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Positive Brainstorming/DCA


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3 hours ago, KeithHall said:

1976 DCI saw 81 corps in 3 classes with only 10 corps still around today.

theyre up to 23 world class, and 24 open class in DCI.  the soundsport model is working to develop new groups.  There's a few more coming for open class. 

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1 hour ago, cixelsyd said:

Yes, I agree.

My comment was merely a reference to the transformation of senior corps to all-age corps, and then not so much "all" age when following DCI visual trends made it physically impractical for many older marchers to continue.  As DCA chose that style of performance, they had to recruit a younger demographic.  (But to do so, DCA must recruit in the same pool where DCI has already been recruiting.)

I'd argue DCA's pool should be different than DCI's pool as there is a HUGE barrier to DCI participation: COST & TIME.

IMO the best way to detail this is by the circuit defining, promoting, and owning their differences to control the conversation on what DCA is, instead of letting DCI corps tell young people who drum corps, and what DCA is about. You control your brand and what it represents instead of someone else...

When MBI was coming back out they had a GREAT campaign around this. DCA is drum corps for EVERYONE! World Class Staff - Weekend Only Schedule - Affordable - Crowd Focused & Fun!  The clearest delineation is the cost, and time commitment.

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1 hour ago, C.Holland said:

theyre up to 23 world class, and 24 open class in DCI.  the soundsport model is working to develop new groups.  There's a few more coming for open class. 

I challenge you on those numbers; and the participation with the rate of failure for groups who've tried to move to OC, or the groups that tried to and are moving to DCA. 

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1 hour ago, lcarlton said:

I'd argue DCA's pool should be different than DCI's pool as there is a HUGE barrier to DCI participation: COST & TIME.

Yes, but...

Quote

When MBI was coming back out they had a GREAT campaign around this. 

And how did that work out?

Problem #1:  If cost and time are huge barriers, and you have to travel from Minnesota to Pennsylvania and keep your season going three weeks longer to do DCA, who has the bigger barrier?

Problem #2:  Cost and time are NOT barriers to DCI participation.  Obviously SoundSport shatters those barriers... but even open-class has a wide range of time/cost equations.  World-class is where the minimum commitment is much higher.

That said, if your corps is situated in an area with only WC DCI corps nearby, then you might have a unique lower-cost/time alternative to market in that area.  But to be honest, DCA does not offer that advantage nationwide.

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7 hours ago, KeithHall said:

We all agree recruitment is important and that should be on the individual corps correct? DCA management has nothing to do with that.

Not entirely. If people don't know what DCA is or they consider it valueless because of the fact they're utterly unaware of the brand... DCA has to do more. And yes, they're understaffed and underfunded, I know this, and it's still an albatross no matter how one cuts it.

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1 hour ago, lcarlton said:

I challenge you on those numbers; and the participation with the rate of failure for groups who've tried to move to OC, or the groups that tried to and are moving to DCA. 

Also, there may be some groups that desire to remain in SoundSport and just be that. And that's not a crime unless the basic desire/goal of that organization is to have a competing honest to God corps. Both models can be successful.

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32 minutes ago, cixelsyd said:

Yes, but...

And how did that work out?

Problem #1:  If cost and time are huge barriers, and you have to travel from Minnesota to Pennsylvania and keep your season going three weeks longer to do DCA, who has the bigger barrier?

Problem #2:  Cost and time are NOT barriers to DCI participation.  Obviously SoundSport shatters those barriers... but even open-class has a wide range of time/cost equations.  World-class is where the minimum commitment is much higher.

That said, if your corps is situated in an area with only WC DCI corps nearby, then you might have a unique lower-cost/time alternative to market in that area.  But to be honest, DCA does not offer that advantage nationwide.

1.) Respectfully, Cost and Time are a HUGE barrier to participation; plus the fact you have entire demographics of people not participating outside of clusters like CA, where travel and membership costs are lower. You've seen a slow loss of participation from women, and minorities over the last twenty years along with former stalwart areas of junior corps like NY, OH, and WI now only having one or two Jr. Corps to march while other marching arts like DCA, WGI, and or summer band programs growing exponentially.  

   On the WGI note; a common response when you poll performers is "DCI is too expensive, and I don't want to be gone all summer - I can have a better experience in WGI for a fraction of the cost" and that's a solid case for why that activity is exploding. It's why corps like CT, Saints, and even Carolina Gold pull so heavily from WGI ensembles because they offer an affordable option for members to work, and march. 

2.) It worked out well for MBI actually; they were able to recruit enough people to march Class A, but instead decided on SS. They field a full drumline, front ensemble, brass, and guard but opted for SS. It can be cheaper, but it also depends on how you manage your season and what choices you decide in shows during the season. If you just do one local show and go to Indy then you can make it reasonable; but if you try to do a few exhibitions, go to a few regionals and try to structure it like a drum corps season it can be a challenge for groups. 

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44 minutes ago, BigW said:

Also, there may be some groups that desire to remain in SoundSport and just be that. And that's not a crime unless the basic desire/goal of that organization is to have a competing honest to God corps. Both models can be successful.

 

2 hours ago, lcarlton said:

I challenge you on those numbers; and the participation with the rate of failure for groups who've tried to move to OC, or the groups that tried to and are moving to DCA. 

I'm not sure what you're challenging, those are the numbers of corps that competed in each class in DCI last season.   None of which will move to DCA.  the ones whom are trying to move from soundsport into Open Class are Compass & Lone Star.  They also do not look to be interested in DCA.   

DCA would not help them in Texas. 
 

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55 minutes ago, BigW said:

Not entirely. If people don't know what DCA is or they consider it valueless because of the fact they're utterly unaware of the brand... DCA has to do more. And yes, they're understaffed and underfunded, I know this, and it's still an albatross no matter how one cuts it.

DCA has no use outside of the few places it exists currently.  In reality, outside the NE.   There's no support for groups to perform anywhere outside the NE unless it's piggybacking off of a DCI show or SDCA show.  There's  no shows outside the NE.  Heck, St Peter's show was 1 corps.   One.  Uno.   

One of the southern shows was two corps.    One in Long Island was three competing and several exhibition.

That's not helpful to grow your circuit.  

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