Jeff Ream Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 2 hours ago, MarimbaManiac said: With respect, none of these issues are novel or unique to drumcorps. Corps are already keeping track of their expenses, especially when it comes to purchasing equipment or paying staff. Mandating quarterly reporting of expenses to DCI shouldn't be a huge lift, and checking those submitted expenses against the EOY tax forms wouldn't be either. As a bonus, this would require corps that are less than stellar at managing their finances (AHEM, VMAPA), to be more proactive and transparent. The regional issue also has history in the activity. This culture of creating a nomadic city for 4 months is something that wasn't always the norm. Rather than restricting by specific areas or time zones, it could be accomplished simply by mandating that corps do not provide housing or food services for spring and summer rehearsals. If a member wants to travel out of their region, they are free to do so as long as they pay for their own expenses, or as another poster mentioned, finding a host family willing to sponsor them for the summer. Yes it means more process, but the alternative is that this behemoth model will collapse under its own weight. reporting frequently to DCI would require more manpower and salary/benefits cost. Given that the office is kept lean on purpose to funnel more money back to the corps, i can't imagine the corps would go for it. after all, the chickens run the hen house. I'd imagine it would also require a substantial rewrite of the bylaws, which again means the individual corps have to give up power. so as with most issues in drum corps, those with the power to make change fear that they will lose power once the change is made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Anova Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 1 hour ago, Terri Schehr said: I absolutely love how WGI nurtures the smaller independent groups and high school performers and makes them feel worthy on the big stage. I’m pretty sure that the number of marchers in WGI each season exceeds that of the number marchers in DCI each season . It was not always this case . WGI was formed a few years after DCI was formed in 1972 , and the number of units and marchers in DCI back then far exceeded the numbers of units and marchers in WGI. But WGI grew both units and marcher numbers over the years as it expanded into scholastic groups and was far less expensive to operate units and far less expensive for marchers to participate in . So it had a broader reach . I also like how it nurtures the young participants and gives them their due on the bigger stage there in WGI as well . 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 1 hour ago, NewToPosting said: If only there was a pageantry organization that had Local, Regional, and National circuits, where the Local groups learned, the Regional groups competed, and the National groups (the elite) attracted the Local participants. I know everyone "hates" on WGI, but they've expanded their Championships weekend from 1 to 2. Drum corps just reduced from 2 to 1. BOA is too different an animal to compare. WGI's model is not without flaws, of course, but even in "dead" areas, groups are able to get off the ground and into national competition within a year or two. It would take a drum corps a small investment firm to be able to pull that off now. But, WGI is killing the activity. Let's definitely NOT learn from what's working. </sarcasm> (Not a WGI homer, either, it's hardly the golden beacon, but many drum corps participants do WGI in the winter and do not have the same 5 year outlook as drum corps - something works in the setup) the thing with WGI few publicly admit is because it is scholastic as well as independent.....it's scholastic that pays bills. all those SA, SRA and PSA groups flooding regionals....even Open Class.....thats where the money comes from. and yet they have the least say in things. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 1 hour ago, Terri Schehr said: I think that’s the idea. I watched almost all of Soundsport last year. I had to leave before the Troopers legacy corps because it was getting close to finals time and I didn’t want to miss the early groups. I saw a lot of good stuff. the thing is, to take the next steps to the field require time and money. and thats why the growth out of Soundsport to the field hasn't happened 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scheherazadesghost Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 7 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said: the thing with WGI few publicly admit is because it is scholastic as well as independent.....it's scholastic that pays bills. all those SA, SRA and PSA groups flooding regionals....even Open Class.....thats where the money comes from. and yet they have the least say in things. This makes me curious what the info/resource sharing partnerships between DCI and BOA/UIL/others is like... is it strong enough for a "lean on me" moment while DCI plugs away at change at a more reasonable, but sustainable pace? Could it be made stronger for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 36 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said: I know just the person to run this; his initials are RL. i'm not sure he's crazy enough to want to do it 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 8 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said: This makes me curious what the info/resource sharing partnerships between DCI and BOA/UIL/others is like... is it strong enough for a "lean on me" moment while DCI plugs away at change at a more reasonable, but sustainable pace? Could it be made stronger for that? well BD owns USbands, so i am sure they have insight, and a few other corps have ties with local circuits, but i don't know how much sharing happens despite the people involved at multiple levels. i think the thing with DCI is there's no scholastic involvement like an indoor or band circuit has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 19 minutes ago, Boss Anova said: I’m pretty sure that the number of marchers in WGI each season exceeds that of the number marchers in DCI each season . It was not always this case . WGI was formed a few years after DCI was formed in 1972 , and the number of units and marchers in DCI back then far exceeded the numbers of units and marchers in WGI. But WGI grew both units and marcher numbers over the years as it expanded into scholastic groups and was far less expensive to operate units and far less expensive for marchers to participate in . So it had a broader reach . I also like how it nurtures the young participants and gives them their due on the bigger stage there in WGI as well . IIRC for a few years in 70s-80s DCI ran a winter guard championship. Did WGI split off from this? And if so, how did the split happen? Seems winter guard got a lot bigger once DCI wasn’t involved. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terri Schehr Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 41 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said: the thing is, to take the next steps to the field require time and money. and thats why the growth out of Soundsport to the field hasn't happened I think you’d have to be crazy to start an open class drum corps under the present circumstances. Or you just won the last powerball drawing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarimbaManiac Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 55 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said: so as with most issues in drum corps, those with the power to make change fear that they will lose power once the change is made. Yeah, I hear that, however it's clear that without changes the activity will die. That's not hyperbole, that's just economic reality at this point. There have to be some hard decisions made in the next few years if they want to maintain any semblance of the activity as it is now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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