What's in a Field?

[garfield]

1 hour ago, cixelsyd said:

Sorry to have to nitpick, but Carolina Gold is not a new corps.

Why does that matter?  Because if they were, their ENTIRE SCHEDULE would be redacted from DCI.org until May/June, and even posting a tentative schedule publicly ON THEIR OWN WEBSITE, to give prospective members any idea what they have planned, would be frowned upon.

Existing units in SoundSport are also treated as "new corps" (except for Phenom, a 112-member program run by a DCI member corps).  So Carolina Gold is getting better treatment in recognition of being an existing corps.

Sorry to have to nitpick, but Carolina Gold is applying for open-class, not world-class.

To be fair, DCI performs evaluations on "new corps" in the spring to verify they are on track financially, and to verify they really have the membership level commensurate with the competitive class they are entering.  It is not as effective to evaluate corps in the fall, as history shows many cases of corps folding in May, June or after starting tour, when all was well back in November.

Now, to be fair in the other direction:

- "New corps" are not the only corps that should be singled out for evaluation.

- Specifically, the practice of redacting tour schedules is where I have to side with JimF-LowBari.  More about that below.

If we can stick to the point (because honestly, I do not see the crossed-out melodrama in what JimF-LowBari posted):

Of course, the key to success is gaining access.  And to be clear, at the level where corps are entering OC, we are speaking about access to shows.  If you are denied access to shows, how can you succeed?

With that in mind, think how it looks if you are denied access to the published show schedule.  The recruiting situation is tangibly harmed by DCI.org redacting a tour schedule.  If I am a kid looking to march OC, scanning my options, I do not even see prospective OC corps.  They are not even in the list of OC corps.  How do you find a corps whose schedule fits yours if their schedules are redacted?  Why would you commit a year of commuting to camps and paying thousands of dollars to a corps when it is not clear if they are going to DCI Championships, or even getting into OC?

And what is the case in favor of redacting this information?  

Thanks for this.  Fat fingers.

[Glenn426]

On 1/15/2020 at 7:00 AM, cixelsyd said:

So cost savings matter to you.  I have seen that in more than one of your ideas.  (We have common ground!)

But to move forward, the DCI collective will need to be convinced that cost matters.  Right now, they only seem to care about revenue.  Their strategic plan has multiple directives addressing revenue, and a whole task force created just to pursue revenue ideas.  But there is no Cost Control Task Force, and there are not even any strategic plan items focused on the cost side of the equation.  This will take some time and persuasion.

Yeah I mean we all want to see this activity continue so the sooner the corps realize that reducing cost will also increase their revenue then they will start to see the light.

It does seem though that something pretty dramatic event will have to happen for the corps to begin to consider taking their show indoors. Perhaps Weather and an onslaught of extreme weather will mean that corps simply cant operate in the same manner as temperature outdoors during the summer become unsafe for the performers. Heck even now some shows are being delayed because of the heat index being unsafe for even the people sitting in the stands let alone the performers.

Perhaps in 10 -15 years where DCI might still be holding onto some strict rules and WGI offers them a Blank slate to do with what they wish, some of the designers will pull the activity into the indoor direction. And those that want to remain outdoors and remain true to the idiom as it was originally intended will remain in DCI and ultimately succumb to the natural progression of the activity.

I hope a hostile take over doesn't occur and the activity naturally progresses but as the founders of DCI did so many years ago, when they created DCI, when a group of designers think they are being held down from flourishing and evolving they will find a way. And the better product of the two will survive and thrive, while the latter slowly fades into history.

 

[cybersnyder]

6 minutes ago, Glenn426 said:

Yeah I mean we all want to see this activity continue so the sooner the corps realize that reducing cost will also increase their revenue then they will start to see the light.

How would decreasing costs increase revenue? It may improve profitability, although I'm not sure what "profit" really means in drum corps. Seems like "profit" simply means "Oh goody, more money to spend next season!"

