Continental Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 Have I suddenly entered a rip in the space/time continuum this morning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 5 hours ago, Jurassic Lancer said: I think that episode of Drum Corps AF is required listening for anyone wanting to know about Varsity and its implications for drum corps. Yes! Me,too! The opinions there need to be understood for exactly what they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 (edited) If Varsity eventually consumes all of DCI and uses a heavy hand of control, our activity will have come ‘full circle.’ Back to the same oppressive conditions seen from the AL and VFW that led to DCI’s creation! I really do not believe this DCI/Varsity announcement will reach the same level. At least, not in my lifetime (although I am old!) To me, this is a way for DCI to scale back and now, with limited resources, refocus on the original mission of the original founders. That is, keep control of this existing segment within the hands of each independently operated member group. No doubt, certain tasks of DCI, like SS and DLB, event ticketing, merchandising, marketing, and workshops, etc. can be ‘farmed-out’ without real effect on what DCI is now. The same DCI we’ve seen coming into our region, and into our homes. Edited August 30, 2020 by Fred Windish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 13 hours ago, N.E. Brigand said: You have to be joking. What Varsity did in some cheerleading contests -- and per that Houston Press article, it appears their founder acknowledged this in court as part of an explanation for why cheerleading shouldn't be considered a sport -- is to award a higher score to teams that bought its products. Imagine DCI telling corps that their scores would go up if they bought a particular company's uniforms, or played a specific company's instruments, or used a certain company's services for transportation. Not just that - what you are saying is: 1. Imagine DCI makes their own contest rules (rather than corps representatives). 2. Replace "particular company", "specific company" and "certain company" above with "DCI". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 17 hours ago, garfield said: This might help round out the impressions of the evil genius at the top of Varsity. IBD, Bloomberg, and the WSJ write very favorably of the leadership, and the financial success they enjoy is clear proof that his model works better, financially, than drum corps’. I’ll put that up against a single opinion-writer masquerading as a business writer. The more I read, the more I’m beginning to believe Varsity to be the kind of interest that drum corps should be clamoring for out of survival! Choosing which predator eats you is not "survival". 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, cixelsyd said: Not just that - what you are saying is: 1. Imagine DCI makes their own contest rules (rather than corps representatives). 2. Replace "particular company", "specific company" and "certain company" above with "DCI". Varsity is for-profit. Nothing should be presumed. Edited August 30, 2020 by garfield 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 19 minutes ago, cixelsyd said: Choosing which predator eats you is not "survival". Neither is what they have now, is it? You’re referring to beggars, not choosers. The DCI brand is valuable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 5 hours ago, garfield said: It's a difference. Sure. Is it a disqualifier? No. Lots of differences: Varsity is clearly "For-Profit", for example. ... which, in my mind, is a disqualifier. If the "survival" of drum corps is the mission, it requires a mission-driven organization to achieve it. That may not be enough either, given the increasingly vague mission statements of DCI over the years. But even that faulty compass is far better than no compass at all. For-profit business is about (wait for it) profit, with no other necessary preconditions. Drum corps has never been a profitable endeavor. The number of for-profit drum corps and circuits (zero) reflects that. If the operation of the DCI activity were turned over to a for-profit entity, the extent of change necessary to achieve the mission of the business (true profitability) would transform drum corps into something so materially different that I would no longer care to follow it. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 There’s no evidence that Varsity is interested in drum corps, so there’s no indication of what agreements would be required for the two to consummate anything beyond SS/DLB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 9 minutes ago, garfield said: Neither is what they have now, is it? We just went through a cancelled season. DCI is still alive, and plans are underway for 2021. If that does not meet the definition of "survival", let me know why not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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