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It is time for the business of the activity to evolve


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2 hours ago, rpbobcat said:

I know there have been a couple of stories about this happening during the season.

Do you if it happens frequently ?

As far as it affecting "drop offs"/"pick ups" of supplies,logistically I

wouldn't expect "drop offs" to individual corps at housing sites.

I'd look at a more centralized location at/near show sites.

 

 

The food companies all have delivery available so, if the warehouse is not in the show city, the trucks can deliver to the alternate housing site (presuming its in the delivery area).  Centralized pickup is great in the show host city as the corps all generally have vans and drivers doing this every week or so on the road.

Of course, this is only going to work in a town large enough to have a food distributor and a show that will bring the corps together, like one of the regionals.  Corps need fresh food every week, so there will still need to be arrangements in almost every corner of the country during tour.

National bus, truck, and van rentals can be negotiated centrally, but it would eliminate a corps from shopping its best transport deal and trusting that DCI Central is doing it as good or better.

When the Dublin show was running, one year we had BD arrive in Muskingum Coach buses.  Muskingum Coach, located in Coshocton, Ohio (45 minutes east of Columbus) won the BD bid request, drove its buses dead-head to CA, picked up the corps, did the tour, drove the kids back to CA, then turned around and drove back to Ohio.  It must have been a great deal for both parties (maybe Muskingum Coach dropped out after spending a season with "P'ssed Off Pete"), and not likely to recur if central contracts are used.

Would this matter enough to consider?

Edited by garfield
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12 hours ago, cybersnyder said:

Looking at some figures from various 990s, it appears that food is about 10% of the annual budget and transportation about 40%. Does that seem accurate? I'd focus on transportation costs and reeling those in even if it means a shorter tour. 

Pretty simple math to verify your 990 observations:

$6 per day per MM for food x 40 days on tour (or in camp) equals about $36,000 per year.  I think it's safe to add that most food prep and planning includes extras to the normal menus that takes the average per MM up to $8 or so.  Times 150 kids and 40 days equals $48,000.  There are corps who field a season for $600,000 or a little less so food quite easily takes up less than 10% of the budget.

And, don't forget housing costs.  No matter who is running the show, it's not uncommon for a corps to spend $1000 per night to house a corps in the gym.  Whether that's paid directly by DCI, by the corps, of "absorbed" into the cost to the show host the price is still there.  40 days on tour could easily cost $40m in bedding space; imagine what it might mean if schools continue to deny housing requests and corps start housing in hotels.  For example, a national contract for hotel beds could mean, what, $75 per night per room sleeping four?  That's 38 rooms per corps and the cost almost triples.  Suddenly, an almost $900m annual expense becomes an almost $2.5mm cost.  Could a central contract at, say Comfort Inns be arranged cheaper?  33,000 seasonal room nights at $50/room/night is still a $1.65mm seasonal contract.   That's not chicken feed, and the difference in negotiating $50/night instead of $75 would take the weight of the whole activity to get long-term contract terms.

 

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7 minutes ago, garfield said:

Pretty simple math to verify your 990 observations:

$6 per day per MM for food x 40 days on tour (or in camp) equals about $36,000 per year.  I think it's safe to add that most food prep and planning includes extras to the normal menus that takes the average per MM up to $8 or so.  Times 150 kids and 40 days equals $48,000.  There are corps who field a season for $600,000 or a little less so food quite easily takes up less than 10% of the budget.

And, don't forget housing costs.  No matter who is running the show, it's not uncommon for a corps to spend $1000 per night to house a corps in the gym.  Whether that's paid directly by DCI, by the corps, of "absorbed" into the cost to the show host the price is still there.  40 days on tour could easily cost $40m in bedding space; imagine what it might mean if schools continue to deny housing requests and corps start housing in hotels.  For example, a national contract for hotel beds could mean, what, $75 per night per room sleeping four?  That's 38 rooms per corps and the cost almost triples.  Suddenly, an almost $900m annual expense becomes an almost $2.5mm cost.  Could a central contract at, say Comfort Inns be arranged cheaper?  33,000 seasonal room nights at $50/room/night is still a $1.65mm seasonal contract.   That's not chicken feed, and the difference in negotiating $50/night instead of $75 would take the weight of the whole activity to get long-term contract terms.