[JimF-LowBari]

I know DCI has had championships indoors but don’t remember any Finals week being affected other than a Quarter Finals(?).

DCA on other hand.... one cancelled Finals (Prelims only), 2019 Finals held one day early, Prelims delayed a day and Hurricane Ernesto almost clobbered the entire weekend (but Prelims film crew bagged it early)

IMO both circuits have been lucky

Edited January 16, 2020 by JimF-LowBari

[Glenn426]

9 minutes ago, cybersnyder said:

How would decreasing costs increase revenue? It may improve profitability, although I'm not sure what "profit" really means in drum corps. Seems like "profit" simply means "Oh goody, more money to spend next season!"

I'm not a CPA so I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terms but, in my mind;

If you decrease the amount of money you have to spend to earn the same amount of money, the amount of money you take home at the end of the day increases. I guess I should say, decreasing your cost will increase your profit.

If a corps can sell the same amount of tickets using 100 members than it could using 154, why use 154 when you could be more profitable using 100. 

 

[garfield]

16 minutes ago, cybersnyder said:

How would decreasing costs increase revenue? It may improve profitability, although I'm not sure what "profit" really means in drum corps. Seems like "profit" simply means "Oh goody, more money to spend next season!"

When I look at corporate finances in the investment world, I'm dubious of the company that has made a profit target by cutting costs.  Simply, at some point, the company can't cut any more and the issue of "growth" has to take over.  Cutting costs is limited to the amount of "fat" but growing revenues is limitless.

There's also a very strong push for corps to create and maintain a financial "safety net" equal to 5% of their annual budget.  This is a lofty goal for orgs trying to spend their way into a placement.  Spending less than revenue is the only way that's going to happen, but allowing that to happen has to start with changing the mindset of "spending into a placement", and that starts at the top of the adjudication tree.

[cybersnyder]

8 minutes ago, Glenn426 said:

I'm not a CPA so I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terms but, in my mind;

If you decrease the amount of money you have to spend to earn the same amount of money, the amount of money you take home at the end of the day increases. I guess I should say, decreasing your cost will increase your profit.

If a corps can sell the same amount of tickets using 100 members than it could using 154, why use 154 when you could be more profitable using 100. 

 

The snag comes that you're assuming that the same number of tickets will be sold to see a 100 member corps as a 154 member corps. OC vs WC attendance seems to point to that not being the case. If an individual corps is making their finances work, spend away.  EDIT: I agree with the above comment that the mindset needs to change. On initial thought, something like a budget cap seems fair similar to a salary cap for football, but then there are the nuances of higher costs in California versus Wyoming and some corps need to travel farther than other corps, etc, etc.

Edited January 16, 2020 by cybersnyder

[Fred Windish]

Unless designers and staff are kept under tighter control, DCI will ‘’improve itself” right out of existence. It will begin by consolidating into a much smaller group (12?) of competitors who can afford to keep up. No one season model will ever be enough. Every next season will require more new toys and bigger invoices.

The whole thing needs to slow down, take a rest. 

 

[Glenn426]

27 minutes ago, cybersnyder said:

The snag comes that you're assuming that the same number of tickets will be sold to see a 100 member corps as a 154 member corps. OC vs WC attendance seems to point to that not being the case.

People don't go to see OC corps because the quality is not the same a BD. Not because of the size of the corps.

People will pay to see BD whether they have 154 or 100. Same with much of the rest of the top 10. Its coming to the point that most corps are not maximizing the rules with regards to amplification as they could. A properly mic'd hornline of 50 could be just as loud and sound better than a hornline of 80+ without mics.

"Its not the size of the Boat, but the motion of the ocean." 

[cixelsyd]

27 minutes ago, Glenn426 said:

A properly mic'd hornline of 50 could be just as loud and sound better than a hornline of 80+ without mics.

We will just have to "agree to disagree" on that.