DCI partnering with Varsity Performing Arts to launch "SoundSport Scholastic" events

[MikeD]

12 minutes ago, garfield said:

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.

At this point I agree. Varsity has a focus on scholastic business, as that is where the volume...hence money...is. Drum corps is nothing at all from a financial standpoint. The DCI name is valuable however. That is why the DCI article makes it clear this is about Varsity teaming up with DCI for a SoundSport fall+ scholastic effort, and it made clear the current summer activity is not part of the agreement.

If that changes, then we'll see. 

Personally I will be surprised if this amounts to very much, but again, we'll see. There are already outlets for schools who want this type of thing all over the US between marching band circuits, indoor winter guard/music circuits and WGI. At least in my area, band directors in general tend to get through marching season (competing or not) and jump into the rest of their music ensembles, such as jazz band, pit orchestras and other smaller groups. Those who want to compete later in the year do the existing indoor circuits which provide excellent performance and/or competitive opportunities.

[cixelsyd]

5 hours ago, garfield said:

DCI has been FOR DECADES losing relevance and eating its own to now barely call itself a $50million activity.  Many people both in and out of the activity have been gnashing teeth and speaking in hushed tones about the coming financial demise of the activity and its descent into irrelevance as other competitive performance activities are stealing its spotlight, all while refusing to see their business-nirvana doesn't come with unfettered freedom to continue the profligate spending ways of drum corps' "leading voices" without, somehow, maintaining enough relevance among fans to pay for it.  The activity has always, from day one, been about maximizing the gate to spread the gospel, get kids actively paying for the experience, and draw in adoring (and paying) crowds.  That goal demands as much business acumen as it does creative brilliance and, so far, I've seen only one of those demands being met.

Which one was that?

As you probably recall from past threads, I am no fan of how DCI has conceded so much ground on their lofty proclamations of preserving and promoting the entire drum corps activity, instead settling for nothing more than a non-aggression pact with their parallel universe, the scholastic marching band activity.  And that raises another concern - that this foray into the fall might tick off their scholastic counterparts at a time when the one thing DCI should NOT be doing is ticking off the people they rely on for housing sites every summer.

[garfield]

42 minutes ago, cixelsyd said:

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.

Short-term answer to a long-term problem.  Think beyond and before Covid.

Really, I hope this was you being witty.

 

[garfield]

33 minutes ago, MikeD said:

At this point I agree. Varsity has a focus on scholastic business, as that is where the volume...hence money...is. Drum corps is nothing at all from a financial standpoint. The DCI name is valuable however. That is why the DCI article makes it clear this is about Varsity teaming up with DCI for a SoundSport fall+ scholastic effort, and it made clear the current summer activity is not part of the agreement.

If that changes, then we'll see. 

Personally I will be surprised if this amounts to very much, but again, we'll see. There are already outlets for schools who want this type of thing all over the US between marching band circuits, indoor winter guard/music circuits and WGI. At least in my area, band directors in general tend to get through marching season (competing or not) and jump into the rest of their music ensembles, such as jazz band, pit orchestras and other smaller groups. Those who want to compete later in the year do the existing indoor circuits which provide excellent performance and/or competitive opportunities.

I can't disagree, it'll probably end up nothing beyond Varsity trying to start SS/DLB in school environs.  Doesn't that take band director/music director approval?  I'm sure they've thought that through.

That said, people, businesses, and practices change with time and maturing markets.  Maybe, in time and with some demonstration of what can be made substantial with SS/DlB, Varsity will show good practice and good faith.  If there's any part of DCI that I think is worth risking for that gamble, it'd be SS and DLB.

 

 

[garfield]

3 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

... 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.

Drum corps has been profitable for each and every year that it has returned a payout to the corps from the tour it organizes and the fans it gets to come see its shows.  Several million dollars each year is paid back to the drum corps (the size of those payouts is different each year and their impact is for another discussion).

