A lot can happen in 15 years. (G7 proposal)

[MikeRapp]

22 hours ago, Old Guy said:

I still see people running corps with more love of the activity than financial knowledge. 
 

I also see a lot of revolving doors.  People stay at the helm for 3-4-5 years than move on, resulting in a lack of long term vision  

 

I sometime see new younger directors coming in, full of confidence, because of the corps they run… without the experience needed to run a multimillion dollar operation    . Some just Kids playing with big toys  

 

And I still see the artistic side more present on decision making than the financial side  

 

How a multimillion dollar business still doesn’t have related business and long term investments bringing in the money they need yearly after 50+ years of operation is beyond me  

 

Bingo was a good start  How come no one have a McDonald, a Walmart, a mall, some land, ect ?  
 

i heard someone saying DCI sold their building because they were not on the managing building business but instead in the music business. 
 

It look fine for some. To me, if you pay 2x the price because you rent instead of owning, you take the wrong path  

 

Bravo to Spartans, Columbians and Stentors for owning their own busses saving big bucks every year  (more work of course)  

 

 

 

That has been a huge problem. Everyone wanting to be in the “music business”. What a load.

DCI is not a record label. It’s a touring org. As someone who worked in the music business for almost 15 years, It is NOT by any stretch the music business. You wanna lose your ###? Run a touring business thinking you’re doing the music business a favor.

Edited August 14, 2025 by MikeRapp

[cixelsyd]

On 8/13/2025 at 10:42 AM, Slingerland said:

Like it or not, we've entered the Hunger Games portion of the lifecycle of the activity, and the fallout the next few seasons may be nasty.

I would say we entered that phase in 1976.

[cixelsyd]

On 8/13/2025 at 8:48 PM, Old Guy said:

How a multimillion dollar business still doesn’t have related business and long term investments bringing in the money they need yearly after 50+ years of operation is beyond me  

Oh?  Well, for starters, steering the entire activity in the "non-profit" direction discourages savings and investment.  You and I may know that it is still allowed in a non-profit setting, but convincing everyone else is a work in progress.

In regard to "related business"... the current drum corps activity is intentionally niche and exclusive, and its DCI version only surfaces for six weeks each year.  Those conditions are inherently inhospitable for related business development.

Quote

How come no one have a McDonald, a Walmart, a mall, some land, ect ?  

Those are standalone businesses, not "related businesses".  Why would a succeeding business like Walmart want to burden itself with funding a drum corps?

About the only "business" idea in my mind that would be truly related would be a disaster relief mobile kitchen service.  That would require developing a year-round food preparation staff instead of short-term volunteers, but then the drum corps would have that resource to tap into going forward.

[wolfgang]

2 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

 

In regard to "related business"... the current drum corps activity is intentionally niche and exclusive, and its DCI version only surfaces for six weeks each year.  Those conditions are inherently inhospitable for related business development.

The niche and exclusive part is by far the biggest blind spot both within the activity and fans with more than a casual background.

My wife has zero pageantry background. She has gone to DCI, BOA, and WGI competitions with me before. While she may like some concepts that are relatable to anyone, by and large competitive pageantry isn't her thing, primarily due to pretentious self-indulgent design choices.

Edit -Many of the things that get a big pop from the crowd are a mystery to a newbie. Saying "they did this thing in 1983 and are doing it again" sounds 100% weird to an outsider.

Edited August 15, 2025 by wolfgang

[Crown1990]

22 hours ago, OldCorpsGuy said:

My question would be who gives a Flying F*+^ what George has to say about anything, let alone Drum Corps. 

This is absolutely true. I was only using that as a point of comparison between the G7 proposal and GH's style of prose. I don't think anyone cares. He's in a glass case, talking to himself at this point.

[Old Guy]

5 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

Oh?  Well, for starters, steering the entire activity in the "non-profit" direction discourages savings and investment.  You and I may know that it is still allowed in a non-profit setting, but convincing everyone else is a work in progress.

In regard to "related business"... the current drum corps activity is intentionally niche and exclusive, and its DCI version only surfaces for six weeks each year.  Those conditions are inherently inhospitable for related business development.

