DCI DAMAGE CONTROL

[MarimbaManiac]

1 hour ago, cixelsyd said:

Both corps have benefitted from large and long-term charitable gaming operations.  Blue Devils appear to have made more of an effort to pursue other revenue sources, while SCV lacks such diversification.

Meanwhile, too much diversification (i.e. turnover) in leadership lately.

BD also has a very stable local presence. Yes this is made easier because they have Mars, but SCV has the hall and surrounding parking lots they can use for everything short of full field rehearsal and they don't use it. 

The SCV footprint is pretty absent in Santa Clara, which means no visibility or local outreach. 

 

[Tenoris4Jazz]

3 hours ago, MikeRapp said:

I am not in a position to understand details of SCV’s situation, most notably their financial situation. Why has BD seemed to be fine with world class staff and programming, while SCV—right down the road—has been on the veritable edge of insolvency? Does anyone know?

The last time I did a deep dive into corps' finances, I was surprised by 1) how many were deep in debt, 2) how many did not conduct regular audits, and 3) how bad the balance sheet was.   Cavies liability coverage was the worst I've ever seen in an organization that was not imminently about to file bankruptcy.  The Bluecoats balance sheet was exceptional.  Blue Devils finances are incredibly good.  Vanguard's 990 looked good, but without being audited, you don't know what really lies beneath there, and now we found out... disaster.

The Glassmen folded because a BoD took over and wanted to be top 5 and contend.  They borrowed as much money as they could and found success... and had no way to pay the loans back.  In a few years after placing 5th, they were gone.  If you keep chasing titles by spending wildly and not living within your means... well, see the Mets before Cohen.

[cixelsyd]

1 hour ago, Tenoris4Jazz said:

The last time I did a deep dive into corps' finances, I was surprised by 1) how many were deep in debt, 2) how many did not conduct regular audits, and 3) how bad the balance sheet was.   Cavies liability coverage was the worst I've ever seen in an organization that was not imminently about to file bankruptcy.  The Bluecoats balance sheet was exceptional.  Blue Devils finances are incredibly good.  Vanguard's 990 looked good, but without being audited, you don't know what really lies beneath there, and now we found out... disaster.

The Glassmen folded because a BoD took over and wanted to be top 5 and contend.  They borrowed as much money as they could and found success... and had no way to pay the loans back.  In a few years after placing 5th, they were gone.  If you keep chasing titles by spending wildly and not living within your means... well, see the Mets before Cohen.

Glassmen had a successful bingo operation when they were top 5.  Then it took a downturn.  But that was not just "a few years".  Their last 5th spot was in 2001.  The corps was still on the field in 2012.

[Bob984]

4 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

A few observations:

1.  BD was founded by a guy w/ a finance background (Jerry Seawright), perhaps he built a very strong foundation.   Also, BD’s senior management has been in place for years. 
2. SCV was founded by a band director (Gail Roger), perhaps a less strong foundation?   And SCV has had multiple directors in last few years; I seem to recall one had an arts management (but not Drum Corps) background & only lasted a few weeks or months.  In 2021/22, their latest new director came from a folding Corps (Shadow).  She lasted one season.  In hindsight, these management oscillations couldn’t have helped.
 

This said, without seeing the actual books of both organizations we won’t know.  

Gail Royer may have been a band director, but the Vanguard was under solid leadership in every regard while he was around.   What happened to SCV has zero to do with the foundation of the drum corps.  For both BD and SCV, bingo has been a huge part of their income......I was at a clinic way back in 1975, and Royer told band directors that the bingo income generated by their bingo hall that year was $1,000,000.....in 1975!!  In 1978, they showed up on tour in brand new Silver Eagle buses....  I do believe that a sudden change in SCV's bingo income (after generating a huge amount for so long), certainly is huge.   However, did they do anything to quickly react to that?   Most drum corps have gotten into trouble by spending significantly more than they take in.....it's really that simple.   SCV was/is a corps used to spending MUCH money.  If suddenly that income drops substantially, yet you do not change your spending; that's a formula for disaster.  They have obviously decided that they either can't or won't cut corners for this year, they are hoping for a 2nd bingo operation for next year, and that's that.  My big question is this.  What if that bingo operation doesn't materialize, or revenues from bingo continue to decline?  Will they be willing to re-tool their income sources, and perhaps consider running on a significantly smaller budget?  Many on this website have indicated that the current operational model of most of the World Class Corps is not sustainable.  I agree.  In my opinion, there are world class corps who in the near future will need to learn to operate on a budget of let's say $800,000; instead of $2,000,000+.  Yes, that's quite a cut, but it can be done.  For corps that have to travel more, it could be a bit more.  I DO think that DCI can help with that, by deciding to make touring for a good portion of the season regional.  However, DCI IS the corps, so the corps as a group will have to decide on that......and I think that it's a decision to make soon.  I do agree that directorship of the corps (SCV) had a small impact.  However, there are many on the board, so how they failed as a unit is perplexing.  I can absolutely guarantee you that if GR Royer was director right now, he would have found a way, and the corps would be on the field in 2023.  I do wish SCV well, I hope they get their "bingo operations" in order, and that they are back strong in 2024.  If anything good came out of this, it will send a message to all of the corps to get their fiscal houses in order, and to stop spending $$$ that they do not have and are not projected to take in.

