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Will DCA be around in 5 years?


Will DCA be around in 5 years?  

99 members have voted

  1. 1. Will DCA be around in 5 years?

    • Yes
      33
    • No
      66


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56 minutes ago, Fran Haring said:

It's been a good starting point, I agree. 

It is a starting point. And it's shown some success. I'll admit that. Do I feel it's somewhat apples to oranges...yes. It doesn't make it bad or invalidate the product at all. I'm certainly not opposed to DCI or to Soundsport. I do, however contend that DCI has done very little to move the activity forward regarding the topic that I was discussing which is to broaden the base level. Their PR is pretty poor and advertising the activity to the masses to get butts in seats has been negligeable. DCA for their part has done less. 

Do I know how do fix it? Absolutely not. Do I bash DCI and corps on a regular basis? No I don't. Am I howling at the moon about the demise of the activity? Nope. (And for the record I don't believe that to be the goal of the OP's original thread) I believe that DCA will still be around in 5 years. I also believe that maybe...just maybe...DCI and DCA should be part of the same governing body. DCI has access to staff and revenue that DCA doesn't. 

I think both organizations care significantly for their members and the product which we see. So how do they/we move it forward?

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6 hours ago, Poppycock said:

Question to those who follow that side of the activity.

To recruit a younger audience, why would anyone hold a Championship on Labor Day weekend? That younger audience is doing halftime performances with either their high school or college marching bands.

DCI Championships are held each year at the same time so staff and MM’s can get to their band camps and also begin school. 

What value is there to DCI to absorb essentially a circuit the would be in contrast to their mission, not to mention their Saturday morning SoundSport and DrumLine battles. 

With all the events going on during DCI week most people are burned out come Saturday morning. Sunday is corps banquets and a travel day. I doubt there would be a lot of interest to attend another event with all-age groups.

Unless these organizations can afford a limited Open Class tour schedule, WGI Winds might be their best option for the future. WGI has a large footprint for performance opportunities. 

Some valid points. I do believe that DCI would be able to better manage a schedule that would benefit a DCA type of activity. The Labor Day thing has been a topic of discussion for a LONG time ans you're 100% correct that it works against the activity. DCA corps would have to be willing to flex to meet a DCI schedule. 

DCA corps often perform at DCI shows. The butts are already in the seats and id DCI is, in fact, starting to attract a younger audience, then you already have a ready made platform of sorts. Judge the DCA corps on DCA sheets and let those numbers stand. Advertise a little and let the young folks know about DCA as a stepping stone or an after age out type of deal. I think the corps could possibly afford it given the audience numbers will be stronger. But I don't know how that works. The biggest problem I see is that the DCA corps could probably only do weekend DCI shows with maybe 1 or 2 weekday shows sprinkled in. I know in the South, there are at least 5 or 6 shows within easy traveling distance of Atlanta. That's a far smaller financial burden then say a trip up north for a southern corps. 

Just a thought. And some very valid points Poppy.

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8 hours ago, coloradocorp said:

corp numbers continue to drop for various reasons as do the number of shows.  There was one show night down South with ONE (1) corp.   That aside, I believe that part of the reason for DCA staying in biz has been the Alumni corp performances.  It put more butts in seats esp at Finals Week.  There are now fewer Alumni corps as we all 'age out' and interest dwindles. Relegating the Alumni show to an indoor standstill - pretty bad biz decision.  For those who truly enjoy DCA in its current form , I hope it survives. 

 

the alumni show barely breaks even.

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8 hours ago, Weaklefthand4ever said:

It's hard to imagine that an organization can be WORSE at PR, Advertising and moving the product forward to the next generation than DCI. But...uh....yeahhhh...DCA sucks at it. 

DCI blows DCA away.

 

multiple changes need to happen. Dunno if they will....but I am hearing rumors that may shake some #### up this off season

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36 minutes ago, Weaklefthand4ever said:

It is a starting point. And it's shown some success. I'll admit that. Do I feel it's somewhat apples to oranges...yes. It doesn't make it bad or invalidate the product at all. I'm certainly not opposed to DCI or to Soundsport. I do, however contend that DCI has done very little to move the activity forward regarding the topic that I was discussing which is to broaden the base level. Their PR is pretty poor and advertising the activity to the masses to get butts in seats has been negligeable. DCA for their part has done less. 

Do I know how do fix it? Absolutely not. Do I bash DCI and corps on a regular basis? No I don't. Am I howling at the moon about the demise of the activity? Nope. (And for the record I don't believe that to be the goal of the OP's original thread) I believe that DCA will still be around in 5 years. I also believe that maybe...just maybe...DCI and DCA should be part of the same governing body. DCI has access to staff and revenue that DCA doesn't. 

I think both organizations care significantly for their members and the product which we see. So how do they/we move it forward?

something will be around in 5 years. Not sure it'll be called DCA

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11 minutes ago, Weaklefthand4ever said:

Judge the DCA corps on DCA sheets and let those numbers stand. 

Why! What’s wrong with the DCI sheets? Logic dictates that both criterion and evaluation would be consistent with all corps completing in a DCI show. DCI sheets are fine for Open and World Class, they should  be fine for DCI all age too. Scores would remain relevant to all classes.  An Open Class corps could out score a World Class corps, so the same would apply to all age. 

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Just now, Poppycock said:

Why! What’s wrong with the DCI sheets? Logic dictates that both criterion and evaluation would be consistent with all corps completing in a DCI show. DCI sheets are fine for Open and World Class, they should  be fine for DCI all age too. Scores would remain relevant to all classes.  An Open Class corps could out score a World Class corps, so the same would apply to all age. 

as all age corps are mostly weekend, you'd see corps breaking 40 at finals....getting medals

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4 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

as all age corps are mostly weekend, you'd see corps breaking 40 at finals....getting medals

Doesn’t change the placements. Why pretend to be something they’re not? I’m now understanding the problem. No one wants to really change anything. 

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15 minutes ago, Poppycock said:

Doesn’t change the placements. Why pretend to be something they’re not? I’m now understanding the problem. No one wants to really change anything. 

I don't think they're pretending to be something they're not.  DCA Corps =/= DCI corps. Shows simply do not read to the sheets. Much more straight forward march + play from what I've seen.

One question I've always had is what is the average age of DCA corps? I was under the impression that while they're "All Age," the majority of corps pull from the high school and college-aged pools.  With that in mind, I'm not sure why recruiting is so difficult given the concentration in the  Mid-Atlantic/New York areas and two large HS circuits to draw from in TOB/US Bands.  Is any recruiting actively done at these shows?

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1 hour ago, Weaklefthand4ever said:

DCA corps often perform at DCI shows. The butts are already in the seats and id DCI is, in fact, starting to attract a younger audience, then you already have a ready made platform of sorts. Judge the DCA corps on DCA sheets and let those numbers stand. Advertise a little and let the young folks know about DCA as a stepping stone or an after age out type of deal. 

If you look at the recaps for DCA corps at a number of DCI shows, they are in fact often using DCA sheets (albeit perhaps not always very well).

I thought it was nice a few years ago on one of the DCI cinema broadcasts when a member being interviewed mentioned having marched Caballeros before moving to the Scouts.

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