Santa Clara Vanguard 2023 Announcement Thread

[mingusmonk]

48 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

A giant has fallen and we're restating the same generic problems that, by now, I'm sure leadership is all too aware of. Go read what the youngers on reddit are saying... it's all the same stuff y'all are saying here, only slightly more disrespectful cause they have even more to be ###### about than us old cats who had our time. VMAPA already started the leadership overhaul recently with the CFO turnover, as I said earlier, and no, GR is not coming back to save us. Some of us wouldn't want that anyway.

The beginning-of-the-end and the they-should've-known-better talk is unbecoming at this fresh hour. Go apply to work for them or volunteer if you're really worried. Or maybe start your own doom-and-gloom threads, since it's been pointed out several times that other corps are guilty of many of the same issues...and let the rest of us mourn. Or whatever, do you, I can't stop y'all from dogpiling.

Don't you think I could've piled on too? Don't you think I know stuff that may have contributed to this? Yet I keep it to myself, for once, out of respect for our unique legacy, and a leadership team who is undoubtedly beside themselves at this fresh hour.

Or does class also go on hiatus this season too? Heaven forbid a 22 alum reads this thread... what will each of your contributions tell them about their efforts? I know what it feels like to be used in this activity and now is not the time to rub it in.

So, after my 1987 experience, I was not able to catch the revolutionary 1988 Vanguard live at all. The annual dice-roll of living deep in DCM territory put more than a handful of shows within easy travel distance, but zero SCV appearances. I absorbed everything I could through Drum Corps World and word-of-mouth osmosis. I went to a lot of shows but remained an incredibly frustrated SCV fanboy. The first time I saw the show was when SCV performed it for the final time on PBS.

Then comes 1989 and they are doing Phantom of the Opera AGAIN?! And they are unstoppable? Somehow the Midwest tour dice still kept them at a distance from me. My friends and I had been overnight to Bloomington, plus a few close shows. Some of us already had tickets booked for Finals night in Kansas City. But there was a show in Centerville Ohio on August 10th ... a 3+ hour drive ... that would have SCV and Star of Indiana (where we had friends and relatives that were marching). I was an insistent pest and somehow our parents relented and allowed us to take a day-trip on our own. Which is crazy in retrospect. 1 day after going to a show 30 minutes away. 3 days before we had to leave for band camp (which was an off-site band camp at a college). And we would be leaving straight from the band camp parking lot on a 9 hour car ride straight to Kansas City for finals. 

We drove the last minute trip to Centerville and hung out with our Star of Indiana friends after rehearsals. We watched SCV warm-up. Finally got to experience Phantom of the Opera up close and personal one time. Not knowing that a snare drummer had been kicked out of that very rehearsal site when Gail Royer had become aware of the fraudulent birth certificates.  😯 Then watched them win a week later in Kansas City from the nosebleeds. Including this encore.

 

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1278747992160998

 

That was my final experience of being a fan of drum corps before marching drum corps. And I often lament not being able to just be a fan. Being behind the scenes and part of how the sausage is made takes away some of the fanatic magic. I still love the activity, but it is different after you've been behind the curtain. And SCV will always have been a  big part of that magic to me. 

[Terri Schehr]

Just now, C.Holland said:

do you know regional show operators who want to gamble $30K for a possible 10% return, and hope it doesnt get rained out and they lose it all?

Well, what’s your solution? I’m waiting with baited breath. You’re quick to shoot everything down however. 

[Rocketman]

Perhaps it is time to evaluate all the associated costs of running a corps and determine what areas can be scaled back, (uniforms, props, electronics, etc). If this can happen to SCV, it can happen to anyone. The preservation of corps, regardless of how one may feel about the direction the activity has gone, should be the preeminent concern. I wish the Vanguard all the success in the world and hope the members find temporary homes for 2023.

[C.Holland]

12 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

Well, what’s your solution? I’m waiting with baited breath. You’re quick to shoot everything down however. 

Lets looks at the costs.

you cannot cut food, medical, development costs, or admin.  Those are trimmed down already.   howeer, hiring an development team that can raise 4x what you pay them is probably a good idea. It works for regional theatre, ballet, and other arts orgs who are non profits.

