Cadets Suspend for 2024

[ContraFart]

6 minutes ago, cixelsyd said:

I have said nothing about costumes being a cost problem.  The whole idea of single-season disposable costuming is at least cost-neutral, probably a demonstrable cost saving vs. maintaining traditional uniforms over the years, and definitely more practical for washing while on tour.  Corps can still choose costuming that looks uniform from year to year if they want; if they do not, that is simply a design choice with no cost implications.

I am not posting on Facebook or Reddit.  If you have issues with what is being posted there, say something there.  Do not conflate me with them.

You are right, you said props and electronics are non essential costs before I even entered the post, not costumes. 

My bad

Edited October 14, 2023 by ContraFart

[HockeyDad]

1 hour ago, ContraFart said:

I say that because props and uniforms are ALWAYS the first thing mentioned.  

No. They aren’t. But you keep beating that drum. 

[Old Guy]

3 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

You seem to think they’re all there at the same time. They aren’t, and aren’t paid for time not there. The days of giving up your entire summer to play band are gone

I was responding to a comment saying DCI should put a cap limit on how many staff a corps can have. 
 

There is no way dci can control how many staff 1000 miles away a corps have for a specific day. 
 

But they can limit how many passes each corps get for staff. 

[C.Holland]

2 minutes ago, Old Guy said:

I was responding to a comment saying DCI should put a cap limit on how many staff a corps can have. 
 

There is no way dci can control how many staff 1000 miles away a corps have for a specific day. 
 

But they can limit how many passes each corps get for staff. 

We trade staff passes to each other when we leave tour as it is.  All corps are limited on capacity of who can be on tour when. And we all share our stipends. The hours a tech puts in amounts to barely a buck an hour over a season. So we add 30 staff to cover while each of us is away working our real jobs so the landlords don’t kick us out. Cause drum corps doesn’t pay our rent. And we don’t get more money, we end us sharing that stipend. So we often get less over a season. 

[ContraFart]

7 minutes ago, Old Guy said:

I was responding to a comment saying DCI should put a cap limit on how many staff a corps can have. 
 

There is no way dci can control how many staff 1000 miles away a corps have for a specific day. 
 

But they can limit how many passes each corps get for staff. 

the solution is not and will never be to control how a private entity runs their business. 

[ContraFart]

9 minutes ago, HockeyDad said:

No. They aren’t. But you keep beating that drum. 

Well its either that or the "regional tour model" which simply cannot work

[Old Guy]

3 hours ago, LabMaster said:

If the BoD is larger than a handful of people, and diverse in their backgrounds, then the work required won’t come close to their spending 20 hours/week running a corps.  And a BoD doesn’t run a corps anyway.  You can spread their work out and let an BoD  oversee the corps management and support the corps as needed.  There are corps out there where this works and works well.  What corps not set up this way can do, is meet with and learn from corps that are being successful with this set up.  Help IS available.  But there are corps out there too, who feel they know better and don’t listen.  Pride, ego, hubris, whatever it may be, they don’t reach out.  There is also the flip side where a BoD may have been asked for help by corps management, or otherwise made fully aware of the challenges  and support needed, and has not provided help and has not reached out to get help to support their org. 
And oddly enough, corps alums who could help, don’t, because in their minds, the corps in some way offended them. Maybe it was by changing unis, performance style, location, whatever it may be, support is held back because things changed and not to their personal liking.  So the current corps suffers.

Minds and attitudes need to change.  BOD structure may need to change.  Be larger to expand resources. Diversify thought and sourcing options primarily for sustainability.  Be financially creative and innovative (all legally of course). Don’t minimize revenue streams and opportunities.  Bring smart people into the fold.  

Agree with all of this. It’s just not that easy to get there (or maintain). 
 

I believe I did have a lot of success in everything I did in my life. I know what it did cost me to be where I am. Same for corps. 
 

They can’t expect every aspect to be #1, including having a good salary, nights and weekend off, etc   It has to start somewhere and that include many sacrifices and hopefully many people to jump in the same boat, going the same direction. 
 