Nobody has suggested that DCI or any of the corps suddenly turn into for-profit enterprises.  Nobody.  So there's zero chance that you have to worry about it suddenly morphing into something profit-focused (and by your implication) necessarily then kid-negative and ruining your enjoyment, such that it is. 

But to suggest that DCI can't learn a bunch from a billion-dollar performance organization is complete folly.

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by garfield

[cixelsyd]

48 minutes ago, garfield said:

Short-term answer to a long-term problem.  Think beyond and before Covid.

Really, I hope this was you being witty.

Before C-19, DCI and their corps were putting the final touches on their strategic plan initiatives to fine-tune (if your description is correct) an already successful and sustainable operating model for drum corps.  Apparently, they felt pretty secure about it, because the two highlighted paths forward were to:

a.  Raise higher barriers to entry for new/advancing corps

b.  Raise the cost of equipping a fully competitive corps with "any-instrument"

There were other ideas on the agenda, like putting some funds aside as a reserve... again, not the sort of topic you normally hear from an organization whose very survival is under imminent threat.

Sure, drum corps pre-pandemic was not free of problems (i.e. year 39 of the housing crisis).  But the vibe I get from the policy priorities and decisions tells me that leadership viewed these problems as manageable.

Again, if my perception is wrong, feel free to explain.

[cixelsyd]

51 minutes ago, garfield said:

Drum corps has been profitable for each and every year that it has returned a payout to the corps from the tour it organizes and the fans it gets to come see it's shows.  Several million dollars each year is paid back to the drum corps (the size of those payouts is different each year and their impact is for another discussion).

Nobody has suggested that DCI or any of the corps suddenly turn into for-profit enterprises.  Nobody.  So there's zero chance that you have to worry about it suddenly morphing into something profit-focused (and by your implication) necessarily then kid-negative and ruining your enjoyment, such that it is. 

But to suggest that DCI can't learn a bunch from a billion-dollar performance organization is complete folly.

Learn?  No problem.  Read a book.  Bring in a motivational speaker.  Take a class.

There are plenty of ways DCI can learn from Varsity, without entering into joint-venture contracts.

[garfield]

1 hour ago, cixelsyd said:

Learn?  No problem.  Read a book.  Bring in a motivational speaker.  Take a class.

There are plenty of ways DCI can learn from Varsity, without entering into joint-venture contracts.

None of which at all will provide a single spark of anything other than more banter around the problem.

There are lots of great ideas, TONS of great ideas, that are meaningless until they are put into practice with real commitment and money.  I've got BOOKS of great ideas.  

Lots of people around the activity have lots of good ideas.  The problem is that DCI has no money with which to turn a good one into reality even if they had one.  

Varsity might be a willing player with deep pockets to listen to great ideas and fund them, but they will do so only with the intention of making a long-term profit.  It's up to the drum corps to show them that great ideas can be profitable to spur, and pay for, other great ideas.  Finally, in my view.

 

 

 

[garfield]

2 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

Before C-19, DCI and their corps were putting the final touches on their strategic plan initiatives to fine-tune (if your description is correct) an already successful and sustainable operating model for drum corps.  Apparently, they felt pretty secure about it, because the two highlighted paths forward were to:

a.  Raise higher barriers to entry for new/advancing corps

b.  Raise the cost of equipping a fully competitive corps with "any-instrument"

There were other ideas on the agenda, like putting some funds aside as a reserve... again, not the sort of topic you normally hear from an organization whose very survival is under imminent threat.

 

Both of these things can easily be seen as the last actions of a dying dynasty trying to exclude others from the last morsels of sustenance.

Rationally, are these the things that are done by a healthy, vibrant, and growing activity?

"A Reserve Fund".  I tell ya', I've gone back through every DCI 990 I have printed for decades and I can't tell you the last year DCI had a "reserve" fund.  But I can illustrate very quickly how much the corps have pulled out for themselves!   

[Jeff Ream]

12 hours ago, garfield said:

link?

search Drum Corps AF podcast on whatever device you use to stream