DO the current mm's in DCI worry about it's possible demise as much as veterans do?

[dcifanforlife]

1 hour ago, waliman4444 said:

Respectfully, I see all of your responses as to the health or lack thereof, in DCI..Is it possible that my initial question has gone off on a tangent and away from the simple yes or no that I was seeking?. And by simple I mean comments you've heard from current mm's as they prepare for next season and beyond. Thank you...peace

Current members are to busy to worry about  the long term future of their corps.   No one joins a corps today thinking about the role that they will play in that future. With all the one and done average time spent with a corps is about three years.

Charlie

 

[olddrummer34]

3 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

It was not a jab.  At one point, the forum seemed to be missing that entire side of the conversation.

Why is "for no reason" in quotes?  I never said that.  Please do not claim or imply that I did.

I guess it is important to be clear, about several things.  But you brought up why costs rose, and listed a category of contributing factors which explain part of it.  Another set of factors (since I was comparing to 50 years ago) is that we tour more than we did back then.  A third set of factors stem from the non-local nature of recruiting, which replaced year-round evening rehearsals with winter camp weekends and spring training, also requiring the services you describe above.

And to be clear - yes, there are reasons behind all of those changes. 

Okay, let us try to start that hard conversation.  Why do corps undercharge membership for the services they provide, and how can we fix that?

Why don’t corps just charge what the product actually costs?” sounds neat in theory, but in practice it ignores how every real market works. Demand is price-sensitive. You don’t set prices based on a spreadsheet, you set them based on what people can and will pay. If you overshoot that line, you don’t “solve revenue,” you just shrink your customer base.

The activity is objectively harder to access than ever. Suggesting the fix is simply to charge even more is less a financial strategy and more a way to speed-run irrelevance.

Corps subsidize the experience through fundraising, sponsorships, bingo, grants, and donations. That’s not some flaw in the model. That is the model. It’s how literally every nonprofit arts and youth organization in the country survives.

If pricing alone could fix this, it already would have. The fact that it hasn’t is the entire point.

[greg_orangecounty]

I don't believe most young people think like that, so no. 

[MacNCheese]

I'm planning on marching with the Colt Cadets this summer, and I'm raising the money myself. I know many other teenagers that are determined to march, and are raising money and auditioning, I know one who made last round audition cuts for BD on an instrument he had never played before. There is determination from teenagers now, DCI is not going to die out and fees are manageable, I'm capable of paying mine as a 16yr old. However, I'm having to choose between things I want to buy, and selling my old possessions I no longer use. It's hard not buying the things I want, but for people who really want to march, its worth it. I believe DCI as a whole is gonna stick around, and keep going with the same momentum it had in past years.

[MacNCheese]

I'm planning on marching with the Colt Cadets this summer, and I'm raising the money myself. I know many other teenagers that are determined to march, and are raising money and auditioning, I know one who made last round audition cuts for BD on an instrument he had never played before. There is determination from teenagers now, DCI is not going to die out and fees are manageable, I'm capable of paying mine as a 16yr old. However, I'm having to choose between things I want to buy, and selling my old possessions I no longer use. It's hard not buying the things I want, but for people who really want to march, its worth it. I believe DCI as a whole is gonna stick around, and keep going with the same momentum it had in past years.

[Terri Schehr]

11 hours ago, dcifanforlife said:

Current members are to busy to worry about  the long term future of their corps.   No one joins a corps today thinking about the role that they will play in that future. With all the one and done average time spent with a corps is about three years.

Charlie

 

That’s true. Most of them I know never attend a show after they marched their last show. 

[OldSnareDrummer]

5 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

That’s true. Most of them I know never attend a show after they marched their last show. 

I guess drum corps just doesn't get into people's blood like it used to. That's sad. 

[waliman4444]

12 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

That’s true. Most of them I know never attend a show after they marched their last show. 

So no?

[IllianaLancerContra]

46 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

That’s true. Most of them I know never attend a show after they marched their last show. 

Very good point.  Somehow we (the Drum Corps community) need to find a way to keep recent age-outs engaged.  

[cixelsyd]

11 hours ago, olddrummer34 said:

Why don’t corps just charge what the product actually costs?” sounds neat in theory, but in practice it ignores how every real market works.

True.  In most cases, you charge MORE than what the product costs, so that you can profit.  If that is not possible, the product is not worth producing.