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DCI Exposed Again?


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8 hours ago, cybersnyder said:

No thanks. But you have to set a threshold for what people are going to pay to see. 

That is not what this change is about.  The paying audience will still see the 30-54 member corps, only they will be in exhibition (SoundSport), not in competition (open class).  They may even perform in the exact same time slot at a given show.

This change is all about extorting more money from the smaller corps.

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On 12/28/2019 at 10:08 PM, N.E. Brigand said:

Can someone just clarify: when was it announced that the minimum number of members for Open Class was 55? I only first saw that being discussed here earlier this fall, with the implication that it was a new change. How long have small corps like Encorps known that they'd have to increase their size in order to compete in 2020?

It was never "announced".  It leaked out in November when Encorps decided not to field - then the policy was updated on DCI.org about a week later.

This thread covered the topic back in November:

I cannot say what Encorps knew or when they knew it.  But I can say that there is still no explanation for how a DCI rule can be changed in the fall without going through the rule change process.  Makes you wonder what other rules are being broken, ignored, or changed in non-compliance with DCI rule change procedure.

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4 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

That is not what this change is about.  The paying audience will still see the 30-54 member corps, only they will be in exhibition (SoundSport), not in competition (open class).  They may even perform in the exact same time slot at a given show.

This change is all about extorting more money from the smaller corps.

DCI has had zero success integrating Soundsport performances into WC shows and this rule won't change that.  If Encorps is any indication, these groups won't be a WC shows, they'll have their own SS competitions organized separately from the main shows. 

There haven't been enough SS groups to organize any sort of performance tour.  It's possible that these new Sub-OC-sized SS groups will make that possible now.

And I'm still trying to understand the extortion; SS participation fees costs are less than OC fees costs.

Edited by garfield
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22 minutes ago, garfield said:

And I'm still trying to understand the extortion; SS participation fees are less than OC fees.

“Extortion” and “exposed” make it sound scary. I don’t understand how it’s difficult to understand that the corps are getting paid according to their draw. 

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2 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

It was never "announced".  It leaked out in November when Encorps decided not to field - then the policy was updated on DCI.org about a week later.

This thread covered the topic back in November:

I cannot say what Encorps knew or when they knew it.  But I can say that there is still no explanation for how a DCI rule can be changed in the fall without going through the rule change process.  Makes you wonder what other rules are being broken, ignored, or changed in non-compliance with DCI rule change procedure.

I don't believe the institution of minimum member limits was really a secret.  I had been hearing rumblings of it for several years from folks working with corps, both at the WC and OC level.  That would seem to coincide with the release of 2017 Strategic Plan that you brought up back in September.  That plan outlines the process in which these new rules were going to be worked on by committees, and then approved by the DCI Board of Directors for the 2020 season.

As for whether this needed to go in front of the full membership - there is a section in the Policies & Procedures manual that gives the DCI Board of Directors the right to waive the policy submission process in order to expedite the establishment of new and/or revised policies.  Given the fact that these new/revised membership policies were worked on by two separate committees (which were supposed to solicit input from the member organizations), they may have opted to take this route as that's basically what is suggested in the strategic plan.

Edited by rjohn76
Grammar
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21 minutes ago, rjohn76 said:

I don't believe the institution of minimum member limits was really a secret.  I had been hearing rumblings of it for several years from folks working with corps, both at the WC and OC level.  That would seem to coincide with the release of 2017 Strategic Plan that you brought up back in September.  That plan outlines the process in which these new rules were going to be worked on by committees, and then approved by the DCI Board of Directors for the 2020 season.

It was not a "secret" at the point where Encorps found out about it.  But it was never "announced" either.

Quote

As for whether this needed to go in front of the full membership - there is a section in the Policies & Procedures manual that gives the DCI Board of Directors the right to waive the policy submission process in order to expedite the establishment of new and/or revised policies.  Given the fact that these new/revised membership policies were worked on by two separate committees (which were supposed to solicit input from the member organizations), they may have opted to take this route as that's basically what is suggested in the strategic plan.

If it was merely a policy, that might be relevant.  But corps minimum size is in the rulebook.  Contest rules can only be changed by the process spelled out in that same rulebook.

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SoundSport has its merits,  no question, and I have attended SoundSport shows in Indy and have seen SoundSport performances at shows. You have everything from a Chinese family playing authentic Asian instruments to Costa Rican dancers to small corps to alumni groups to people who enjoy putting on a show. While SoundSport gives a group an opportunity to perform, it does not provide the kind of judging a corps needs to improve and grow. Based on conversations I had with folks associated with Encorps (parents and volunteers), it was hoped that marching members would recruit other marching members. I’m not sure that SoundSport would be an attractive enough opportunity for young people who want to give drum corps a try.

 

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I reached out to this corps in January 2018 when they announced their formation to offer my experiences serving on a national nonprofit board AND leading educational organizations in the region. In response I was told that they would begin working on a board of directors process soon and that they would reach out to me about getting involved, with a donation required. Maybe they decided not to form a board or maybe they didn't want volunteer help in the immediate vicinity but it soured me on the corps out of the gate and makes me question any one-sided announcements about what did or did not happen.

Edited by DrumCorpsRadio
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3 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

It was never "announced".  It leaked out in November when Encorps decided not to field - then the policy was updated on DCI.org about a week later.

This thread covered the topic back in November:

I cannot say what Encorps knew or when they knew it.  But I can say that there is still no explanation for how a DCI rule can be changed in the fall without going through the rule change process.  Makes you wonder what other rules are being broken, ignored, or changed in non-compliance with DCI rule change procedure.

The board actually meets mid-fall every year in addition to the Janual meeting. I believe there is also a mid to late spring meeting.
 

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17 hours ago, Slingerland said:

Almost every corps lives within 100 miles of 30 parades every year, and they always need 'bands' - no need for housing if it's a two hour bus ride.

There is no money to be made from doing drum corps performances; even the WC corps actually lose money each show, since their transportation and food costs for the day usually dwarf the performance fee.

you assume all parades pay. fewer do every year

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