Minnesota Brass Returns To Soundsport In 2019

[Jeff Ream]

8 hours ago, BigW said:

Yes, and the problem is then, cutting a week off the back end since all the weeks have been cut off the front end due to Indoor. Are the corps going to design differently to compensate? Loaded question. Something tells me no, and the end result would be sub-par. I also have a hunch it would make another issue worse.

many corps work around indoor

[Jeff Ream]

5 hours ago, gregory11 said:

My question is, " what should DCA do about Labor Day"?  Some organizations aren't excited about making changes.  Many would rather stay the course to prove people wrong, then give in to the masses despite hurting the activity in the long term.  

i'd move it up a week or two, but I wouldn't add it to DCI week. they'd literally be the ######## step children in a week already packed

[BigW]

7 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

many corps work around indoor

Yes, but I keep hearing about people not appearing until April. I know these people are sharp, but they still have to learn program. I think by expanding to include indoor programs, it would make it easier to work around schedule conflicts and prepare in some subtle ways. Another loaded thought.... It appears to me that to many percussion and Guard people, that Indoor is more important than DCA. That apparent change in priorities says an awful lot about certain things.

[Weaklefthand4ever]

2 hours ago, BigW said:

It appears to me that to many percussion and Guard people, that Indoor is more important than DCA. That apparent change in priorities says an awful lot about certain things.

Well, it certainly says that the average age in DCA must be going down. I think indoor still has the 21 year age limit. As those guard and perc folks get a little older, their options will be limited to only one. What I WISH would happen (and probably never will,) is what some other folks have said which would be for DCI to open up an All-Age classification and just have DCI and DCA merge. As screwed up as DCI is at times, they're still far more organized and efficient than DCA is and we could use the help with marketing in DCA. Just MHO

[Jeff Ream]

2 hours ago, Weaklefthand4ever said:

Well, it certainly says that the average age in DCA must be going down. I think indoor still has the 21 year age limit. As those guard and perc folks get a little older, their options will be limited to only one. What I WISH would happen (and probably never will,) is what some other folks have said which would be for DCI to open up an All-Age classification and just have DCI and DCA merge. As screwed up as DCI is at times, they're still far more organized and efficient than DCA is and we could use the help with marketing in DCA. Just MHO

guard in world class has no age limit. Open class goes to 23, A to 22. In percussion it matched DCI.

 

and indoor has exploded in popularity yes, especially in percussion. I mean WGI had to add a 4th day to both sets of finals week this year. But this hasn'r been a new thing, and the successful corps have a structured recruiting plan and know how to schedule to make it work. Bucs guard team is involved in TIA, which goes til the first weekend in May every year, and maybe they haven't won guard, ( in fact I think Fusion has been which also has people involved in TIA)....and they make it work, and it hasn;t hurt either corps. in fact guard has been Fusion's strongest caption for a few years now.

[Weaklefthand4ever]

1 minute ago, Jeff Ream said:

guard in world class has no age limit. Open class goes to 23, A to 22. In percussion it matched DCI.

 

and indoor has exploded in popularity yes, especially in percussion. I mean WGI had to add a 4th day to both sets of finals week this year. But this hasn'r been a new thing, and the successful corps have a structured recruiting plan and know how to schedule to make it work. Bucs guard team is involved in TIA, which goes til the first weekend in May every year, and maybe they haven't won guard, ( in fact I think Fusion has been which also has people involved in TIA)....and they make it work, and it hasn;t hurt either corps. in fact guard has been Fusion's strongest caption for a few years now.

Thanks for clearing that up Jeff. I haven't looked at WGI for a number of years because, quite frankly, since I can't march it, it just doesn't hold a lot of interest for me. At least with Drum Corps, I can always march DCA if I ever wanted to torture my body for another summer. I think I would rather drink beer and grumble from the crowd like all the other old farts. 

 

[BigW]

3 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

guard in world class has no age limit. Open class goes to 23, A to 22. In percussion it matched DCI.

