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Redesign the Tour


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On 10/1/2019 at 12:44 PM, Sutasaurus said:

Question:

Ok, how many dinos does it take to keep a thread on topic?

Xandandl, that term was coined in a different era. I’m sure it was meant lovingly.....but back to point. What is more cost effective for drum corps as a whole? Regional touring model with a greater emphasis on local participation, or the current model?

Answer:

One, a very large contra playing T-Rex.

 

ok, for the 21st century politically correct crowd, insert "Chicago Cabal" instead of the historical term I cited. (Those seeing a slight to Chi-town might refer to the old abbreviation for Illinois.)

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17 minutes ago, xandandl said:

ok, for the 21st century politically correct crowd, insert "Chicago Cabal" instead of the historical term I cited. (Those seeing a slight to Chi-town might refer to the old abbreviation for Illinois.)

Speaking as a former Chicagoan , the only slight is The name”Chi-town”. 

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On 9/30/2019 at 1:33 PM, Tim K said:

I have heard discussions about the tour model for about two years now, and I know there are some who want to have fewer, but larger shows. Instead of smaller shows with four or five corps, there would be larger shows in better venues with eight to ten corps. The shows that were being discussed were midwestern shows that I have never attended so I know little about the audience size or profitability. The folks talking about the Midwest shows believed it would make sense financially and fit the health safety requirements set in place this past year. Whether this opens things up for a new tour model, I can’t say for certain without looking up distances or travel times, but it would make me wonder if changes are in the works.

Is this better for the kids? Dunno. Seems to me that the kids are less interested in the size of the events than having more opportunities to perform. 

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39 minutes ago, MikeRapp said:

Is this better for the kids? Dunno. Seems to me that the kids are less interested in the size of the events than having more opportunities to perform. 

never underestimate the appeal of being able to say you played in such and such venue

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24 minutes ago, MikeRapp said:

Is this better for the kids? Dunno. Seems to me that the kids are less interested in the size of the events than having more opportunities to perform. 

You have a good point. I have been in Indy as the first note is played, with plenty of empty seats, and have seen some of the most heartfelt performances. Last summer, I dragged myself to an open class show in New Hampshire on a day it was hotter in New England than Texas (by one degree), and the heat did not bother the kids who did incredibly well. My guess is that Legends, Southwind, and Heatwave were meeting Spartans and 7th Regiment player a huge role in the excitement of the shows, and the fact Les Stentors made their return appearance did not hurt either. 

My guess is that the kids do love to perform, and I am sure an enthusiastic crowd in a smaller venue is a wonderful feel good moment, but I would imagine performing in front of 10,000 people is huge as well. For me, Allentown and Indy are huge joys to attend, but I love the at home feel of smaller shows too.

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On 10/1/2019 at 7:19 AM, cixelsyd said:

Interesting.  At the same time, there are two or three factors tugging in the opposite direction.

1.  Fewer shows sounded okay for the corps who had 36 shows per season previously.  But corps lower in the pecking order have never had access to as many shows as the top corps.  Taken to its historical origin, the ultimate fewer-but-bigger-show model (VFW Nationals) was not working, and it drove corps to create logical tours with shows (and paydays) all along the way.  That was one of the principal founding objectives of DCI.

2.  Tightening enforcement of driving-hour regulations is creating a hard limit on how far apart tour stops can be spaced.  And if housing is more difficult to come by, it will be necessary to maintain a geographical grid of show sites to get everyone from point A to point B.

3.  Venues appropriate to our needs are not readily available everywhere.  If our needs increase to demand space for a 10-corps event and the larger crowd necessary to make it profitable, can we still find a suitable stadium for every spot in that grid?

Are any of these factors going away?  Or are changes being contemplated that would address them?

The people I have talked to fear their favorite shows would be cancelled, and my thought is DCI is pushing for the larger shows. 

A great deal depends on the numbers the shows attract. If you have two smaller shows in the same area that attract different crowds, a larger venue might be more profitable and less labor intensive. If they attract many of the same people, as I would guess many local shows do, you would lose revenue.

It seems as if 2021 is when they want to unveil a new touring model. My assumption would be that show profitability and member safety are key reasons. I suppose we’ll have to see what it looks like. 

Edited by Tim K
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6 hours ago, MikeRapp said:

Is this better for the kids? Dunno. Seems to me that the kids are less interested in the size of the events than having more opportunities to perform. 

bingo!

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On 10/1/2019 at 12:21 AM, Jeff Ream said:

Nope. Now I do realize this could affect some shows, but in some places, when you see what they charge for good seats for 5/6 corps...good lord.

Jeff-one reason why I agreed with you about having 8 to 10 corps' was thinking back to the closest show to both of us (before I moved to SC) -the Hershey (PA) show. We both know that is a relatively small town but we were getting a nice amount of corps' every year. I doubt if it was housing concerns that did that show in, but I could be wrong.

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7 minutes ago, denmum said:

Jeff-one reason why I agreed with you about having 8 to 10 corps' was thinking back to the closest show to both of us (before I moved to SC) -the Hershey (PA) show. We both know that is a relatively small town but we were getting a nice amount of corps' every year. I doubt if it was housing concerns that did that show in, but I could be wrong.

On second thought after talking to my insider source with Cadets-housing is a bigger problem than I thought. Re-Cadets attempts to get housing for even something like tryouts and spring training.

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