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In The News – Canton Bluecoats Face Uncertainty After DCI Season Canceled


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13 hours ago, greg_orangecounty said:

This makes me sad because I know more articles like this are coming.  How many corps will be left by this time next year?  

But is this a typo?  "laying off their nearly 200 employees"

Modern Drum Corps have THAT many employees!!??  How can that be?

This will be one of the line items requiring a major adjustment moving forward. The dynamics of change needed to exist will be interesting to follow. 

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I believe the 200 employees being "'laid off" might be bit of a misunderstanding, to say the least.  In the context of 200 people might be all of the folks that would normally be associated with the corps (really all corps) such as instructional techs, caption heads, design team, drivers, cooks, bingo helpers, merchandise sellers, media specialists, maintenance workers, administration and numerous others.  Most of those people would NOT be full time employees, but seasonal contractual help and MANY, MANY volunteers.  

The loss of the 2020 season WILL have a financial impact on the Canton community...not just the immediate Bluecoat family.  Many items the corps would need for the year are purchased locally.  Maintenance/repair of the "fleet" are often done locally.  The loss of the 3 Bluecoat sponsored shows will impact area hotels, restaurants, gas stations, program printers, service organizations that helped with the shows...to name a few.

This type of impact is being felt in cities that are "home" to drum corps around the United States. 

 

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I think it is entirely probable that the 2021 season will have a somber look to it as we'll most likely see some familiar names no longer with us. I don't think its out of the realm of possibility that we have just enough corps to field a top 12 on Saturday night. I hope I'm wrong, but preparing for the worst.

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1 hour ago, Newseditor44 said:

I think it is entirely probable that the 2021 season will have a somber look to it as we'll most likely see some familiar names no longer with us. I don't think its out of the realm of possibility that we have just enough corps to field a top 12 on Saturday night. I hope I'm wrong, but preparing for the worst.

I’ve had similar thoughts as well. As this pandemic continues on and we’re still nowhere close to a readily available vaccine...it could be a very long time before any of these organizations can resume operations of any kind. I hate to say it, but I don’t think I see a scenario where the drum corps world looks exactly like it did in 2019. There will almost certainly be casualties both figuratively and literally. 

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8 hours ago, Newseditor44 said:

I hope I'm wrong, but preparing for the worst.

In the DCI world, how does one prepare for the worst a year plus before the next season hasn't even begun ST?  Us fans will just go about life and see what happens starting this November.  If there's fewer corps, we just have to enjoy those that are viable.  Those that survive will really be talented.

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5 hours ago, Newseditor44 said:

I think it is entirely probable that the 2021 season will have a somber look to it as we'll most likely see some familiar names no longer with us. I don't think its out of the realm of possibility that we have just enough corps to field a top 12 on Saturday night. I hope I'm wrong, but preparing for the worst.

In my opinion the biggest impact is going to be financial.  How long have corps been living beyond their means?  it is going to be very painful for those corps and I hate to say it that way but I think  it’s true. 

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9 hours ago, oldbandguy said:

I believe the 200 employees being "'laid off" might be bit of a misunderstanding, to say the least.  In the context of 200 people might be all of the folks that would normally be associated with the corps (really all corps) such as instructional techs, caption heads, design team, drivers, cooks, bingo helpers, merchandise sellers, media specialists, maintenance workers, administration and numerous others.  Most of those people would NOT be full time employees, but seasonal contractual help and MANY, MANY volunteers.  

OK.  That makes sense, and thank you for replying.  But still.........that sounds like WAY too many people to have to pay.  No wonder there only 30 corps left!  I understand eras can't be compared, but I will anyway: we won DCI with a staff off 7 or 8 and parent volunteers.  That was it.  

Maybe out of the ashes of DCI a more simple, stripped-down version of Drum Corps will emerge.  One that is (potentially) financially sustainable and just as much fun for the marching members and entertaining for the crowd.  

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23 hours ago, greg_orangecounty said:

This makes me sad because I know more articles like this are coming.  How many corps will be left by this time next year?  

But is this a typo?  "laying off their nearly 200 employees"

Modern Drum Corps have THAT many employees!!??  How can that be?

I was thinking that number is way to high, but sometimes people who are actually vendors are considered employees and volunteers are sometimes classified as employees for insurance purposes. One example I can think of is an intern who is classified as an unpaid employee which means they are covered by the organization’s insurance. I know some hospitals consider  certain volunteers employees, others do not. Priests who visit hospitals are often classified as volunteers. Hospitals who consider volunteers employees can give me a patient’s name and condition prior to visiting and would not be in violation of HIPA. A hospital that does not consider volunteers employees can only say “a patient would like to see a priest” and cannot give the name or condition until you arrive at the hospital again due to HIPA. 

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10 hours ago, greg_orangecounty said:

OK.  That makes sense, and thank you for replying.  But still.........that sounds like WAY too many people to have to pay.  No wonder there only 30 corps left!  I understand eras can't be compared, but I will anyway: we won DCI with a staff off 7 or 8 and parent volunteers.  That was it.  

Maybe out of the ashes of DCI a more simple, stripped-down version of Drum Corps will emerge.  One that is (potentially) financially sustainable and just as much fun for the marching members and entertaining for the crowd.  

Makes you realize that a corps like Surf is pretty impressive given they have a volunteer staff and the instructional team basically gets a stipend that barely covers their expenses of traveling to and fro.  And their annual budget is less than a third of Bluecoats.

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2 hours ago, DrummerParent said:

Makes you realize that a corps like Surf is pretty impressive given they have a volunteer staff and the instructional team basically gets a stipend that barely covers their expenses of traveling to and fro.  And their annual budget is less than a third of Bluecoats.

It is very impressive and that's what Drum Corps should be.  These over-produced, Broadway-wannabe, budget-bloated shows are killing the activity except for a select few.  

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