 

and indoor has exploded in popularity yes, especially in percussion. I mean WGI had to add a 4th day to both sets of finals week this year. But this hasn'r been a new thing, and the successful corps have a structured recruiting plan and know how to schedule to make it work. Bucs guard team is involved in TIA, which goes til the first weekend in May every year, and maybe they haven't won guard, ( in fact I think Fusion has been which also has people involved in TIA)....and they make it work, and it hasn;t hurt either corps. in fact guard has been Fusion's strongest caption for a few years now.

Just asking here, Jeff since you have a hand on the indoor pulse. What makes Indoor a more attractive experience? The instruction, chances to perform more, the fact that it's all about percussion or guard with nothing else in the way... some of this...maybe all the above, and more? My thoughts are for DCA that the way out is to think about these things, understand their way through it and try and incorporate those positives.

 

I've been of the thought for some time (And I thank Solaris/JJ's crew for this belief) that the DCA corps need to develop their own Indoor programs within the parent organization as part of a win/win solution.

[Jeff Ream]

12 hours ago, Weaklefthand4ever said:

Thanks for clearing that up Jeff. I haven't looked at WGI for a number of years because, quite frankly, since I can't march it, it just doesn't hold a lot of interest for me. At least with Drum Corps, I can always march DCA if I ever wanted to torture my body for another summer. I think I would rather drink beer and grumble from the crowd like all the other old farts. 

 

Wgi had no percussion when I was eligible, and i really didn't start paying attention til about 15 years ago. Now, it's my favorite niche in the activity

[Jeff Ream]

9 hours ago, BigW said:

Just asking here, Jeff since you have a hand on the indoor pulse. What makes Indoor a more attractive experience? The instruction, chances to perform more, the fact that it's all about percussion or guard with nothing else in the way... some of this...maybe all the above, and more? My thoughts are for DCA that the way out is to think about these things, understand their way through it and try and incorporate those positives.

 

I've been of the thought for some time (And I thank Solaris/JJ's crew for this belief) that the DCA corps need to develop their own Indoor programs within the parent organization as part of a win/win solution.

well.....freedom. it's just the guard, or the percussion or winds ( or in TIA dance and twirlers too!) Shows are shorter, seasons longer and you get more time to develop the show. I haven't taught now since 12, and honestly, you can get more performances in indoor if you go out every week...and some do. The venues for championships are more intimate...even in UD Arena or the Wildwood CC or other venues...not a giant NFL stadium ( or half decent HS stadium). There's freedom for designers to be bold and go into unusual places and experiment. The fans for all of the various indoor idioms are very hardcore to that idiom...listen to some of Tim hintons post WGI podcasts.....people with no affiliation to any group watched over 200 guards across all 3 classes perform this year!

 

Fusion's organization does have a winter guard. When you look at the makeup of many of the NE DCA corps at least, their members are out there in various HS and independent groups already. Putting out an indoor group isnt cheap and it's not like DCA corps are rolling in the dough...even some DCI organizations pulled back on indoor programs. 

[BigW]

2 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

well.....freedom. it's just the guard, or the percussion or winds ( or in TIA dance and twirlers too!) Shows are shorter, seasons longer and you get more time to develop the show. I haven't taught now since 12, and honestly, you can get more performances in indoor if you go out every week...and some do. The venues for championships are more intimate...even in UD Arena or the Wildwood CC or other venues...not a giant NFL stadium ( or half decent HS stadium). There's freedom for designers to be bold and go into unusual places and experiment. The fans for all of the various indoor idioms are very hardcore to that idiom...listen to some of Tim hintons post WGI podcasts.....people with no affiliation to any group watched over 200 guards across all 3 classes perform this year!

 

Fusion's organization does have a winter guard. When you look at the makeup of many of the NE DCA corps at least, their members are out there in various HS and independent groups already. Putting out an indoor group isnt cheap and it's not like DCA corps are rolling in the dough...even some DCI organizations pulled back on indoor programs. 

Maybe then, just thinking... some of the corps need to enter some kind of 'strategic partnership/support/affiliation/friendship/call it what one will' with some of those organizations? I appreciate the explanation- strong points, very strong. And seriously, that's a lot to think hard about and try and work out a good/better situation from.

Edited June 2, 2019 by BigW