In that regard, I think older corps were favored in that life was slower in the 60-70 (1 salary per family, more volunteers, etc). 
 

A new corps found by a nobody in 2023 would have a lot more challenges than someone in 1963. 
 

[TenHut]

1 hour ago, corpsman98 said:

In my opinion, in order for drum corps to survive it will need to be a Regional plus Championship Model. When I say regional I'm not talking about building up corps in those areas in order to compete against each other. I mean maintain a regional championship in the Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, Southwest and West. The corps travel to those regions to compete for that regional championship. After regionals the corps journey to championships for quarters, semi and finals. That is it! With regionals and finals you are looking at a total of 8-10 show for the entire season. Depending on interest maybe throw in another show per region prior to the regional championship.

This should reduce travel, food and housing expenses drastically. This would require corps to reduce the level of difficulty in shows due to a short season. Instead of hopping around from housing to housing, the corps will basically stay in one place and tour on the weekend. After that regional show, return to base to prepare for the next regional and so forth until championship week. Basically like open class weekend corps. The all summer long thing is over. Does not work anymore. A dead horse that keeps getting beat. I'm just throwing something out there.

I was promoting a very similar model 10 years ago which would eliminate corps membership from outside of the region they line in. The current model of mostly out of state membership isn't sustainable. Corps need to recruit members and staff close to home. Make it a community activity again.

[2muchcoffeeman]

5 hours ago, scheherazadesghost said:

I'm firmly in the "they don't know how" camp even though the answers are staring them in the face.

I get what you're saying, but I'm dubious that a solution is as plug-and-play as "hire a seasoned np development professional." I put it in the necessary-but-insufficient category.

Boston indeed is a model. It is not a readily replicable model. It has been built on the back of a large board of very well-connected people, it's true. But a big and well-connected board is not the entire story in Boston.

First of all, it's Boston. Outside of NY, it's the epicenter of the U.S. financial-services industry. When it comes to grant writing, it is, as they say, a target-rich environment -- one that also happens to be local (a twofer!) to the grant officers at these global financial behemoths. Boston is a major metro that, outside of Surf 3 states away, is home to the only WC corps in New England and the Mid-Atlantic. You need to go all the way to Canton or Fort Mill to find another.

Boston has diversified its revenue. It bought an entire music festival. And a music-instrument retail operation. Perhaps only BD has a more robust and diversified revenue stream.

As for the BAC board, it's pay-to-play; every member is expected to provide an annual minimum 4-figure donation. On such a large board, the multiplier effect is not insignificant. Board members are selected for one purpose only: to leverage their connections to bring money to the organization. They also happen to be passionate about the corps and the youth mission. But people who are merely passionate do not get invited to the board, for the most part.

The leadership in Boston is stellar and it is to be commended for taking advantage of its opportunities — opportunities, it should be said, that are available only to a monopoly organization that has a financially bottomless local market all to itself. 

Try to replicate that in Casper. Or even San Antonio, or Madison. Get the best "seasoned np development professional" you want; no doubt it will help, but I don't think it offers salvation. Madison is a nice place. There is money in Madison. But it ain't Boston. 

 

Edited October 14, 2023 by 2muchcoffeeman

[C.Holland]

2 hours ago, ContraFart said:

The only ways to cut food fuel and housing costs is to have shorter tours with less shows. DCI has already shortened the tour by 2 weeks and fewer shows is detrimental rather than useful. We no longer have the amount of corps required to sustain any type of regional model and new corps are not going to appear out of nowhere to create that infrastructure. We either have to learn how to amend the current national tour model or shut down all together. 

I am not going to have all of the answers and to expect me to is the ultimate straw man. Corps such as BD, Crown, Colts, Music City, Bluecoats, BAC and Cavaliers have all created organizations that can withstand the current model and diversify revenue. Can every corps do what they do? No, but they are at least models to start the search. 

If you want a regional tour model. You need to first cultivate regional show operators and sponsors.  There’s no incentive to start a show right now. You need to pony up a large sum of cash and become a “dci event partner” which is a gamble with little known return on the investment.