Will DCA be around in 5 years?

[jimpjorps]

11 minutes ago, cybersnyder said:

Schools that already have marching bands. The post I was replying to said to explore partnerships with colleges and schools that don't have a marching program.

Yeah, it was my post.  Schools still operate over the summer even if class is out, and this is especially true of colleges.

[cybersnyder]

19 minutes ago, jimpjorps said:

Yeah, it was my post.  Schools still operate over the summer even if class is out, and this is especially true of colleges.

Cool. I’ll drop out of the convo at this point. 

[lcarlton]

1 hour ago, Terri Schehr said:

That’s what DCI does for Indy.  

They also have a DCI Ambassador program which has yielded results It's basically a team of students, and fans who help advertise for the circuit through social media, attending events, and more earning free merch, tickets and more. Gives them agency in helping #growdrumcorps https://www.dci.org/news/join-the-2017-dci-ambassadors-and-help-growdrumcorps 

[Jeff Ream]

3 hours ago, jimpjorps said:

One lean year and everybody's threatening to run for the hills, I guess.

I don't think anyone would argue that it's a smaller activity than it used to be, but the landscape's changed significantly in 40 years, and DCA's settled into its niche in response.  Kids are busier with school and work and a spectrum of hobbies and interests that didn't exist a generation ago, budgets (both household and charitable giving) are tighter, corps operating costs are higher, and people who see show ads posted in their neighborhood don't really feel like sitting in high school bleachers in mid-July weather unless it's to see their kid or friend perform because they have so many other entertainment options available to them.  

Something I think might be worthwhile for corps is exploring partnerships with colleges that don't have marching music programs or high schools that don't compete in the local marching band circuits.  Beyond that, I'm not really sure what DCA or the corps ought to be doing in this new environment.

the leanness has been building for a while.

[Fran Haring]

7 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:

I was there in 1983 for finals.  Same size audience. 

That was my first year announcing the show. I think zero of those people in the stands knew, or cared, about that. 

[Terri Schehr]

1 minute ago, Fran Haring said:

That was my first year announcing the show. I think zero of those people in the stands knew, or cared, about that. 

Well, had I known...😂

[Fran Haring]

4 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

Well, had I known...😂

It was not necessarily an auspicious debut.

I wrote an article for Drum Corps World during the offseason about my years announcing the DCA title show... and went into some detail about 1983.

Long story short... I thought they would never hire me back for another year.  LOL.

[Jeff Ream]

10 hours ago, jimpjorps said:

One lean year and everybody's threatening to run for the hills, I guess.

I don't think anyone would argue that it's a smaller activity than it used to be, but the landscape's changed significantly in 40 years, and DCA's settled into its niche in response.  Kids are busier with school and work and a spectrum of hobbies and interests that didn't exist a generation ago, budgets (both household and charitable giving) are tighter, corps operating costs are higher, and people who see show ads posted in their neighborhood don't really feel like sitting in high school bleachers in mid-July weather unless it's to see their kid or friend perform because they have so many other entertainment options available to them.  

Something I think might be worthwhile for corps is exploring partnerships with colleges that don't have marching music programs or high schools that don't compete in the local marching band circuits.  Beyond that, I'm not really sure what DCA or the corps ought to be doing in this new environment.

one lean year? it's been steadily shrinking. Scranton averaged around 6-7k, Rochester got 8k or so the first year or so....and shrinking ever since.the average age of the audience is OLD, and there's no marketing being done to attract the next generation. There's maybe 10 HS bands that are competitive within an hours drive of the Championship venue, and there's no group ticket deals in place.

 

[drumlaw80]

Generally speaking -- an organization, a team, a person, a company, even a planet, for that matter ... are never static. They are either going up, or they are going down, almost nothing stays the same.

Given the number of participants left standing, I don't think anyone can honestly state that DCA is growing in any way. From the outside perspective, it seems to be fighting for survival now. Maybe not financially (I have no idea), but in terms of relevance to the community. There are many reasons for this, many have nothing to do with drum corps, but DCA is off the radar for many people now, fans and members.  

This is nobody's fault, the answer is not to point fingers or lament about how things were in 1982. Society, the country, music, the activity -- everything is different than 1982. Everything is different than 2002, in fact. What worked before will not work now.  But unless DCA takes serious, brave and intelligent steps soon, to change with the times and evolve as a competitive circuit, and to increase participation in the community on all levels ... dark days lie ahead. 

[N.E. Brigand]

On 9/4/2019 at 12:24 AM, Jeff Ream said:

one lean year? it's been steadily shrinking.

Not sure. At least in terms of the number of participants, DCA seems to have grown from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, and then held fairly steady for about a decade.

However, maybe that seemingly positive aspect was a fluke masking a deeper problem that no one was paying attention to?