 

Just a note on the meals.  The corps usually feed staff and volunteers as well.  So the calculations should be closer to 200 mouths to feed.

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35 minutes ago, garfield said:

 Corps need fresh food every week, so there will still need to be arrangements in almost every corner of the country during tour.

National bus, truck, and van rentals can be negotiated centrally, but it would eliminate a corps from shopping its best transport deal and trusting that DCI Central is doing it as good or better.

 

As I posted,fresh food is a whole different animal then non-perishables and transportation.

That would only work if DCI could get a contract with a Walmart,Sam's Club Etc.

Like you said,in addition to corps supplies,Walmart would love a bunch of kids shopping in their

stores.

Again,"economy of scale" should allow DCI to negotiate vehicle leasing.

As I posted,you bid out national or regional contracts.

As far as trusting DCi to do the right job.

That's a whole different animal.

 

 

 

Edited by rpbobcat
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1 minute ago, rpbobcat said:

As I posted,fresh food is a whole different animal then non-perishables and transportation.

That would only work if DCI could get a contract with a Walmart,Sam's Club Etc.

Like you said,in addition to corps supplies,Walmart would love a bunch of kids shopping in their

stores.

Again,"economy of scale" should allow DCI to negotiate vehicle leasing.

As I posted,you bid out national or regional contracts.

As far as trusting DCi to do the right job.

That's a whole different animal.

 

 

 

I'm not sure why you'd say this.  Can you identify something in the management of the tour that has worked so poorly that you'd consider making this statement?

My personal opinion is that, funded appropriately with support staff and dollars, DCI would handle the national contract negotiations very well.

 

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Why wouldn’t DCI have their own food trucks and let sponsors pay for them? It seems like a natural to me, but of course I know the logistics of doing this for a tour as diverse and expensive as this one is pretty challenging for anyone.

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6 minutes ago, MikeRapp said:

Why wouldn’t DCI have their own food trucks and let sponsors pay for them? It seems like a natural to me, but of course I know the logistics of doing this for a tour as diverse and expensive as this one is pretty challenging for anyone.

I think a big part of the answer is that DCI would have to run the food trucks year round to make the initial investment worthwhile.

Maybe there's a business there in food truck rental between September and June, but what about audition camps and spring trainings, and when a corps is going on a single overnight to do a parade and needs two meals not during the tour season.

Bill Cook did it with buses, and lots of corps use their stuff out of season, but DCI hasn't been allowed to be in that business until now because the corps have made all of their own arrangements.

 

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1 hour ago, garfield said:

I'm not sure why you'd say this.  Can you identify something in the management of the tour that has worked so poorly that you'd consider making this statement?

My personal opinion is that, funded appropriately with support staff and dollars, DCI would handle the national contract negotiations very well.

 

DCI's  current "Tour Management"  isn't what I was referring to.

Taking on procurement for food,vehicle leasing,etc. would increase DCI's duties/responsibilities

tremendously.

Based on how DCI has handled other things,beyond touring, in the past,I'm not sure they are up to

the challenge .

 

Edited by rpbobcat
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Fwiw I wouldn’t see a dci food truck concept to necessarily be all consuming. Corps could supplement as they see fit and also for one off events like parades maybe the corps could rent a truck.

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21 minutes ago, rpbobcat said:

DCI's  current "Tour Management"  isn't what I was referring to.

Taking on procurement for food,vehicle leasing,etc. would increase DCI's duties/responsibilities

tremendously.

Based on how DCI has handled other things,beyond touring, in the past,I'm not sure they are up to

the challenge .

 

Ahh, yes.  Thanks for clarifying.

I agree, DCI's member corps would have to agree to, and fund, the effort.

Then it had better deliver positive results back to the corps, and I have confidence currently that Dan A's focus would be on doing just that.

 

 

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