the last 20 years, we have had returns from Velvet Knights, Emerald Knights/Nite Express, Troopers, and several others, and unfortunately they never quite hit the level that they were at before they folded. Once a corps goes inactive, it is so hard for potential members to commit, as they are always a little unsure of how things are going to go. It is really sad to see a corps fold after a great years performance with 110-150 kids, and then try to return a year or 5 later with 30-50 kids. And while we would all love to see Teal and Glassmen return to the field, many would probably be disappointed when they aren't immediately up to their previous level.

[BRASSO]

7 minutes ago, Lithium Nitro said:

] Like the economy, we may be in a recession but eventually growth will occur given time and effort.

 Your point is a good reminder , ie while most Corps that go inactive either never come back, or never to their former performance levels, there are exceptions to this. You reminded us of the ones that did beat the odds, and did come back. ( oh by the way, economists all agree, the last recession period in the US was from 12/07- 6/09 )