Those are standalone businesses, not "related businesses".  Why would a succeeding business like Walmart want to burden itself with funding a drum corps?

About the only "business" idea in my mind that would be truly related would be a disaster relief mobile kitchen service.  That would require developing a year-round food preparation staff instead of short-term volunteers, but then the drum corps would have that resource to tap into going forward.

I am not sure how Walmart operate. However I was thinking about models with local owners. And that local owner can do what he wants with the money he makes. 
 

BD selling system blue instruments was genius. It didn’t last but that was genius anyway. 
 

Marching band camp of all type by corps are great!  Using what you have (reputation) to sell something else to a related maket. 
 

For when a uniform company?
 

Star of Indiana bus company, travel agency and airport fuel operation was fantastic and in my lane of thinking. 
 

Yes, it may start with saving 10% per year for 10 years… so does for your own personal finance in check for a better future. 

[perc2100]

4 hours ago, wolfgang said:

The niche and exclusive part is by far the biggest blind spot both within the activity and fans with more than a casual background.

My wife has zero pageantry background. She has gone to DCI, BOA, and WGI competitions with me before. While she may like some concepts that are relatable to anyone, by and large competitive pageantry isn't her thing, primarily due to pretentious self-indulgent design choices.

Edit -Many of the things that get a big pop from the crowd are a mystery to a newbie. Saying "they did this thing in 1983 and are doing it again" sounds 100% weird to an outsider.

Yeah that's tough; my wife and I are both DCI alum (dinosaurs from the 90's), and even the two of us mostly "appreciate" shows/performances more than we "love" them.  I think alum root for their home team, HS and college kids appreciate the current design trends that hooked them, and it's likely ROUGH for outsiders to break in and fall for the activity in any substantial monetary way.  When reading the broad strokes of what the 'G7' was achieving as far as planning fan-friendly events, it makes A LOT of sense to me; not the cannibalizing of the lower-placing corps of course, but the "we have to include aspects at these shows that aren't about pleasing judges, and ALL about getting the non-alum/family/friends fans excited to attend over-and-over" aspects

[lowend]

On 8/15/2025 at 10:27 AM, wolfgang said:

.... large competitive pageantry isn't her thing, primarily due to pretentious self-indulgent design choices.

Edit -Many of the things that get a big pop from the crowd are a mystery to a newbie. Saying "they did this thing in 1983 and are doing it again" sounds 100% weird to an outsider.

This isn't going to be popular, but let's think about why Madison used to be so popular and why HBCU marching bands are more popular than corps style.  There's a swagger, a masculinity that stops and makes you think "dude...that's cool..."  There's a visual appeal problem.  There's also a musical appeal problem.  People want melody, they want something they can sing along to -- even if it's not a recognizable tune.  They want something they can grasp and be entertained by, not baffled by.

[troopers1]

On 8/16/2025 at 10:33 AM, lowend said:

This isn't going to be popular, but let's think about why Madison used to be so popular and why HBCU marching bands are more popular than corps style.  There's a swagger, a masculinity that stops and makes you think "dude...that's cool..."  There's a visual appeal problem.  There's also a musical appeal problem.  People want melody, they want something they can sing along to -- even if it's not a recognizable tune.  They want something they can grasp and be entertained by, not baffled by.

A good HBCU program spends 100% of their effort on reaching a their audience.  They do not take their audience for granted.  That goes from defining their style, musical arrangements, visual design, rehearsal technique, and on and on.

Watch when JSU and Southern square off for their home games.  BoTB on Friday, zero quarter before the game, pregame, halftime, going at each other across the field the entire game, then fifth quarter.  That is maximum effort on behalf their fans.  And it happens all over the HBCU conferences every week.

[Jeff Ream]

On 8/15/2025 at 12:32 PM, Crown1990 said:

This is absolutely true. I was only using that as a point of comparison between the G7 proposal and GH's style of prose. I don't think anyone cares. He's in a glass case, talking to himself at this point.

Oh people still care. Denials not just a river in Egypt