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3 hours ago, Sutasaurus said:

Thank you for this additional information. My question now is: Why does a drum corps need a $2M operational budget? Is it keeping up with the Joneses? Why has it come to this? Ok, so tour fees don’t play that large a part in a competitive corps’ budget but the fact is that many talented would be students, designers, etc are getting priced out of the game because of DCI’s business model.

food, fuel, insurance and housing.

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1 hour ago, Mello Dude said:

No, that is money used to transport a ton of stuff around the country.  I suppose if you are resume padding you could add "professional prop mover".  It's the cost of remaining competitive  or as I say it more plainly, "buying your way to more points".  Seriously, it's being WAY overdone anymore.

 

This is sort of my point. When does the spending on smoke and mirrors stop and those dollars released to bring the activity to more individuals. Trust me, I know it’s a broad concept but how far does the current trend go before it blows up in their faces?

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1 hour ago, Mello Dude said:

No, that is money used to transport a ton of stuff around the country.  I suppose if you are resume padding you could add "professional prop mover".  It's the cost of remaining competitive  or as I say it more plainly, "buying your way to more points".  Seriously, it's being WAY overdone anymore.

 

they feed the kids, staff, admin and volunteers 3/4 meals a day and snacks...not cheap. schools to rehearse in don't come free very often anymore. insurance....not good. and yes fuel...and one truck for props is at best 1/5th of the fuel budget

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2 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

they feed the kids, staff, admin and volunteers 3/4 meals a day and snacks...not cheap. schools to rehearse in don't come free very often anymore. insurance....not good. and yes fuel...and one truck for props is at best 1/5th of the fuel budget

Yes, it is expensive to operate a circus. It’s a shame that's what modern day drum corps has become...a traveling circus... props included. 

Getting back to the original debate, if a regional model returned to drum corps, more local units would be able to prosper This would offer opportunities to a whole new raft of women, people of color and LGBTQ individuals. Let the winners of the regional competitions  go to finals. The national touring model is stunting the growth of the activity. DCI was built on local organizations and then they were forgotten.

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1 hour ago, Sutasaurus said:

Yes, it is expensive to operate a circus. It’s a shame that's what modern day drum corps has become...a traveling circus... props included. 

Getting back to the original debate, if a regional model returned to drum corps, more local units would be able to prosper This would offer opportunities to a whole new raft of women, people of color and LGBTQ individuals. Let the winners of the regional competitions  go to finals. The national touring model is stunting the growth of the activity. DCI was built on local organizations and then they were forgotten.

A Shame? A circus? well that's a pretty disrespectful statement toward todays drum corps, ALTHOUGH a circus does make a lot of people happy. With that said, ever consider if not for todays traveling circus as you put it and the evolution of drum corps, there may not even be an activity today ? Most local, take kids off the streets, civic as well as church organizations , etc etc have long been gone and for many reasons. In many ways the evolution thanks to many drum corps people HS band has filled that void. Even running just a local percussion line or a guard and the huge cost involved with few people, try securing a part time rehearsal facility, fees for joining local and national circuits, costuming, equipment, etc. Nothing is cheap or Free as Jeff stated.

I was part of the early days of DCI, taught ( teach ), judge, have directed and designed ( as you did ) for me as much as I loved what I did as a MM I would have loved to be on that end of the activity today. 

Also as far as offering a NEW raft of people like women, people of color,or LGBTQ individuals opportunity, what makes you think this hasn't been going on for decades already.

You are right drum corps as well as many long gone organizations were built locally . KIds today aren't looking to just get out of the house, not hang out on a corner,etc etc.Kids today have way more choices than we did BITD

Maybe I'm just misunderstanding your statement , SO if I am my apologies.  If I'm not...…….well......😬

Edited by GUARDLING
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8 hours ago, Sutasaurus said:

I resemble that remark!. The only point I’m tryin’ to make is DCI has become elitist. Make it more affordable for people and the activity will grow.

DCI absolutely is elitist.

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2 hours ago, Sutasaurus said:

Yes, it is expensive to operate a circus. It’s a shame that's what modern day drum corps has become...a traveling circus... props included. 

Getting back to the original debate, if a regional model returned to drum corps, more local units would be able to prosper This would offer opportunities to a whole new raft of women, people of color and LGBTQ individuals. Let the winners of the regional competitions  go to finals. The national touring model is stunting the growth of the activity. DCI was built on local organizations and then they were forgotten.

Yes Suta! You're speaking my language. Regionalising this activity and a more local effort from a recruiting and competition aspect is the answer. The current model of worldwide & national recruiting and national touring is NOT sustainable. Regionalize the activity to 4 regions with corps competing against other corps within their region, with one mid season show with all corps in the USA, then the top 3 corps in the North, South, East, West in each region make finals.

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Count me in as a fan of substantial change.  As a parent of two performers for the past 5 years, it’s very clear that the arms race in the WC corps is driving costs up for members.  I can safely say that the total cost of having 2 kids march every year is in the five figure range (tour fees, travel to camps, show tickets, etc).  And if you dare to figure in the opportunity cost of all the parents’ time volunteering on the national tour, or even the kids’ lost opportunity for summer internships, this is a really really costly thing for the average household to absorb.

Consider this too - right now much of the fan base is older folks who marched in the 60s, 70s, 80s (count me in) and have the resources to pay thousands to travel and watch.  But we were part of this when there were hundreds of corps on tour.  Now there are at most 40, so the future base of passionate fans will be a lot smaller.  You can only put so many parents in the stands.  And the financial pressure on the remaining corps is substantial, so the numbers are going to keep going down IMHO.

Who will be watching this 10 or 20 years from now?  How many corps can continue to survive the financial arms race that is built to protect the top crust of the activity from any threat of parity?  

I for one have little interest in buying tickets once my kids are done performing.  Who wants to pay big 💰 to go watch the same 2 or 3 corps win every year? <yawn>

A different competitive model that lowers the financial barrier to entry will broaden the base and make drum corps more interesting.  I just can’t see this activity being relevant if it doesn’t change.

 

Edited by WaxDCIFan
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