N.E. Brigand Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 4 hours ago, lcarlton said: Discussions have been around moving finals to different cities. The thing that you have to remember is a lot of the East Coast corps, aren't configured or budgeted to travel outside a 3-4 hour window. So sending Cadets2 or Bucs down to Atlanta is a giant shift in the organization, and though I agree it'd have a huge impact, there would need to be some sort of pay to help compensate those extra costs. The Midwest and Southern DCA corps are already accustomed to travel so going 8 hours for a show isn't a huge hurdle. But what that amounts to is this: "Too bad for corps outside the northeast. They just have to live with that extra expense. Oh well." In other words, even if midwest or southern groups don't think of having to spend more on traveling two or three times as far as a hurdle, it is. It's a cost and commitment that the northeast corps don't have. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 10, 2019 Author Share Posted July 10, 2019 2 hours ago, N.E. Brigand said: But what that amounts to is this: "Too bad for corps outside the northeast. They just have to live with that extra expense. Oh well." In other words, even if midwest or southern groups don't think of having to spend more on traveling two or three times as far as a hurdle, it is. It's a cost and commitment that the northeast corps don't have. i'd travel for finals if feasible. however i have asked this question a zillion times and never gotten an answer...what size crowds are drawn out of the NE? the corps get paid from finals attendance. You have it now if finals are in NY,people from NJ/PA/ etc don't go to it. When it was in Annapolis, people from NY/CT/etc didn't travel to it. moving to a spot half way between Rochester and Annapolis didn't draw more than 4000 tops. Now move finals to Atlanta....how many of them travel? Are there enough fans to compensate? And thats regardless of what weekend you have the show. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 19 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said: I'd travel for finals if feasible. however i have asked this question a zillion times and never gotten an answer... what size crowds are drawn out of the NE? The corps get paid from Finals attendance. You have it now if Finals are in NY, people from NJ/PA/etc. don't go to it. When it was in Annapolis, people from NY/CT/etc didn't travel to it. Moving to a spot halfway between Rochester and Annapolis didn't draw more than 4,000 tops. Now move finals to Atlanta.... how many of them travel? Are there enough fans to compensate? And thats regardless of what weekend you have the show. I knew you'd bring this up, and I think you are correct to do so. But I think it's a chicken-and-egg situation. Drum corps shows get pretty good crowds in many parts of the country. DCA's crowds at championships appear to me to be no bigger than those at some medium-sized regular season DCI shows. But those shows tend to have something of a history and a base of local support to draw on to get the word out. DCA would need to find a dedicated base of volunteers and the money to do heavy advertising. And that's not likely to be possible in the near future. The best DCA can do, probably, is incremental growth. If Cincinnati or Columbus can grow enough of an audience, maybe a championship in the Pittsburgh area could someday could be possible. But until then, maybe just a little something extra to help corps who come from farther away? Doesn't DCI offer some incentive to the corps who travel more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 10, 2019 Author Share Posted July 10, 2019 10 hours ago, N.E. Brigand said: I knew you'd bring this up, and I think you are correct to do so. But I think it's a chicken-and-egg situation. Drum corps shows get pretty good crowds in many parts of the country. DCA's crowds at championships appear to me to be no bigger than those at some medium-sized regular season DCI shows. But those shows tend to have something of a history and a base of local support to draw on to get the word out. DCA would need to find a dedicated base of volunteers and the money to do heavy advertising. And that's not likely to be possible in the near future. The best DCA can do, probably, is incremental growth. If Cincinnati or Columbus can grow enough of an audience, maybe a championship in the Pittsburgh area could someday could be possible. But until then, maybe just a little something extra to help corps who come from farther away? Doesn't DCI offer some incentive to the corps who travel more? The Whole Winston Salem experiment in 2005 was to broaden that base. yes it rained before the show was to start, but $40+ tickets prices for 6 corps in a market no one knew about DCA....what did they expect? They got maybe 3000 people in a mid size NCAA stadium that made the crowd look tiny. Yeah I tied it into a vacation and went, but who made money on it? I doubt anyone, especially since it hasn't been tried again. Oh and across the street at the arena, a monster truck show drew 13,000 people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 12 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said: The Whole Winston Salem experiment in 2005 was to broaden that base. yes it rained before the show was to start, but $40+ tickets prices for 6 corps in a market no one knew about DCA....what did they expect? They got maybe 3000 people in a mid size NCAA stadium that made the crowd look tiny. Yeah I tied it into a vacation and went, but who made money on it? I doubt anyone, especially since it hasn't been tried again. Oh and across the street at the arena, a monster truck show drew 13,000 people. 