Cadets Suspend for 2024

[Tony Flores]

20 minutes ago, TheOneWhoKnows said:

1) Drum corps have to have multiple income streams. They cannot rely on donors and member dues.

1A) There needs to be more ground/local support and foundation built to sustain an organization's future. 

2) Pray that corps start to look at corporate sponsors. Find more grant funding. Find a #### way to make money. Everyone wants to bash the bingo halls, but income is income. 

I've heard on a podcast, in the not too distant past, that corps are missing out on a potential opportunity by monetizing musical & visual instruction to individuals and schools...at a minimum

[RiverCityAndTroopersFan]

28 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

So, page 60.
Many ideas & thoughts  on how Drum Corps has gotten to the financial precipice.   Two questions:

1.  Can Drum Corps be financially fixed?

2. How, in October 2023, can we fix it?  

Yes

shrink the tour.

[Boss Anova]

I believe we will  see Corps here in 2024 respond to the new reality of a Nation coming out of the worst pandemic in our lifetimes . A pandemic that took the lives of many , and sickened millions . A pandemic that shuttered businesses and Drum Corps for from 1-3 years, devastated most people ‘s household incomes and charitable giving levels  across all charities . Bingo halls closed . Schools closed . We all could easily list another dozen negative effects that the pandemic had on Drum Corps organizations and their revenues . A pandemic that arrived on our shores out of the blue , unanticipated by any Drum Corps and DCI like everyone else , caught wholly unprepared for what would be  in store . Drum Corps had never encountered cancelled seasons before  . Even in World War 2 . That’s how devastating the pandemic was .

  Now the Drum Corps coming out of those pandemic years and now are faced with high fuel costs that are through the roof , high inflation thst makes the cost of goods like food  high . Housing costs high . Insurance costs escalated .Borrowing costs high due to high interest rates . A sluggish economy . Turmoil in the MIddle East at levels not seen since WW2 . Oil reserves drying up . Drum Corps don’t live in a bubble . They are impacted by what happens around them on the global stage .

  As we assess this , it’s pretty remarkable and surprising then  that we still have any Drum Corps that made it thru the last 3 years at all .

  Some of the changes we seek are actually about to become visible to us next season . Cadets and other Corps criss crossed the country about 15 years ago doing between 30-35 shows a season on “ national touring “. You want that to be curtailed ? You have your wish . No Corps in 2024 will do 30-35 competition shows . Most will do half that number now , including the Top 6 Corps  . Many Corps will supplement that with non competition performances in locales that maximize their opportunity to increase revenue streams to themselves. Performance and time well  spent, imo   On the whole , 2023 had fewer props and less elaborate props than pre pandemic . How many here knew several of the Top Corps went out with LESS than the 165 allowed in the field last season ? Some corps went out with no props at all  or very small ones . The Cadets for example . Stagecoaches for props gave way in 2023 to small chairs in other corps . Most other Corps had similar smaller props in 2023 out on the field than they had in recent years as well . Most Corps became more regional than ever before in their traveling too  . That trend you want to see will continue into 2024 as well  . DCI Drum Corps merged and consolidated with DCA to eliminate or curtail  duplicative  costs . Something I predicted years ago would likely happen in the  future  . Staffs sizes are no longer growing .As a matter of fact , they are constricting . Something many are calling for . Corps have staff now performing multiple duties that were once filled by 2 , now done by I … including Corps Directorships . Cadets took a double whammy as they had their long time Director arrested and charged with crimes . They started to rebound , but then got hit with the Pandemic years of shutdowns . Now they are not calling it quits. They are just asking for a pause of a year . Let’s take a deep breath and give them that time to hopefully get  back on track

. So , if we look around , many Corps ARE dealing with the post pandemic world by cutting costs , streamlining travel , reducing numbers of shows , shortening the seasons of travel , reducing size of staff and size of corps , and props , and the rest of it . Corps that relied almost exclusively on bingo for much of their revenues , are learning they have to diversify their revenue streams . Others  are making audition camp tryouts done via video and others making tryout auditions more accessible by hosting auditions in various regions . Change is happening . It will continue . But DCI Drum Corps has not died . But it could have in 2020-2022 time period. Some predicted the end back then , remember ?  The further we get in time away from the pandemic years , I believe we will look back and ask ourselves , how in heck did this activity survive , make it thru , and NOT die in that 2020-2022 pandemic years time period .

Edited October 16, 2023 by Boss Anova

[HockeyDad]

1 hour ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

So, page 60.
Many ideas & thoughts  on how Drum Corps has gotten to the financial precipice.   Two questions:

1.  Can Drum Corps be financially fixed?

2. How, in October 2023, can we fix it?  

No. It cannot and will not be fixed. This thread is the wake. Lots of emotions at a wake. 

