Bob Kidd Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 The best decision DCA could make is to have finals and major shows in many different places so as to encourage the growth of drum corps in that area. Major shows - yes. Championships - no. Major shows can be set up in a wide variety of locations, allowing the corps that want to go to make their decisions appropriate to their situations, financial and otherwise. Championships are about filling the place, not fostering growth. And unless you're someone concerned with keeping this activity a cute little niche activity, So, someone who disagrees with you is concerned with keeping this activity a cute little niche activity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaLisaMoMeesa Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 I'm sorry. Did I strike a nerve? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Kidd Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Nope. It takes much, much more than banter on DCP to strike a nerve with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doppeljr Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 (edited) Ok, lemme put on my "Captain Obvious" hat now. Feel free to disagree. The majority of the corps are from the Northeast and as a result there are alot of fans who will attend one or both of the championship shows, friends, family and just plain-old fans, from the Northeast. There are alot of people who only come to one of the championship days because they can get there easily and spend as much time as they can or want to. If the championships are moved to some location in the middle of nowhere or 10 hours from everything, many of these one-day visitors will opt out for that year. That amounts to thousands of seats that will need to be filled and not everyone can afford or are willing to put in a whole weekend to come watch drum corps. Just because we are willing to does not mean that the fans will. Do we think that Winston-Salem could be sold out? So far from our experience I do not believe that it can be, regardless of what issues are resolved or not; tractor pulls, ATM machines, etc. This is an enormous stadium in a remote location compared to the majority of the corps and fans and seems like a huge drain in resources for all involved, at this point, regardless of what you are currently used to doing. The championship weekend has to be sold out or it begins to not make sense for the corps and the circuit. It seems to me that a more sensible move would be to central/western PA, Maryland, or possibly eastern Ohio, but NC is just too darn far for an undetermined return on investment. Look at the numbers from shows that have been going on: Syracuse NY - packed Kingston NY - packed Clifton NJ - packed Reading PA - packed Hershey PA - would have been packed Cumberland MD - used to be packed Winston-Salem NC - not even close to being packed, yet Just my $.02 but I think that NC for 2006 is a bad idea. Edited August 24, 2005 by doppeljr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 So does that put the center of the drumcorps world somewhere around Paducah, KY? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Looks to me like the center of the drum corp universe is my native state, Western Kentucky :) I've always told everybody that the world rotates around Paducah. Everybody has been through there or knows somebody there. I just need to call the folks at Murray State University to submit a bid. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Worse yet, it really looks more like *gasp* West Virginia... Talk about middle of nowhere... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaLisaMoMeesa Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 (edited) Few questions I have. 1. Is this a discussion regarding finals only or just shows? I will agree, for now Finals needs to be where the most tickets will sell. But once strategic markets are created (see #4) we need to have the flexibility to go out on a limb and move finals to these new strategic markets, while the market is hot and about to burst. It might mean you'll sell a few less seats than "the place we've always had it" but think about what you will be creating....yes, once the fan base is more established. So FOR NOW, my comments are geared towards more shows, regionals, etc. and less towards finals. 2. Do we have the expectation that the show must be a sell out the first time around to be a success? 3. What are we using as a matrix of success. Butts in seats only? Or intangibles such as exposure of the activity to places that have been neglected? (something that might take more time to = butts in seats) 4. Do we think like a softball booster organization and worry about how many snow cones we sell, or do we think like a business and create strategic markets for our product? It's easy to sell a big super computer to an engineer. But if you take some risks and create a computer that the average joe can use, how many more computers could you sell? Could mean taking a risk.... but you could end up creating an empire. Ask Bill Gates. Edited August 24, 2005 by LisaLisaMoMeesa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doppeljr Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 I would tend to agree with Bob Kidd that for Championships we should totally be focused on filling the seats, and exposing new people as a secondary goal, among other things. People looking for something new to check out are not likely to spend $40 on a ticket. They might spend $12 first and then spend $40 after they see if it was worth it for them. Were 4000 sno cones sold in Winston-Salem? I do not believe so, and if they were it still would not have made it a financially viable option, in my opinion. My points are in reference to finals only. My mentioning about the other shows are merely an example of where the seats are being filled. In most of the cases where finals have been held successfully, there were successful shows held at other points of the season and used as an indicator of success for finals; Allentown, Scranton, Hershey, Syracuse, Rochester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegalEagle50 Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 4. Do we think like a softball booster organization and worry about how many snow cones we sell, or do we think like a business and create strategic markets for our product? It's easy to sell a big super computer to an engineer. But if you take some risks and create a computer that the average joe can use, how many more computers could you sell? Could mean taking a risk.... but you could end up creating an empire. Ask Bill Gates. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> IMO any corps that wishes to take such huge financial risks needs to create its own circuit and take those chances on its own. most corps have looked to DCA in the past as being able to offer some financial payback at the end of the season. if DCA championships are not a success DCA won't be paying out to the corps and you will probably see some corps not return the following season, if ever. yes everything is a risk but i would think the reason why DCA hasn't headed to unknown parts in the past is just for this very reason. they have needed to stay in a place where this is some financial stability, i.e. knowing that tickets to the championship events will sell. while it is ok to take some risks, i don't see that going to a totally, completely untried area for championships is worth risking the viability of the activity as a whole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicCityLegend Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 So does that put the center of the drumcorps world somewhere around Paducah, KY? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (They don't have a smilie that's laughing so hard he's falling off the chair) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 and exposing new people as a secondary goal, I think any organization that doesn't make growth their number one priority and goal, is really crippling themselves in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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