How many instructors are needed

[Shady]

I understand that a lot of work is put into division I shows but I still can't understand the consept of 24 people putting a show together.

Its not that it takes 24 people to put the show together. The design team puts the show together. The 24 staff members clean the show.

[rayfallon]

I have a feeling that many of the folks who have spent their last couple of years out on the road workign with DIV I corps would get a kick out of the "all about the money" stinger in the title.

Many, Many, Many of these young people are out there for incredibly little, looking for some experience, some networking, in some cases to stay with the organizations that they spent their misspent youth with.

Some folks are making decent money off this activity. Many (the vast majority) are doing it for other reasons, not the least of which is their love (yes, I said it) of the activity.

[ironlips]

I must agree with my esteemed colleague, Ray Fallon.

Nobody (and I do mean "nobody") is getting rich teaching a drum corps. Even the highest paid instructors make less than their contemporaries in other industries. Virtually all have some other supplemental work, be it school teaching, working with marching bands or other related (or unrelated) activity.

Back in the '70s at a DCI congress, there was once a management session called "Instructors and other Rip-offs". I wanted to punch someone's lights out when I saw that. Most of us weren't even making gas money in those days.

[randomnoise]

You made gas money?

Wow - I knew you were my hero, Frank!

[drumlinetchr]

It's not about how much a tech is making or not making. I know I sure didn't get rich off teaching anything. It's a matter of how much the corps are spending. I also do it for the love of it, I have never been paid (it's nice to make a living at something you love but this is the real world) but I still show up as much as I can. Sometimes I have to work but that's life.

[Jeff Ream]

if it's not about how much the tech is or isn't making, then how is it all about the money?

if the techs are making little or nothing...how much money then is really being spent?

I know techs who did it only for the 3 meals a day the corps got. that isn't killing the corps financially.

[Dave]

I don't know of many corps whose financial woes are/were traced to the cost of staff. It's probably one of the easiest areas to reduce costs (unfortunately). Whether it's finding alumni willing to do it for the love of the corps, young staffers wanting to get experience, or just folks who do it as their summer vacation, staff costs are far more variable than costs like food or transportation.

[drumlinetchr]

if it's not about how much the tech is or isn't making, then how is it all about the money?

Because one tech is not going to be a financial burden on the corps, but when you get into the 20-25 tech range then you are talking about some serious money spent, the I feel can be spent on other aspects of running the corps. The number of corps has dwindled down from litterly thousands to only a hand full, I know that it doesn't all stem from how many tech or instructors the corps had. But most of the downfalls have been because of money problems. There is no question that it takes hundreds of thousands of dollars to field a corps, cutting costs in some small areas might ensure that we don't lose any more.

[craiga]

When I was teaching BAC(late 80's-early 90's) it was easier to run with a smaller staff because the Div 1 tour was a couple weeks here and a couple more toward season end. Now if you include corps' "move in", the time away from home is 70-85 days. Unless the staff person is a college kid (which MOST techs are), it is impossible for that person to actually be away from job, etc that long. Anyone with any experience who is out of school probably has a job to attend to in the "real world". Most people get 2 or three weeks vacation per year from their jobs, not 10 or 12. So, corps have to cycle people in and out all summer.

It is generally not a problem, since these staff people stay in close touch within their captions. The kids don't mind seeing fresh faces in front of them, and the energy of someone fresh joining tour in mid-July, for example, can be a real plus. Besides, the single biggest cost of tour is neither staff, nor food, nor housing.....it is transportation.

btw, the 65 member high school band I now teach here in Maine has ten paid staff members.....the ratio seems about right.

[eiramnosila]

The div I corps that I currently am employed by pays it's staff for the time spent with the corps, not just one standard flat rate, as some were worried. We do have people that join us during the summer to keep our staff full, but they are paid less that the full summer staff, and in some cases volunteer. (This often makes our staff roster long, but in reality not everyone is on tour at the same time.)

Also, in my opinion, staff should be paid enough to ensure that they do not go into debt working for your corps. Not necessarily make money, but not lose it either.

There was a suggestion for young people and alumni to work with the corps. Many staff of the corps that I work for are young, and alumni (including myself), but still need to take care of expenses such as gas (to get to camps) and occasionally food while with the corps, and thing such as rent and car payments that still need paid while with the corps. Getting even a little from the corps helps to ensure that you will not go home from the summer more broke that when you started.

I hope this doesn't offend. Just the opinion of a young alumni who now has the privilege of working as tour manager for my corps.

Edited September 30, 2005 by eiramnosila