Bill_VA Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 All; I would like to hear from everyone who attended the DCA Championship this year to get a view on where problems occurred with the weekend. Issues with the stadium, security, DCA Venues, personel, etc. Would like to know specifics but please keep personalities and specific names off of your response. This is not an attempt to rehash bad moments, only to identify them and bringing them to the attention of the right folks at DCA. We cannot fix the past, only work harder to correct it for next year. If you would prefer to e-mail me privately to not bring your issue to the public stage, please send them to william.thorpe@mci.com - your privacy will be kept safe. William Aldrich/Thorpe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScribeToo Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 William, Thanks for the opportunity to discuss this like adults -- hopefully we'll all be able to do that. 1. I think the bases should be covered or we should have finals in a venue without fine dirt in big blocks on the field.. when it gets wet, that fine textured dirt becomes the most slippery mud. It's dangerous and it creates a barrier to focus on OTHER than marching and playing your best show. It's finals. The big finale of the year. I think we (the performers and the fans) deserve better. 2. I liked the venue for I&E this year.. traffic patterns in and around the individual venues was a little tight.. but bearable.. One small suggestion -- please have the portable lights moved to the area behind the judges tent so that the lights are shining ON the performers instead of behind them.. 2.5. A stage. for Mini-corps/ensembles. Please. 2.75. A P/A system for the outdoor venue (it was hard to hear some of the performances.) 2.83. Either more vendors or more than one place to get refreshments -- the lines were a little over the top. Other than those few issues, I enjoyed the weekend tremendously. It was fun for me, as a vet in my corps and someone who's attended DCA more than once before, to watch the rookies in my corps see this spectacle for the first time. The excited conversations in and around the stadium and following the events were an indication to me that something is VERY right here. 3. is unrelated to the venue but can recaps be posted on the DCA website? We tried to find them after prelims (and even since then) but couldn't. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 When I asked an Officer at the stadium about the change in the standing policy, he stated that "was at the request of the Promotor",............... if this is really true, I would really want to understand the reason why,.............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabsbaritone Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 see my post in the Sr. Forumn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumlaw80 Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 (edited) All;I would like to hear from everyone who attended the DCA Championship this year to get a view on where problems occurred with the weekend. Issues with the stadium, security, DCA Venues, personel, etc. Would like to know specifics but please keep personalities and specific names off of your response. This is not an attempt to rehash bad moments, only to identify them and bringing them to the attention of the right folks at DCA. We cannot fix the past, only work harder to correct it for next year. If you would prefer to e-mail me privately to not bring your issue to the public stage, please send them to william.thorpe@mci.com - your privacy will be kept safe. William Aldrich/Thorpe If I were the lawyer for DCA or the Lakawanna Stadium, I would advise them to cover the dirt piles on the field for the entire competition, which become virtual ice skating rinks when they become wet. If someone from a competing corps got badly injured from a fall in one of these areas, the two principle parties who would be liable for their injuries would be DCA and the Lakawanna Stadium. To assume that every fall will just result in a simple bruise or whatever is a bad assumption to make. Point of fact, the potential for injury in these areas is great, and a little rain and one unlucky drill move could result in a horrific injury that could result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in liability for DCA and/or Lakawanna Stadium. This is not a slam on anyone -- just pointing out a very bad scenario that we all want to avoid. Edited September 2, 2003 by drumlaw80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSGreen Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 If we are going to be harassed for crossing the street without an escort, we need to make sure there is an escort there. I know we were chewed out for not going to the STADIUM CLUB (where our escort was) and bringing him to his post (at the bottom of the parking lot) so we could cross the street. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsreps Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 Agree with the I&E suggestions above. Also, the bases definitely need to be covered. Even without the rain and related safety concerns, it looks so hiddeous. The performers deserve better. Also, why have a long break after only 3 corps at prelims? A lunch break in the early afternoon would have made more sense. I understand these were the Class A corps, but with 14 corps to go, a later break would have been most appreciated by anyone not willing to miss a single corps. One more thing, during the score tabulations, I left the seating area and the concessions in the upper level were already closed. Since I didn't want to miss anyone and there were no breaks, this was the first chance I had to eat since the show started. Please keep the concessions open longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomMoore Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 (edited) The cops who had nothing better to do than act as ushers with pistols were downright obnoxious and on a major power trip. I understand that there are fire regulations or some sort of safety regulations which state that fans can't congregate in the area behind the seats. Fine. Then don't tell me to move into the hallway and then, when I do that, tell me that I need to be either in my seat or in the concourse. And the only reason I'm not in my seat is because I don't want to be rude and walk in in the middle of a corps' performance. (and I DO consider that to be rude and wish a lot of other people saw it the same way! I mean, geez, how many times does Fran have to announce it for it to sink in?) I wouldn't mind being subject to rules that I don't necessarily like if they weren't accompanied by arrogance in a uniform which must stem from deep-seeded feelings of inadequacy. Any psychologists out there who can shed some light on these folks? Oedipus? Small you-know-what syndrome? Or maybe they're just ########. Either way, they made the experience a lot less enjoyable than it could have been. I still had a great time, though! :) Edited September 3, 2003 by TomMoore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumlaw80 Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 The cops who had nothing better to do than act as ushers with pistols... That is exactly how far I made it in your post before I started laughing out loud. Good job Tom. b**bs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomMoore Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 (edited) My pleasure. I wish I could better conceal how I felt. B) They were horrible. BAD ushers to boot! Edited September 3, 2003 by TomMoore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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