Cadets Suspend for 2024

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26 minutes ago, ContraFart said:

 However I do agree on the donor bases and alumni relationships. BAC has a huge alumni donor base.

And Waldo Nation would really be ticked off if Drum Corps fades into the sunset before they win their first championship.

[ContraFart]

6 minutes ago, cixelsyd said:

You sure?

The Academy prop required 30 people to push it around.  (At one show, it was stuck on the field and would not budge until they upped that to 36 people.)

Blue Knights had a prop that needed to be disassembled/reassembled just to get it in/out of most stadiums.  You always knew they were in the show as soon as you got there, just from the riveting noises coming from behind the end zone.

(Imagine if we had this many people spending this much time on member safety issues, instead of prop management.)

I meant scale down cost wise. 

BK and Academy are fielding corps next year so maybe their large props weren't an issue.

[OldSnareDrummer]

Just now, JimF-LowBari said:

Well if you meant it as a compliment then i was mistaken 

I proudly carry my Dino card everywhere. 

[keystone3ply]

1 minute ago, OldSnareDrummer said:

Ooo boy. That's a can of worms that's going to prompt some question. 

I liked @KVG_DC comment about Surf 2024! 😂

[Old Guy]

1 hour ago, ContraFart said:

Again I will say like a broken record that those who look at props and electronics as the problem are blaming the smallest line item on the budget. 

New uniforms are a negligible cost and are sometimes even incorporated into member fees. I dont even think Cadets had to pay Stanbury for their uniforms last year. Instruments are purchased at wholesale and can even be sold for a small profit.  Staffs are huge in number, but they are changed in and out all summer and there at most 15-20 staff on tour at any given time. Staffs do not tour all summer like they used to. 

I think we need to realize that no 2 situations are exactly the same. Yes the costs of tour are high, but that does not mean the model is unsustainable. It means that the corps need to rethink the revenue model of the activity. There is no silver bullet. 

You may have a listing of 300 staffs and only have 30 everyday.  Got it. But if it cost you 60 000$ to fly them in and out every other day, that is an expensive cost.  Then you need to go to the airport all the time. It take ressources (véhicules and man time). 
 

You also have to background check 300 people instead of 30-40. It does add up. 
 

And anyway, what can really bring, for 5 days/year, a staff that don’t know the show, was not at meetings all year, is not really part if the team and dynamic of the corps? 
 

I’ll stick with the one much more available than not and keep a close knit team. 

[keystone3ply]

13 minutes ago, OldSnareDrummer said:

No good. When new Coke came along in '85, they would have been drummed out of DCI. 

New Coke = old Pepsi.  I'm a Coke Zero fan!

[JimF-LowBari]

2 minutes ago, OldSnareDrummer said:

I proudly carry my Dino card everywhere. 

Lol I have a collection of Sinclair gas items. Their logo was a dinosaur. Got hooked seeing Sinclairs Dinoland at 1964-65 NY Worlds Fair.

[ContraFart]

3 minutes ago, Old Guy said:

You may have a listing of 300 staffs and only have 30 everyday.  Got it. But if it cost you 60 000$ to fly them in and out every other day, that is an expensive cost.  Then you need to go to the airport all the time. It take ressources (véhicules and man time). 
 

You also have to background check 300 people instead of 30-40. It does add up. 
 

And anyway, what can really bring, for 5 days/year, a staff that don’t know the show, was not at meetings all year, is not really part if the team and dynamic of the corps? 
 

I’ll stick with the one much more available than not and keep a close knit team. 

Payroll is one of the most fixed costs in the activity. The cost of travel and background checks is considered in the final budget. If travel is too much of an expense, longer availability would be a priority when hiring. 

[keystone3ply]

The Cadets FB post about to break 600 comments. And that doesn't include the shares & drum corps groups. 

[KVG_DC]

2 minutes ago, keystone3ply said:

I liked @KVG_DC comment about Surf 2024! 😂

Which was also tongue in cheek to some degree.   But frankly I'm a big fan of what Surf does from keeping it at a scale that's doable during the summer with some great instructional efforts based on what I saw in the lot at Annapolis to things like their mobile music lab going out into the neighborhoods to bring music education into areas in new ways where the schools have long axed such things.   People dog them for being small and non-competitive and snark out with "demote them to Open Class" and such.  But... they're still here and they're still doing their thing and doing it well.