[Slingerland]

1 hour ago, RiverCityAndTroopersFan said:

Yes

shrink the tour.

Yes, you could go to a 4 week season starting July 10 or so, lowering bus costs and food costs.  It'll still take 3 weeks to teach the show, so no effect on pre-tour costs (which are typically $25-50,000). A short season would also reduce the number of performances, which means that many fewer opportunities to do the thing that the members of the corps routinely list in the DCI end of season survey as the primary reason why they do drum corps in the first place - to perform. 

Here's my guess; if the entire activity went to Heartland or any of the other charter companies and said "hey, now we're only going to need your services for 5 weeks in stead of 8", the charter companies would likely not reduce the cost all that much, since it would make it harder for them to find other opportunities to fill those missing weeks. You might reduce the number of nights on the road by 30% for no more than a 10% drop in the overall expense. Why? Because they can.
 

[RiverCityAndTroopersFan]

5 minutes ago, Slingerland said:

Yes, you could go to a 4 week season starting July 10 or so, lowering bus costs and food costs.  It'll still take 3 weeks to teach the show, so no effect on pre-tour costs (which are typically $25-50,000). A short season would also reduce the number of performances, which means that many fewer opportunities to do the thing that the members of the corps routinely list in the DCI end of season survey as the primary reason why they do drum corps in the first place - to perform. 

Here's my guess; if the entire activity went to Heartland or any of the other charter companies and said "hey, now we're only going to need your services for 5 weeks in stead of 8", the charter companies would likely not reduce the cost all that much, since it would make it harder for them to find other opportunities to fill those missing weeks. You might reduce the number of nights on the road by 30% for no more than a 10% drop in the overall expense. Why? Because they can.
 

By shrink I mean regionalize also you will save a lot in fuel cost.

[Tony Flores]

14 minutes ago, RiverCityAndTroopersFan said:

By shrink I mean regionalize also you will save a lot in fuel cost.

Not necessarily, and the lodging costs would increase…as someone in the know educated me, they pay at cost for the use of a school including admin, security, utilities. It’s no longer cheap or free.

[LabMaster]

1 hour ago, RiverCityAndTroopersFan said:

Yes

shrink the tour.

It’s already been shrunk. Last season was 6 weeks long. Shorter for some corps.  Number of shows also was reduced.  Look back.  That is a small part of the answer.  Why don’t we offer more money generating ideas?  Not just lip service.  Real executable achievable ideas.

[LabMaster]

37 minutes ago, Slingerland said:

Yes, you could go to a 4 week season starting July 10 or so, lowering bus costs and food costs.  It'll still take 3 weeks to teach the show, so no effect on pre-tour costs (which are typically $25-50,000). A short season would also reduce the number of performances, which means that many fewer opportunities to do the thing that the members of the corps routinely list in the DCI end of season survey as the primary reason why they do drum corps in the first place - to perform. 

Here's my guess; if the entire activity went to Heartland or any of the other charter companies and said "hey, now we're only going to need your services for 5 weeks in stead of 8", the charter companies would likely not reduce the cost all that much, since it would make it harder for them to find other opportunities to fill those missing weeks. You might reduce the number of nights on the road by 30% for no more than a 10% drop in the overall expense. Why? Because they can.
 

Corps weren’t on the road for 8 weeks last year.  6 for most. Fewer for others.

[Boss Anova]

3 hours ago, TheOneWhoKnows said:

1) Drum corps have to have multiple income streams. They cannot rely on donors and member dues.

True ….especially regarding tuition  and member fees  Tuition does not cover even half of Corps annual operating  costs .( it’s usually around a third or so )  I believe the Cadets fell into their current financial position in 2023 as tuition snd member fees made up far more than 50% of the Corps revenues to operate . Some tell me it made up almost all of their revenues, as donor levels in the post Hopkins era unsurprisingly took a bit of a hit.  If so, that was a red flag in early 2023 that financial troubles were ahead for them after the  2023 season .

 A lot of folks were posting not that long ago that SCV financial problems and tax problems that caused them to announce they were taking the 2023 off would result in that Corps folding. That there was zero chance they'd survive and return in 2024. All throughout social media we read such certainty. I'm sure we all remember this. Right ?  While its still not 100% certain that they survived and will return, it appears their chances of return are far higher than the doom and gloomers previously thought remotely  possible. Just food for thought anyway whenever we read posts from such fans here and elsewhere.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Boss Anova