DCI Exposed Again?

[N.E. Brigand]

8 hours ago, garfield said:

While cute, I don't conflate the demise of a small performing unit with the destruction of Earth.

Ah, but is "the demise of a small performing unit" a bigger or smaller event than the unexpected demolition of one man's house?

"Besides, you should have made your protest months ago! These plans have been on display at the planning office for a year."

(Everything else you wrote supports one of the two possibilities I previously offered, which were (1) DCI erred in not clearly communicating to Encorps in a timely manner that they would need to increase membership; or (2) Encorps is lying when they say that's what happened. If your analysis is correct, then the second option is the truth. Yet you've been extremely reluctant to say that explicitly.)

[N.E. Brigand]

4 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

2.  I think the uncertainty of the 55-member thing has been adequately detailed.  The change, still to this day, is as clear as mud.  The Policies and Procedures Manual still has both 30 and 55 as minimums, depending on which page you read.  The Rules Manual has not been changed.  The rule change process has not even taken place, so we do not "know" that it will pass, much less whether it will take immediate effect.  For some DCI committee without jurisdiction over rules to claim they can change this rule in October is already debatable, not to mention arbitrary and capricious.

It would be hilarious if after all this, DCI votes against the the 55-member minimum later this month, or votes that it won't go into effect until 2021.

(Not likely, I'm sure. It appears that garfield has his ear to the ground and has heard rumblings that make it clear to him that a majority of the member corps have already tacitly endorsed these rule changes. It's rather like how a smart Speaker of the House knows not to bring a vote to the floor until he or she knows it will pass.)

[cixelsyd]

29 minutes ago, N.E. Brigand said:

Serious question: was DCI membership required of corps in 1972 and other early years as a requirement to participate in DCI championships?

No.  Never has been.

Literally the first order of detailed reporting about the brand-new DCI (as published in the December 15, 1971 Drum Corps World, authored by Dave Shaw) was to respond to the concern that it sounded like a "private club".  That response was the establishment of a DCI Championship contest, at which non-member corps could earn member status simply by making the top 12 there.  As the article stated, "All corps: American, Canadian and otherwise, are not only welcome but are encouraged to compete for one of the twelve positions in the finals, the International Drum Corps Championship Title, membership in Drum Corps International and $21,000 in prize money."

To see people post here now about DCI being a private club, brash as if proud of it, is thick with irony.

[HockeyDad]

Encore leadership should have spent less time whining on the internet and more time grinding it out increasing their corps membership. And reading the rules. Just my opinion 

[Tim K]

57 minutes ago, HockeyDad said:

Encore leadership should have spent less time whining on the internet and more time grinding it out increasing their corps membership. And reading the rules. Just my opinion 

To be fair to Encorps, leaders did work at building the corps. They knew the demographic they wanted to recruit from, wanted to offer a good experience, and had what sounded like achievable objectives. I think what they discovered is that it might take longer than expected. 

What I do think needs to be examined is the drop in membership from 2018-2019. Some posters have suggested membership in 2018 was close to 80, though I would have said somewhere in the 70’s, but they used large props which can sometimes hide marching members. In 2019, the corps was smaller. What was the reason for the drop off? Would membership have declined even more without a trip to Indy? 

[IllianaLancerContra]

3 hours ago, dbc03 said:

The corps aren't going to break off and form a new organization that they run because they already have it. DCI is already the corps.

The non-member corps could theoretically break off and form their own organization, but I doubt it would be particularly successful.

Back until the early 2000's DCM was just such an organization.  & DCI killed it when they forced the DCI Corps that also were in DCM to change the touring model so they could not compete locally a few weekends per season.  There were lots of competitions that features 1-2 top-12 Corps and 4-6 smaller ones.   Always drew good size crowds.

And an individual, much maligned on DCP (with the initials RB) led the fight to keep DCM alive, for a few years at least.  At the time, RB was seen as the heir-apparent to the role filled by the late Pepe Notero.  I do wonder what the state of Open Class would be if we had not lost Pepe far too young.

[gregory11]

DCI 2020  Mafia............Godfather 4!!!

[MikeD]

19 hours ago, N.E. Brigand said:

Does it strike anyone else as odd that Encorps got confirmation that the rule would be in effect for 2020 from another corps rather than from DCI leadership?

We don't really know anything outside of what Encorps posted, of course. I do know they were undergoing some major admin changes around Sept/Oct, so it is at least possible that emails got lost, or phone calls were not made. They had appointed a new director of the parent organization, JAM, who was charged with dealing with DCI. She was new to JAM, so who knows if the flow of information was set up in this timeframe. She also is in charge of USBands judges, another pretty time-consuming job at that exact time of the year. Could just be a confluence of bad luck/timing. I know the people involved are excellent people.

[Jeff Ream]

10 hours ago, JimF-LowBari said:

now define “members” on dcp and pass the popcorn.  lol.....

Now it’s world class. Originally it was finalists 

[Jeff Ream]

10 hours ago, N.E. Brigand said:

Serious question: was DCI membership required of corps in 1972 and other early years as a requirement to participate in DCI championships?

I thought it was finalists but I could be wrong