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YEA suspends operations of Cadets 2 and Lays off 9 Employees


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3 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

And keep in my a lot of dci’ers who have posted here said they could only do DCI one season. So why spend that one year rebuilding a corps for the same amount of money a Finalist would cost.

source:  old threads of mine asking why members march where they march

This point shouldn't be understated, IMO.  If the "average life" of a performer today is just 3yrs (according to the Vaticinate study), then Cadets being gone in one of those three would be a significant impact on a marcher's decision to plant "roots" at a Saturday night contender.

 

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5 minutes ago, garfield said:

Buckner's "Competitive Inertia" theory would agree with you.

LOL. We were just talking about this a few months back when our founder came in to discuss what was going to happen in 2019. Not reacting fast enough to a changing landscape puts you at a disadvantage that cannot be ignored. Oddly enough, they asked every member of leadership in the room to chose which company we would invest in if we could go back 20 years. Most people would choose the typical Microsoft, Samsung, Facebook etc types. I decided immediately on Domino's. They took a chance on the whole internet craze when it was in it's infancy, choosing to ignore the "way things were always done" mentality. 

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8 minutes ago, garfield said:

This point shouldn't be understated, IMO.  If the "average life" of a performer today is just 3yrs (according to the Vaticinate study), then Cadets being gone in one of those three would be a significant impact on a marcher's decision to plant "roots" at a Saturday night contender.

 

Gone one year and “omg how are they going to be first year they come back “ when recruitment starts.   So two years shot there

started with a corps coming back after taking time off. Nothing like Cadets resources or staff but low percentage of experienced members showed

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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12 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

And keep in my a lot of dci’ers who have posted here said they could only do DCI one season. So why spend that one year rebuilding a corps for the same amount of dues, etc a Finalist would cost.

I think you MIGHT get away with it (let's say 1% chance,) if you ended on top (both financially and placement wise,) took a season off to "check the landscape" and then came back the following year with twice the budget and some good information on what corps were heading in which directions. I think a lot of folks thought that's what Star might do but Mr. Cook was smarter than that. 

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1 minute ago, Weaklefthand4ever said:

I think you MIGHT get away with it (let's say 1% chance,) if you ended on top (both financially and placement wise,) took a season off to "check the landscape" and then came back the following year with twice the budget and some good information on what corps were heading in which directions. I think a lot of folks thought that's what Star might do but Mr. Cook was smarter than that. 

I was only thinking Cadets situation here but interesting scenario

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2 hours ago, garfield said:

Sorry, karuna, but, besides being the "Debbie-Downer" that Dans describes above, I'm going to suggest that your business logic is flawed and, whether or not you agree, the numbers don't back up your contention of getting their "financial house in order" at all, much less tout-suite.

The 2016 990 is a mess because the accountant, apparently, couldn't figure out what GH was doing, either, and dumped a whole bunch of expenses into combined buckets that include all of YEA!'s expenses.  But looking at the 2015 version provides clues that suggest the math does not support significant savings by suspending Cadets.

Revenue directly attributed to Cadets in 2015 started with "Tour/Camp/Training fees" of $986m (m=thousands, mm=millions).  Then add in "Program Sponsorship Income" of $595m which is, most likely, equip, unis, and other "in-kind" support for, primarily, Cadets.  Lastly, throw in "Appearance Fees" of $252m and just "rough" income attributed to Cadets totals over $1.8mm.  Most of that income will cease if Cadets are suspended.

Expenses directly attributable to NOT USBands includes rehearsal and tour expense of $491m, transportation expense of $456m and, even if we attribute ALL of the "other expenses" of Program Service to the Cadets (and ignore C2's), it still totals just over $1.5mm.

So, it appears that Cadets "drain" on YEA!'s resources is much less significant than the income that program brings in (even if these numbers don't add up and 2018's numbers will probably look much different).  Then, when you add in the negative affect that closing down Cadets would have on the brand and primary public face of the org, I think that the YEA! leadership did exactly the right thing.

IMO, and only mine, if USBands are the pee-wee leagues, and C2 was the minor league, if YEA! doesn't have any representation in the "Major League", then what's the point?  They COULD run, profitably it appears, both USBands and C2, but cross-platform sponsorships will be made much more difficult without Cadets. Too much talent, organizational, staff, volunteer, and MM would be squandered for the benefit of a few expenses that would likely be dwarfed by the reduction of income from Cadets, it's legacy, and it's future prospects.

Give the new team a chance to show.  It was a tough decision, and a correct one, IMO from safely behind my keyboard.

Perhaps if you saw the real balance sheets you’d sing a different tune.  

Anyway C1 can get around the C2 loss by being super competitive this year.  I just think many are unaware of the extent to which C2 has been propping up the talent at C1.    

Not being a downer — just posting the facts.  As I said earlier, suspending C2 was not an easy choice to make.  I’m not really advocating putting C1 on ice for a season.  C1 is a net drain on YEA but there are a lot of consequences to a hiatus that extend beyond $$.  

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Geez guys...let’s show a little patience here with the people of YEA.  They’re juggling a lot of balls and trying to keep them all in the air.  These are tough times and I know that it was very painful for them to cut C2 loose.  

Keep the faith.  They are righting the ship.  😊

Edited by Terri Schehr
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13 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

Geez guys...let’s show a little patience here with the people of YEA.  They’re juggling a lot of balls and trying to keep them all in the air.  These are tough times and I know that it was very painful for them to cut C2 loose.  

Keep the faith.  They are righting the ship.  😊

I think that's absolutely true in as much as it can be righted at this very moment. We all know that patience and drum corps don't usually lay in the same bed often or for extended periods. Especially from our posterior comfort-friendly positions in the living room (or in my case, from the training room at the moment.) 

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36 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

Geez guys...let’s show a little patience here with the people of YEA.  They’re juggling a lot of balls and trying to keep them all in the air.  These are tough times and I know that it was very painful for them to cut C2 loose.  

Keep the faith.  They are righting the ship.  😊

Thanks for the positive message Terri. The Cadets need love and positive vibes right now!

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3 hours ago, garfield said:

IDK, my understanding is that he was cheaper than dirt and both abused office staff and underpaid them.  At $30m/year, $270m in staff savings is icing on top of the annual sink of C2 because, presumable, much cross-platform work took place between the three divisions of YEA!.  i.e. the Org got much more "return" from these staff than just what was attributable to their C2 efforts.

where are you getting the $270,000 savings figure from? for 9 folks? Or for that matter the $30,000 average salary. I thought I was low balling it :)

and personally I agree with others in this thread - I don't buy a deficit of C2 in the range of $300,000 annually - just using round figures and a close awareness of what they did - I would put the deficit at less than $100,000 

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