[Jeff Ream]

10 hours ago, MikeRapp said:

I am not in a position to understand details of SCV’s situation, most notably their financial situation. Why has BD seemed to be fine with world class staff and programming, while SCV—right down the road—has been on the veritable edge of insolvency? Does anyone know?

BD diversified. SCV lived and died for "I 25"

[Tenoris4Jazz]

Many years ago, the University of Georgia hired a new Athletic Director.  His idea for forming the budget for each sport was to quit taking the previous year's amount and adding a percentage.  Instead, he sat down with each coach and asked them to create a budget, from scratch, for just that year.  It took some adjusting by the coaches, but they loved it.  In years where teams didn't travel as much, they cut back and the money went to other sports.  In the end, no team ever went without, but they only spent what was necessary for that season.  Since then, UGA's athletics has been the 2nd most profitable in the country, behind Texas.

DCI corps need to start focusing on this type of budgeting and spending.  Drum corps operates on a "governmental" type budget.  They set their  budget for 2023 based on tax revenues for 2022.  If taxes fall short... they just borrow more.  If taxes increase, they just spend more.  That's why our government is trillions and trillions of dollars in debt and why SCV will be sitting at home next season.

[Slingerland]

5 hours ago, Tenoris4Jazz said:

Many years ago, the University of Georgia hired a new Athletic Director.  His idea for forming the budget for each sport was to quit taking the previous year's amount and adding a percentage. 

The term for that is Zero Based Budgeting. In cases where most/many expenditures are discretionary, it's incredibly useful (particularly if there are large variances year to year). I'd argue that the drum corps season, unfortunately, isn't really that changing except in cases where a tour is drastically different (any time an eastern or midwestern corps does the California tour, it's a major expense to them, and they build up to it). Like any other league sport, there's a season that is tied to a calendar, and the major players are expected to be available for the six weeks of that season.

In the case of drum corps, the more useful approach would be a league-thru (all DCI corps) approach that specifically targeted budgetary containment over a multi-year process in the one area where the spending IS most discretionary - payroll on designers. With some of the bigger names getting $30k plus (in some cases, many plusses) for essentially doing ONE marching band show design for ONE caption, it's getting to the point where the biggest dogs are spending $150k plus on a small group of adults to put together their show - a number that is tens of thousands of dollars more than those same corps will reap in performance fees and the DCI split that year. Since it's not like professional sports, where winning a title brings with it new found financial powers (outside of selling a few more t-shirts), there's no financial reason why ANYone should be spending that kind of money just to try and win a band contest where there's no additional prize money.

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by Slingerland

[cixelsyd]

28 minutes ago, Slingerland said:

The term for that is Zero Based Budgeting. In cases where most/many expenditures are discretionary, it's incredibly useful (particularly if there are large variances year to year). I'd argue that the drum corps season, unfortunately, isn't really that changing except in cases where a tour is drastically different (any time an eastern or midwestern corps does the California tour, it's a major expense to them, and they build up to it). Like any other league sport, there's a season that is tied to a calendar, and the major players are expected to be available for the six weeks of that season.

In the case of drum corps, the more useful approach would be a league-thru (all DCI corps) approach that specifically targeted budgetary containment over a multi-year process in the one area where the spending IS most discretionary - payroll on designers. With some of the bigger names getting $30k plus (in some cases, many plusses) for essentially doing ONE marching band show design for ONE caption, it's getting to the point where the biggest dogs are spending $150k plus on a small group of adults to put together their show - a number that is tens of thousands of dollars more than those same corps will reap in performance fees and the DCI split that year. Since it's not like professional sports, where winning a title brings with it new found financial powers (outside of selling a few more t-shirts), there's no financial reason why ANYone should be spending that kind of money just to try and win a band contest where there's no additional prize money.

 

Maybe it would not be that way if judges were not from the same mutual admiration society as the designers.