New Finals Week Schedule

[liebot]

http://www.dci.org/news/news.cfm?news_id=7...ec-fbff0f9f22ba

basically, the top 9 division 3 corps perform before div 1 quarters on thursday, and the top 9 division 2 corps perform on friday before div 1 semifinals... i don't know about everyone else, but this sounds really exciting - especially since both prelims and semis are at camp randall - it doesn't explicitly say where finals are, but who cares? this should definitely help increase the fan attendance. good stuff.

[Trumpetboy]

thats awesome!

[JUSTJOSH]

i don't know...if you've ever been to the beginning of either quaters or semis...the crowd is pretty thin. in fact, almost the whole red section was empty at this years quaters.

i think this new line-up is even worse. not only are they seperating div II/III for semis, (come on, you know that the div II show will bring more people) but its not really different at all. The only difference is that divisional finals is now called semifinals. if they are going to have a seperate semis, they should just go back to the way it was in the late 90's.

[witchsbrew07]

I completely agree. If I didn't read over the quarters and semis thing (when I first read it it sounded like both were before semis... which didn't make any sense) I would have been like "wow, this is the same." And it still kinda is.

Not to mention, the stadium didn't get packed this year until grand finals. I can't imagine how thin the audience is going to look at Wisconsin for 2/3 semis. :/

[mello_laurel]

are the titles officially changed back? if so, i will almost miss saying "super mega grand industrial strength finals." almost.

[Eddie]

A good thing I can see coming out of separating D2 and D3 semis is it gives the smaller D3 corps a chance to shine in their own spotlight.

I'm so happy though they dropped the finals/grand finals thing. Prelims/semi/finals just makes more sense.

What was decided schedule-wise seems good to me. Our corps are not performing at the same time D1 corps are performing, and we are performing at the same stadium. We're also performing during the peeks (semi and finals anyways) of attendence, so there's a good shot of some decent crowds for the thurs/fri/sat shows.

Just got to understand though, the job of putting people in these seats belong to us, NOT DCI. And now is a pretty good time to start. :)

[liebot]

another thing to consider is that this is probably a one-year plan - wisconsin has turf, whereas the rose bowl does not... the schedule will probably have to be changed next year for the different venues... but who knows.

[yama]

I am constantly reminded by Benzo to update him on things happening at Yamato and DCI Division II & III. But it takes are while to digest all that was discussed this last weekend. OK, where are my notes.....

- The change to go back to the Prelims, Semi Finals and Finals format was mandated by the DCI office. I believe if this change wasn't mandated, someone would have submitted a proposal to make this change happen. YES! The title has been determined as "Drum Corps International Division II & III Prelims," "Drum Corps International Division III Semi Finals," "Drum Corps International Division II Semi Finals," AND "Drum Corps International Division II & III Finals." Thank god!

Note the brand name, its Drum Corps International. Its not DCI.

- Every year the II & III directors gather to talk about the upcoming competitive season. Every time we ask where are "we" going to be? Every year we tell the Drum Corps International Office, "we want to be in the stadium with the big boys and under the lights!? Obviously we can't always get what we what. In 2006, Division II & III will perform in Camp Randall Stadium. Yea! b**bs Finals too! Madison is a drum corps town. The audience will be there.

As far as splitting semi finals over two days, you'll notice the schedule posted on dci.org, it says II & III Semi Finals on Friday, Aug 11 starting at 9 am. No one wants to get up at 'O-3 something,' especially the first 3 corps, to make it to the stadium for their semi final's show. I know I don't. Lucikily, the II & III directors voted to split semi finals over 2 days. This way there's 9 D3 corps on Thursday and 9 D2 corps on Friday rather than having all 18 II & III Semi Finalist on Friday PLUS the top 17 Division I corps. 35 corps in one days is just too much for any drum corps fan.

I understand DCI, oops.... Drum Corps International will sell the Division III Semi Finals and Division I Quarter Finals as ONE ticket. Same thing from Friday's Division II Semi Finals and Division I Semi Finals.

YES! This Madison setup is only a one year plan. We have to understand that every year is going to be different. New city, new stadium..... for example, 2007 Division II & III will be at Pasadena City Collge (grass). 15 minutes from the Rose Bowl (grass). 2008? It'll be a surprise. :P

[Trumpetboy]

In 2002 I remember the Division 2/3 finals attendance being pretty good. I also remember some Division 1 corps coming to watch like SCV but I guess with the new schedule they couldn't do that.

[MUSICandCHARACTER]

I think in the long run, this will give the Div 2/3 corps better exposure. It gets rid of the finals/grand finals problem. It saves Drum Corps International from having to rent two venues. The same ticket gets you in to the whole day (much like the Indy show).

I believe that it will eventually sell more tickets and give a bigger spotlight on the Div 2/3 corps.

At Indy, there may only be 3 or 4 thousand in the stands for the first few corps, but those fans are GREAT fans. Now if you want to see the Div 2/3 shows you can buy one ticket and stay for the Div 1 show.

I think this is a great idea. I know everyone is not going to be for it, and will have their reasons. Some of the Div 2/3 corps said they would rather "march under the lights." I understand that. But while no solution is a perfect solution, this one has some rather large upside potential IMO.

Jim