Sutasaurus Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 9 hours ago, craiga said: I don't understand the idea of "abandoning fans in favor of corporate sponsors". I can't think of a single drum corps which intentionally alienated its fan base. This whole notion is based on an erroneous assumption..that somehow corporate sponsors dictate to the drum corps what to play, how to present it, etc. I have never ever head of any drum corps' design team sitting around with Pearl, Stanbury, Zildjian reps etc and jointly deciding on programming. And, it 40= years in the activity, I have never head of any outside company dictating anything to the individual drum corps. What are you referring to? I respectfully disagree. The pageantry arts suppliers are directly influencing the newest trends within the drum corps activity. Corporate sponsorships seem to have a greater sway on the activity than individual contributions. Unfortunately it’s big business sponsorships pushing the activity forward because that’s where the current dollars are coming from. Time for the activity, aka the corps, to seek out grass roots money to keep the activity afloat. That would better represent the current, seat buying fan base. Have the corps given up on fundraising within their organizations to the siren song of sponsorship? Not to say one is better than the other but a blend of both would be a good way to balance forward motion on a mutually exclusive basis. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mello Dude Posted September 23, 2021 Author Share Posted September 23, 2021 Frankly, just having a rule set that corps are limited to one standard 53" equipment truck (or less) would balance a lot of stuff out since stuff = score. No idea where some have been involved but sponsors have a HUGE impact on corps that get free or heavily discounted stuff. Another rule that could help (I think) is ANY deal(s) given to any member corps must be to ALL member corps. Limiting even more $$$ advantage can only help the activity IMHO . 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 12 hours ago, craiga said: I don't understand the idea of "abandoning fans in favor of corporate sponsors". I can't think of a single drum corps which intentionally alienated its fan base. This whole notion is based on an erroneous assumption..that somehow corporate sponsors dictate to the drum corps what to play, how to present it, etc. I have never ever head of any drum corps' design team sitting around with Pearl, Stanbury, Zildjian reps etc and jointly deciding on programming. And, it 40= years in the activity, I have never head of any outside company dictating anything to the individual drum corps. What are you referring to? DCI is slowly but surely getting more and more involved with Varsity. go do some research on what they actually dictate to their membership on what to do, music to use, what to wear..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrothgar15 Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Anova Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 (edited) 9 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: DCI is slowly but surely getting more and more involved with Varsity. go do some research on what they actually dictate to their membership on what to do, music to use, what to wear..... Coming Soon.... The Music of Toni Basil ? Well, you just can never be too sure, I suppose. 😅 Edited September 23, 2021 by Boss Anova Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waliman4444 Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 30 minutes ago, Hrothgar15 said: Quality far superior to FLO...thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSnareDrummer Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 12 hours ago, Mello Dude said: Frankly, just having a rule set that corps are limited to one standard 53" equipment truck (or less) would balance a lot of stuff out since stuff = score. No idea where some have been involved but sponsors have a HUGE impact on corps that get free or heavily discounted stuff. Another rule that could help (I think) is ANY deal(s) given to any member corps must be to ALL member corps. Limiting even more $$$ advantage can only help the activity IMHO . I have to agree that sponsors forking over goods and cash have to have some influence, how much I have no idea. Mello, are you proposing (for the lack of better term) forced parity via spending caps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 19 hours ago, craiga said: I don't understand the idea of "abandoning fans in favor of corporate sponsors". My choice of the word "abandoning" may seem harsh. But in this context, where we are discussing specific changes the activity has made with premeditation, I think it accurately describes the mindset. Do you think the powers-that-be added electronics, props, tarps, etc. with the fans foremost in mind? A lot of fans were so alienated by such changes that they left. The fans who remain have many complaints about the deafening blasts from speakers, imbalance of electronic vs. acoustic sounds, obstruction of drill by furniture, performers tripping/slipping on tarps, and all the dead time and delays involved in deploying all this stuff. At one show in Chester, PA, a few years ago, the contest was "abandoned" when stadium officials objected to the props that your corps was about to bring onto the grass. Quote I can't think of a single drum corps which intentionally alienated its fan base. I do not see it that way either. Obviously, the activity did not literally abandon all fans, chain the stadium gates closed, and start holding shows solely for the amusement of their corporate sponsors. When I say "abandoning fans in favor of sponsors/partners", I am referring primarily to the strategic direction that activity leadership has taken over the history of DCI. Over the decades, they have given up on the idea of growing the drum corps activity or its own participant and fan bases. Instead, they have gradually shifted to position themselves as an elite division of some other marching arts family, and product showroom/incubator for its related industries. The changes (oh, so many changes) DCI has made demonstrate this directional shift. Quote This whole notion is based on an erroneous assumption..that somehow corporate sponsors dictate to the drum corps what to play, how to present it, etc. I have never ever head of any drum corps' design team sitting around with Pearl, Stanbury, Zildjian reps etc and jointly deciding on programming. Design teams often already include people with product endorsement deals or other supplier affiliations. Worse yet, so do the judging panels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 12 hours ago, Sutasaurus said: I respectfully disagree. The pageantry arts suppliers are directly influencing the newest trends within the drum corps activity. Corporate sponsorships seem to have a greater sway on the activity than individual contributions. Unfortunately it’s big business sponsorships pushing the activity forward because that’s where the current dollars are coming from. Time for the activity, aka the corps, to seek out grass roots money to keep the activity afloat. That would better represent the current, seat buying fan base. Have the corps given up on fundraising within their organizations to the siren song of sponsorship? Not to say one is better than the other but a blend of both would be a good way to balance forward motion on a mutually exclusive basis. Respectfully, not *that* many corps get corporate sponsorship dollars from within music, especially once you get down the ranks. Where top corps get freebies, lower corps merely get discounts, and sometimes not even great ones at that. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 7 minutes ago, cixelsyd said: A lot of fans were so alienated by such changes that they left. The fans who remain have many complaints about the deafening blasts from speakers, imbalance of electronic vs. acoustic sounds, obstruction of drill by furniture, performers tripping/slipping on tarps, and all the dead time and delays involved in deploying all this stuff. At one show in Chester, PA, a few years ago, the contest was "abandoned" when stadium officials objected to the props that your corps was about to bring onto the grass. It'd be hard to make a case that ticket / merch / streaming sales support that. (Though, to be fair to your argument, without a whole lot more data than DCI gives, it's probably unlikely to *disprove* that as well.) From a macro level, it seems like the fanbase is chugging along at a pretty steady clip over the past decade. Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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