March or Die thoughts 2021....

[rpbobcat]

1 hour ago, MikeN said:

Honestly?  I think we'll be back to 2019-standard shows.  Now that said, I think we've got a pretty good balance of technical showcase vs. "catchy" stuff right now.  But I'm almost 100% certain you won't be seeing old-style uniforms out there again.  

Mike

Fans, like me, made it clear that they liked  uniforms, "old school" drill, and recognizable, familiar music.

The question is, would going back to "2019 -standard shows" , alienate fans who had a chance to enjoy the 2021 Drum Corps experience ?

 

 

 

[craiga]

We can always debate "traditional" (which is an  ever-changing construct, btw) and "avant garde" designs and program choices, and that is  a fair discussion to have.  I still don't understand how some people seem to think that corps sponsors dictate or even suggest ANYTHING programming wise to the individual corps.  In BAC's case, many of their sponsors are financial organizations located within the city of Boston.   Does anybody here really propose that Putnam Investments or John  Hancock  Insurance are telling BAC what to play, which props to use, and how to dress the corps?  This is absurd.

I also want to note that I find a not so subtle irony in the fact that some people are beating their chests over the "gross inequity" of various corps financial standings.  I wonder....

Where were some of you folks back in the 80's, when BAC had home made uniforms, no truck whatever, and had an all-volunteer alumni instructional staff for more than a decade?   Where was the outrage then over the "haves" and "have-nots"?    Apparently, we want drum corps to be successful, but not too much.  Furthermore, I continue to maintain that the props some folks rail against are a very small line item in any corps' budget, and to consistently name them as the certain future cause of drum corps decline is bizarre.  Props and non-traditional uniforms/costumes are nothing new.

[Sutasaurus]

33 minutes ago, craiga said:

Where were some of you folks back in the 80's, when BAC had home made uniforms, no truck whatever, and had an all-volunteer alumni instructional staff for more than a decade?   Where was the outrage then over the "haves" and "have-nots"?    Apparently, we want drum corps to be successful, but not too much.  Furthermore, I continue to maintain that the props some folks rail against are a very small line item in any corps' budget, and to consistently name them as the certain future cause of drum corps decline is bizarre.  Props and non-traditional uniforms/costumes are nothing new.

Let me turn that concept around back at you for a moment. What BAC went through in the 80’s is nothing different than what a number of corps went through at one time or another. It’s called building an identity/character building. To use your words “nothing new” in the grand scheme of things.

Regarding props, for some it’s, as you say, a small line item while for others it’s a significant expense when you factor in the cost to produce said prop(s) the additional vehicle needed to transport them, the fuel for that vehicle, the extra body to drive that vehicle, the additional maintenance of the props, the list goes on. If a corps can afford them, fine. If a corps can’t, why penalize them off the bat for not keeping up with the Joneses?

It’s funny how so many people say drum corps is evolving and yet the way they are judged is pretty much the same as it ever was. That’s not totally on DCI either, the member corps should study what happened in 2021. With the absence of a judging panel, corps were allowed to “just be themselves” and the audience really appreciated that. What a concept!

Edited September 24, 2021 by Sutasaurus

[Continental]

11 hours ago, OldSnareDrummer said:

Well, lookie there, we are one big happy family, after all. And...Uncle Jim is back! 

Looks like a pre-Covid Zoom or Teams meeting.   I started turning off my camera during meetings because I was haunted by how much the square boxes of faces reminded me of the opening of the Brady Bunch. 

[Continental]

8 hours ago, OldSnareDrummer said:

What do you think the corps' response will be in '22, Mike? I tend to believe back to normal, but I'm a Debbie Downer if there ever was one. 

Honestly, I think we are never going back to "normal." 

Edited September 24, 2021 by Continental

[cixelsyd]

4 hours ago, craiga said:

Furthermore, I continue to maintain that the props some folks rail against are a very small line item in any corps' budget, and to consistently name them as the certain future cause of drum corps decline is bizarre.

Props are symbolic of a far larger series of budgetary line items that are not essential to the mission of these youth competitive programs.  Usually, activities which are anywhere near as charity-dependent as drum corps will refrain from indulging in non-essential expenses, out of respect for their donors.  

Over the DCI era, we have gone from 400-something junior corps to 40-something instead, while jacking corps budgets up into the seven-figure range.  It may only be my personal preference, but I would rather have more of those corps still around today, in an activity that can operate somewhere below those seven-figure budgets.

(And when an additional semi truck/trailer is required just for props, is that really a "very small line item"?)

[GUARDLING]

46 minutes ago, Continental said:

Honestly, I think we are never going back to "normal." 

Depends what one thinks " normal  "is

[Continental]

7 minutes ago, GUARDLING said:

Depends what one thinks " normal  "is

Normal does not exist.  Therefor, we cannot go back there. 

[Weaklefthand4ever]

1 hour ago, Continental said:

Looks like a pre-Covid Zoom or Teams meeting.   I started turning off my camera during meetings because I was haunted by how much the square boxes of faces reminded me of the opening of the Brady Bunch. 

OMG.....THIS. I teach in Zoom for 8 hours a day and am constantly being pulled into Teams for meetings. I've had this exact same thought except no one in those meetings look as happy as the Brady's. 

[Mello Dude]

5 hours ago, craiga said:

We can always debate "traditional" (which is an  ever-changing construct, btw) and "avant garde" designs and program choices, and that is  a fair discussion to have.  I still don't understand how some people seem to think that corps sponsors dictate or even suggest ANYTHING programming wise to the individual corps.  In BAC's case, many of their sponsors are financial organizations located within the city of Boston.   Does anybody here really propose that Putnam Investments or John  Hancock  Insurance are telling BAC what to play, which props to use, and how to dress the corps?  This is absurd.

I also want to note that I find a not so subtle irony in the fact that some people are beating their chests over the "gross inequity" of various corps financial standings.  I wonder....

Where were some of you folks back in the 80's, when BAC had home made uniforms, no truck whatever, and had an all-volunteer alumni instructional staff for more than a decade?   Where was the outrage then over the "haves" and "have-nots"?    Apparently, we want drum corps to be successful, but not too much.  Furthermore, I continue to maintain that the props some folks rail against are a very small line item in any corps' budget, and to consistently name them as the certain future cause of drum corps decline is bizarre.  Props and non-traditional uniforms/costumes are nothing new.

Having marched in that era, your comparison is flawed.  Being fiscally stable is GOOD.  Using money to get score (with stuff) = BAD.  I have no idea how you equate the 80's with today.  The amount of stuff today compared to the 80's...really?Even Star of Indiana abandoned the extra semi truck and hamster wheels when they didn't get "score" for them.  The amount of "free" stuff and heavily discounted "stuff" to organizations just puts more and more financial pressure on other units that want to be competitive in the current meta of "stuff" for score.

On donors, if you think that a scandal like what happened to the Cadets happened to Boston and the the investment firms wouldn't be pulling support?  Or some show that caused them to be threated from their investors to pull their funds?  Pretty sure that if BAC did something completely out there and there was a backlash....yeah....