JimF-LowBari Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 4 minutes ago, ContraFart said: At what point do all those cuts bastardize the product and lessen the member experience? People are promoting half measures that really don't address the problem. Did I mention anything specific? I just said that bringing up cuts brings a knee jerk reaction to some people. When tightening the belt can’t even be mentioned that’s a huge problem (have seen it other places) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOneWhoKnows Posted October 15, 2023 Author Share Posted October 15, 2023 2 minutes ago, ContraFart said: At what point do all those cuts bastardize the product and lessen the member experience? People are promoting half measures that really don't address the problem. How is a lack of props going to "lessen the member experience". It doesn't. Regardless, all costs no matter what should be looked at when attempting to put a feasible product on the road that is safe and still provides the educational experience of participating in a performing, traveling group. Aside from all of that, what's happening in drum corps is the same thing that's happening across the country (not Texas) when it comes to marching band in general. It's no longer where students get their social interaction. You could have all these local and small town corps because it was something to do. Now with the entire world at our fingertips in nanoseconds, kids do not need "something to do". It's a fact of life. Oh and the standards of old have changed. It's no longer acceptable to have "just good enough" transportation for drum corps. Food trucks are more costly now. At the end of the day, based on the information SOA put out, their highest expense was "labor". I would like to know the breakdown of the labor costs, but clearly that's an issue. And not something drum corps used to have to deal with as much back in the day. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terri Schehr Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 5 minutes ago, TheOneWhoKnows said: How is a lack of props going to "lessen the member experience". It doesn't. Regardless, all costs no matter what should be looked at when attempting to put a feasible product on the road that is safe and still provides the educational experience of participating in a performing, traveling group. Aside from all of that, what's happening in drum corps is the same thing that's happening across the country (not Texas) when it comes to marching band in general. It's no longer where students get their social interaction. You could have all these local and small town corps because it was something to do. Now with the entire world at our fingertips in nanoseconds, kids do not need "something to do". It's a fact of life. Oh and the standards of old have changed. It's no longer acceptable to have "just good enough" transportation for drum corps. Food trucks are more costly now. At the end of the day, based on the information SOA put out, their highest expense was "labor". I would like to know the breakdown of the labor costs, but clearly that's an issue. And not something drum corps used to have to deal with as much back in the day. “Just good enough” transportation would have been an upgrade. 😂 I think there are a few people here who could back me upon this. 2 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 6 minutes ago, TheOneWhoKnows said: How is a lack of props going to "lessen the member experience". It doesn't. Regardless, all costs no matter what should be looked at when attempting to put a feasible product on the road that is safe and still provides the educational experience of participating in a performing, traveling group. Aside from all of that, what's happening in drum corps is the same thing that's happening across the country (not Texas) when it comes to marching band in general. It's no longer where students get their social interaction. You could have all these local and small town corps because it was something to do. Now with the entire world at our fingertips in nanoseconds, kids do not need "something to do". It's a fact of life. Oh and the standards of old have changed. It's no longer acceptable to have "just good enough" transportation for drum corps. Food trucks are more costly now. At the end of the day, based on the information SOA put out, their highest expense was "labor". I would like to know the breakdown of the labor costs, but clearly that's an issue. And not something drum corps used to have to deal with as much back in the day. I will suggest that (barring some kind of meltdown) from the inside the Corps point-of-view the member experience is very similar whether you are in a Corps contending for a championship, or at some lower lever. You work hard. You make friends. You, as a group, overcome difficulties on and off field. You have humorous moments and inside jokes that you will revisit your entire life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ykw Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 (edited) 16 hours ago, C.Holland said: But this helps the case for DCI all age. They can now march, not kill their accounts, not have to travel as far. And still get an Indy weekend. Cadets could consider going the DCI all age route, wear their West Points, and perform shows without all the props and electronics. But would Cadets be able to attract potential members and fans? It seems like those who talk about "dream corps" are more charmed by wearing cool pajamas and the opportunity to roll around on the turf "emoting." Because that's what "cool" these days. Edited October 15, 2023 by ykw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 12 minutes ago, TheOneWhoKnows said: At the end of the day, based on the information SOA put out, their highest expense was "labor". I would like to know the breakdown of the labor costs, but clearly that's an issue. And not something drum corps used to have to deal with as much back in the day. Watch out. People will now say that the Second Deputy Assistant to the Director of Tire Wear Monitoring is a critical position that cannot possibly be eliminated. 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOneWhoKnows Posted October 15, 2023 Author Share Posted October 15, 2023 1 minute ago, IllianaLancerContra said: Watch out. People will now say that the Second Deputy Assistant to the Director of Tire Wear Monitoring is a critical position that cannot possibly be eliminated. It's not different than *part* of the reason why colleges and universities have souring costs. All the sudden we have VP of (insert some ridiculous title) making 6 figures plus benefits. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 11 minutes ago, TheOneWhoKnows said: It's not different than *part* of the reason why colleges and universities have souring costs. All the sudden we have VP of (insert some ridiculous title) making 6 figures plus benefits. I teach college; that is exactly where my idea of a ridiculous job title came from. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keystone3ply Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, denverjohn said: The real factors are political, cultural, spiritual, economic, and demographic but we are not allowed to discuss those on this forum. Yup; it all started going downhill with The Cadets 'Angels & Demons' then piled on by BAC looking for witches. Maybe throw in a dose of 2023 Mandrins 😁 Edited October 15, 2023 by keystone3ply cx 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ContraFart Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 17 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said: Watch out. People will now say that the Second Deputy Assistant to the Director of Tire Wear Monitoring is a critical position that cannot possibly be eliminated. Thats a straw man. Do you really think that any corps has staff they dont think they need? Do you think they do not have the agency to cut back on unnecessary staffing if its going to hurt them financially? Almost always in any business the first cost cut is payroll. I even brought up the idea of looking for staff that can do longer stretches in the summer to save on air fare and maybe eliminate excess staffing costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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