3,000-3,500 that evening in North Carolina. Yes, the ticket prices were an issue, no question... and so was the bad weather. And the local show crew there might not have quite yet been totally ready for prime time, when it came to hosting a show. But attendance was bigger than some Finals crowds in Rochester, and the would-be venue for the I&E events was top notch, if championships had gone there... so I can't characterize it as a total failure, at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 (edited) 50 minutes ago, Fran Haring said: 3,000-3,500 that evening in North Carolina. Yes, the ticket prices were an issue, no question... and so was the bad weather. And the local show crew there might not have quite yet been totally ready for prime time, when it came to hosting a show. But attendance was bigger than some Finals crowds in Rochester, and the would-be venue for the I&E events was top notch, if championships had gone there... so I can't characterize it as a total failure, at all. I see that Winston-Salem weekend as a missed opportunity (wink). The local chairman, a Sunrisers alumn, told me directly there were just under 3600 tickets sold. That’s impressive under the weather circumstances all day Friday when there was a massive promotion downtown that was cancelled. It was sponsored by a local radio station. Plus, Saturday rain all day up until gates open time. What I found even more motivating, that 3600 was roughly the same paid crowd as the previous Scranton championship that included 3 times the amount of corps and all the other related stuff like Alumni, the Hall of Fame Banquet, etc. Also . . . those who did attend were mainly band groups and other non-drum corps types. Trying Championships there was certainly worth a try! Oh, well. To address another poster, several years ago, there WAS a serious effort to move the event to Pittsburgh. Enough votes from the corps directors was secured. Shockingly, the day of the DCA meeting in New Jersey to formalize the vote, the local Pittsburgh organizing group failed to show-up! No one knew what happened, so bid was awarded to Rochester. Edited July 10, 2019 by Fred Windish New info 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRISP Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said: The Whole Winston Salem experiment in 2005 was to broaden that base. yes it rained before the show was to start, but $40+ tickets prices for 6 corps in a market no one knew about DCA....what did they expect? They got maybe 3000 people in a mid size NCAA stadium that made the crowd look tiny. Yeah I tied it into a vacation and went, but who made money on it? I doubt anyone, especially since it hasn't been tried again. Oh and across the street at the arena, a monster truck show drew 13,000 people. I went to Winston Salem too. It was a nice stadium, but I agree that the weather and ticket prices did no favor for DCA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said: Oh and across the street at the arena, a monster truck show drew 13,000 people. And the Nathan's hot-dog eating contest on July 4 is nationally televised on ESPN. Lots of things outdraw drum corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weaklefthand4ever Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 2 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: The Whole Winston Salem experiment in 2005 was to broaden that base. yes it rained before the show was to start, but $40+ tickets prices for 6 corps in a market no one knew about DCA....what did they expect? They got maybe 3000 people in a mid size NCAA stadium that made the crowd look tiny. Yeah I tied it into a vacation and went, but who made money on it? I doubt anyone, especially since it hasn't been tried again. Oh and across the street at the arena, a monster truck show drew 13,000 people. That show was hell lol. The equipment trucks were what seemed like a zillion miles from the stadium and no entrance to the front sideline for the front ensemble. They had to drag everything through the back entrance, up the right end zone and then left to the front ensemble area. Heat I can take, but this....THIS body is no longer built for the riggors of DCI. That was a DCI type of gig from a logistics standpoint. Also, the only bathrooms we were allowed to use were either in the stadium or a long haul from the sectional and warm up areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 3 hours ago, Fred Windish said: To address another poster, several years ago, there WAS a serious effort to move the event to Pittsburgh. Enough votes from the corps directors was secured. Shockingly, the day of the DCA meeting in New Jersey to formalize the vote, the local Pittsburgh organizing group failed to show-up! No one knew what happened, so bid was awarded to Rochester. I remember that. It seemed like a done deal. Then... not. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.