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New World-Class Criteria


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DCI has updated their Policies and Procedures Manual.  It is available online at https://www.dci.org/static/about-drum-corps-international.

The highlights are found about 82-85 pages into the document, in a section called "DCI Participation Levels".  Included here are several revisions to what defines eligibility for world-class status.

1.  A more deliberate distinction is made between "World Class Participant" and "World Class Member".  Corps aspiring to WC membership must now spend two years as a WC participant, with reduced pay ($1800 per show vs. the standard $2600) and no voting rights.  Membership must now vote you in twice, at both the WCP and WCM levels, for your corps to get in.  And if you slip out of the top 25 along the way, the whole deal is off.

2.  WC now has a membership minimum.  Both WCP and WCM include among their definitions, "Number of performers 110 -154".

3.  The bar for advancing from OC to WC appears to have been raised.  See for yourself:

  • Leadership/director must participate in a mentorship program in which an Open Class director will be paired with a WC Member for general guidance. May also be paired with subject matter expert(s) in specific areas of need
  • Top 25 for 3 consecutive years
  • Revenue in year 3 of this process should be at least $750k with positive earnings before depreciation
  • A positive net worth of $50,000 or more in each of the past three fiscal years
  • The budget for year 4 (first year in World Class) should include a surplus of $50,000.
  • Financial Statement prepared by an Outside Accounting Firm (Financial Audit or Financial Review as required by your governing state)
  • Independent Board defined by good governance best practices
  • Monthly cash flow projection for year 4 (first year in World Class)
  • Debt to equity ratio should be lower than 3 to 1, e.g. long-term lease, notes payable, accounts payable

After the above criteria are met, then organization can request to become a World Class Participant

  • Evaluation/interview by DCI CEO
  • If recommended by CEO, organization presents to the DCI Board of Directors for potential ratification

4.  And there is this - "After 3 consecutive years out of the top 25, membership status will be placed under review, to be voted on by the membership at the next membership meeting."  In other words, such a corps could be voted down from WCM to WCP, with the corresponding pay cut and loss of voting rights.

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19 minutes ago, cixelsyd said:

DCI has updated their Policies and Procedures Manual.  It is available online at https://www.dci.org/static/about-drum-corps-international.

The highlights are found about 82-85 pages into the document, in a section called "DCI Participation Levels".  Included here are several revisions to what defines eligibility for world-class status.

1.  A more deliberate distinction is made between "World Class Participant" and "World Class Member".  Corps aspiring to WC membership must now spend two years as a WC participant, with reduced pay ($1800 per show vs. the standard $2600) and no voting rights.  Membership must now vote you in twice, at both the WCP and WCM levels, for your corps to get in.  And if you slip out of the top 25 along the way, the whole deal is off.

2.  WC now has a membership minimum.  Both WCP and WCM include among their definitions, "Number of performers 110 -154".

3.  The bar for advancing from OC to WC appears to have been raised.  See for yourself:

  • Leadership/director must participate in a mentorship program in which an Open Class director will be paired with a WC Member for general guidance. May also be paired with subject matter expert(s) in specific areas of need
  • Top 25 for 3 consecutive years
  • Revenue in year 3 of this process should be at least $750k with positive earnings before depreciation
  • A positive net worth of $50,000 or more in each of the past three fiscal years
  • The budget for year 4 (first year in World Class) should include a surplus of $50,000.
  • Financial Statement prepared by an Outside Accounting Firm (Financial Audit or Financial Review as required by your governing state)
  • Independent Board defined by good governance best practices
  • Monthly cash flow projection for year 4 (first year in World Class)
  • Debt to equity ratio should be lower than 3 to 1, e.g. long-term lease, notes payable, accounts payable

After the above criteria are met, then organization can request to become a World Class Participant

  • Evaluation/interview by DCI CEO
  • If recommended by CEO, organization presents to the DCI Board of Directors for potential ratification

4.  And there is this - "After 3 consecutive years out of the top 25, membership status will be placed under review, to be voted on by the membership at the next membership meeting."  In other words, such a corps could be voted down from WCM to WCP, with the corresponding pay cut and loss of voting rights.

Thanks for pointing this out.  Interesting that it, similar to the Over 55 "rule" for Open Class, is happening in the dead time and not at the Janual, etc. Interesting to read, a lot to digest.

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Boy, are they strict.  :lol:

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I’m pleased to hear of this kind of change and focus.  Soon after the Pioneers/Cadets matters, it seemed to me, designation as a ‘premier tier’ participating corps needed to include a more rigorous path through higher demonstrable and certified, standards that qualify full participation.

Financial stability is obviously a key component, along with several others.