 

the costs to move.  tractors and busses are rented in a lump sum to keep costs down. So it costs the same whether it moves or sits.  

the costs to house.  When school systems found it acceptable to charge for space, this activity changed.  The schools then passed ALL costs associated with using their facilities back onto the renter.  (security, cleaning, admin for operations, water, healing/cooling, etc) you went from having $0 in facility costs, to thousands per night for facility costs.  (nevermind that stadium use, lights, and other costs are added to the rental should a corps want/need these facilities)   You also have to separate students by gender, and age.  Its no longer using one gym and one field.  Its multiples of all of these things which add costs up.  

There's no longer a requirement to host a home show.  which means groups not are on their own for housing more than before.

the only ways to cut costs are to spend less time on a school facility, and to spend less time on rental gear to move the corps.

You cannot go back to 1990 when everyone ate cereal, cold cuts, and burgers every meal of the day.  thats not sustainable for the level of activity, and frankly, theres a lot of dietary needs that should be met that we didnt know about 20 years ago.  

Wardrobe, props, instruments, are all a wash. And often sold as a fundraiser.  

So to cut costs, you have to shorten the season, and spend less time on a school facility. 

to reduce costs to the student you need to have a board which is committed to raising more of the operating revenue than before.  If a season basic expenses costs $1.5 million, your board needs to raise the first million.  
 

Edited December 13, 2022 by C.Holland

[RiverCityAndTroopersFan]

12 hours ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

Bye, bye, Miss American Pie …

Drove my Chevy to the drum corps but the drum corps was dry

 

[JimF-LowBari]

1 hour ago, drumcorpsfever said:

This goes way beyond SCV. SCV is symptomatic of the whole business of drum corps.  DCI is on life support and in critical condition. 

When I started following corps again 2002 or so my dad said it best: “#### I’m surprised it’s still around”.

1) he has been saying that for years before

2) this was discussing cheaper DCA world

3) he thought $$ and time demands on the members would kill things

[Terri Schehr]

5 minutes ago, C.Holland said:

Lets looks at the costs.

you cannot cut food, medical, development costs, or admin.  Those are trimmed down already.   howeer, hiring an development team that can raise 4x what you pay them is probably a good idea. It works for regional theatre, ballet, and other arts orgs who are non profits.

 

the costs to move.  tractors and busses are rented in a lump sum to keep costs down. So it costs the same whether it moves or sits.  

the costs to house.  When school systems found it acceptable to charge for space, this activity changed.  The schools then passed ALL costs associated with using their facilities back onto the renter.  (security, cleaning, admin for operations, water, healing/cooling, etc) you went from having $0 in facility costs, to thousands per night for facility costs.  (nevermind that stadium use, lights, and other costs are added to the rental should a corps want/need these facilities)   You also have to separate students by gender, and age.  Its no longer using one gym and one field.  Its multiples of all of these things which add costs up.  

There's no longer a requirement to host a home show.  which means groups not are on their own for housing more than before.

the only ways to cut costs are to spend less time on a school facility, and to spend less time on rental gear to move the corps.

You cannot go back to 1990 when everyone ate cereal, cold cuts, and burgers every meal of the day.  thats not sustainable for the level of activity, and frankly, theres a lot of dietary needs that should be met that we didnt know about 20 years ago.  

Wardrobe, props, instruments, are all a wash. And often sold as a fundraiser.  

So to cut costs, you have to shorten the season, and spend less time on a school facility. 

to reduce costs to the student you need to have a board which is committed to raising more of the operating revenue than before.  If a season basic expenses costs $1.5 million, your board needs to raise the first million.  
 

Millions and millions.  Where is this money coming from? I’ve donated thousands and I don’t anymore.  I can get taken for granted for free and squander my money myself.  

[JimF-LowBari]

2 hours ago, gbass598 said:

As a Glassmen alumni, the part about opening a 2nd bingo game sounds like a band aid solution that just won't be viable long term.

Argee… and as I said before if bingo is big in the area there are probably other games going on every night of the week else where. How many players are going to switch to a corps 2nd night and charge their routine. And don’t try to tell me bingo players don’t have their routine, superstitions and just general OCD behavior. (Worked bingo floor for my corps a few years.)

Edited December 13, 2022 by JimF-LowBari

[scheherazadesghost]

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Edited June 13, 2023 by scheherazadesghost

[Phantom56]

SCV's reliance on bingo has been a mistake. Covid shut it down in California for almost two years. And the seniors I know don't go to bingo halls much anymore--they go to the Native American run casinos.