World Class Membership becomes a most trusted of all performing affiliates. A badge a proven competence.   Here are DCI’s State of the Arts performance ensembles. 

Adds another degree of confidence for sponsors, vendors, contractors, employees, and parents to consider.

Good move, I think.


 

 

 

 

  

Edited by Fred Windish
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I wonder how many existing WC corps meet these criteria.  These seem like pretty high expectations for OC corps to meet, especially financially, when they lack sponsorships, show revenue, etc.  There is an inherent conflict between the all-out financial arms race to be competitive (huge props, electronics, etc) and the expectation to have positive cash flow for up & coming groups.  I’m worried that these criteria will stifle new WC membership and activity will just keep getting smaller.

With these new rules Cascades needs to step up their game somehow.

Edited by WaxDCIFan
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1 hour ago, cixelsyd said:

DCI has updated their Policies and Procedures Manual.  It is available online at https://www.dci.org/static/about-drum-corps-international.

The highlights are found about 82-85 pages into the document, in a section called "DCI Participation Levels".  Included here are several revisions to what defines eligibility for world-class status.

1.  A more deliberate distinction is made between "World Class Participant" and "World Class Member".  Corps aspiring to WC membership must now spend two years as a WC participant, with reduced pay ($1800 per show vs. the standard $2600) and no voting rights.  Membership must now vote you in twice, at both the WCP and WCM levels, for your corps to get in.  And if you slip out of the top 25 along the way, the whole deal is off.

2.  WC now has a membership minimum.  Both WCP and WCM include among their definitions, "Number of performers 110 -154".

3.  The bar for advancing from OC to WC appears to have been raised.  See for yourself:

  • Leadership/director must participate in a mentorship program in which an Open Class director will be paired with a WC Member for general guidance. May also be paired with subject matter expert(s) in specific areas of need
  • Top 25 for 3 consecutive years
  • Revenue in year 3 of this process should be at least $750k with positive earnings before depreciation
  • A positive net worth of $50,000 or more in each of the past three fiscal years
  • The budget for year 4 (first year in World Class) should include a surplus of $50,000.
  • Financial Statement prepared by an Outside Accounting Firm (Financial Audit or Financial Review as required by your governing state)
  • Independent Board defined by good governance best practices
  • Monthly cash flow projection for year 4 (first year in World Class)
  • Debt to equity ratio should be lower than 3 to 1, e.g. long-term lease, notes payable, accounts payable

After the above criteria are met, then organization can request to become a World Class Participant

  • Evaluation/interview by DCI CEO
  • If recommended by CEO, organization presents to the DCI Board of Directors for potential ratification

4.  And there is this - "After 3 consecutive years out of the top 25, membership status will be placed under review, to be voted on by the membership at the next membership meeting."  In other words, such a corps could be voted down from WCM to WCP, with the corresponding pay cut and loss of voting rights.

I won't have time to read the doc until later, but wondering if a "WC Participant" is an OC corps participating in a WC show, or if these two groups (WCP and WCM) are synonyms for "voting member corps" vs. "non-voting member corps".  The nomenclature is confusing.

Also looking at $50m in assets for 3 years vs. $50m operating surplus in year four.  Wouldn't that connote $100m "net worth" at year four?  I'm pretty sure this bar is not passed currently by the vast majority of competing WC corps, let alone the OC ones.

 

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There have been many comments about the quality of the OC corps, and over the years BDB, SCVC, and Spartans have been regular top 25 competitors. Legends and Gold have found their way into the top 25. My understanding is Spartans, BDB, and SCVC are happy with OC competition, Legends reportedly would like to be WC and I’ve heard similar comments about Gold. My guess is Louisiana Stars would like to move up and Southwind want to be in WC competition once again. Raising the competitive bar is a wise move and finances goes without saying. 

One thought I have is which WC directors will be mentoring OC directors looking to move up to WC? That criteria needs to be defined.

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13 minutes ago, garfield said:

 

Also looking at $50m in assets for 3 years vs. $50m operating surplus in year four.  Wouldn't that connote $100m "net worth" at year four?  I'm pretty sure this bar is not passed currently by the vast majority of competing WC corps, let alone the OC ones.

 

I might be wrong, but I read it to mean the corps must have maintained a 50,000 surplus the past three years with that same amount contained in the upcoming 4th year budget.

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Basically, lower-tier WC corps can #### off. Weird "WC Participant" second-class citizen status. But honestly, this is probably a good idea- a lot of corps, including one I marched at, have tried to jump from OC to WC (Div 2 to Div 1 at the time) and then died. If more corps are going to be staying in OC because of these rules, will DCI try to improve their support for OC? Don't hold your breath.

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