When will DCI become famous

[EKBari]

I'd bet that anyone who's marched get's more from that experience and goes farther in life than those who don't.

You had me and then ya lost me.

:sshh:

Really? There are plenty of successful people out there who have never heard of drum corps and they far outnumber those of us who have marched. And as for "going farther in life", I got that same spiel when I was in Cub Scouts, Boys Scouts, and Little League and the military.

[walder]

There are so many misguided fools with the idealogy of "if it aint broke, dont fix it" posting in this thread to make me sick. Where is the vision? where is thinking two steps ahead of the game? Those old dogs refusing to learn new tricks are the same people that will forever work for someone else, complain at the water cooler, live a ho-drum, no frills life, never having enough insight to pursuing their bragged about dreams beyond beer halls..

there is much room for improvement in the way that dci handles it's image and getting to the world. Dont think for a second that a non-profit organisation isnt interested in making money. the money is used for development, purchasing supplies/equimpment, staffing, establishing and of course marketing.

Show bands (the type that is featured in the film "Drumline") are far more reknown and popular than dci corps and dci style bands. Last years show band national championship proved that with more than 90,000 people in attendance. that is more than dci and boa combined. I would venture to say more than 90% of dci's audience is people who have been involved or have interest in involvment (i.e., band, music students, etc.) even that number has dramatically dropped since the late 80's. Finals audiences are now about half of what they used to be. Something somewhere is going wrong...increasing awareness is far more effective than reduced to only exclusive interest. ESPN2, regardless of their first year's broadcast critisism, is an attempt to progress forward in the manner some of you theorised.

it is true when it said about dci: "it is the world's largest and most unknown youth activity."

[Snapps]

Going back to the original comment, to me DrumCorps does not get the media it deserves, I think that the way forward is like several of you have said that if DCI becomes a profit organisation (did I spell that right) then corps can put forward scholarships, DCI trully becomes a international organnisation the list goes on and on, what would be a cool idea is to have a DCI put on a pay per view system on Sky digital allowing the world to see what great jobs the kids do

[walder]

Going back to the original comment, to me DrumCorps does not get the media it deserves, I think that the way forward is like several of you have said that if DCI becomes a profit organisation (did I spell that right) then corps can put forward scholarships, DCI trully becomes a international organnisation the list goes on and on, what would be a cool idea is to have a DCI put on a pay per view system on Sky digital allowing the world to see what great jobs the kids do

I think the international market (mainly Europe and Asia) would be very interested to see the US's top 20 corps...Im sure it would be an eye opener for what can be done on a playing field. and due to a much more open minded culture, especially in europe, it could find its niche quite easily. Perhaps even spring many ideas to focus. Not that DCEu is doing badly, but it definitely suffers in comparison.

[Tone Quality Matters]

Kids as young as 15 have no business trying to raise $1500 a year... sometimes only the rich can afford DCI as well. And most college kids will sacrifice anything to march DCI.. including their own futures and schooling... I think thats worth going for profit - and evening out these fees/costs.

Really? I worked a art time job during school, and full time evening during everydays, and paid my tuition so that I could march. Kids could work part time on the weekends in this day and age and raise their own money if necessary to march.

Are you saying that band kids shouldn't sell fruit, pizza, or candy bars to raise money for their bands?

Kids that sacrifice their college educations to march corps, obviously aren't getting the right guidance at home or making a mature decision about their future. The corps have no control over that, and I argue most would absolutely not allow that to happen if they are aware of it.

The business of drum corps requires that corps surround themselves with qualified, intuative, knowledgable, business minded people that are not out for their own self interests, and have proven ways of raising funds so that membership cost is minimized.

[lnavis]

Aren't there any former drum corps people that work for ESPN that could have some pull?

You know, I've always thought the that Energizer Bunny was created by a drum corps person, who else would think of flip flop, sunglasses and a bass drum!

[SkyRyder_FMM]

Kids as young as 15 have no business trying to raise $1500 a year... sometimes only the rich can afford DCI as well. And most college kids will sacrifice anything to march DCI.. including their own futures and schooling... I think thats worth going for profit - and evening out these fees/costs.

OT, I know, but I had to respond to your comment on the cost. Don't a lot of these same 15 year olds take weekend band trips that cost upwards of $1,000? $1,500 for a summer? A bargain I say (and I can say it, cuz I paid it this year for my daughter - more actually). When you look at what the kids get for their dues - instruction, transportation, meals, uniform parts, etc. for an entire summer - the dues are cheap.

If dues were $2,000 for the summer and the summer lasted 60 days, that works out to $33.33 per day. The kids generally eat 4 times a day, so that $8.33 per meal - assuming all the cost were attributed solely to the meals. Then there is the 12,000 miles of touring, uniforms, equipment, instruction, etc. Bottom line, dues are cheap relative to what the kids get for the money. And the experience is simply priceless.

[hsreed]

No one has mentioned th success of Blast and the failure of the second show. Blast is a success and probably makes enough money to support itself - that's all we want. Blast had successful runs at all the Disneyland venues and still enjoys success as a touring show.

No one has addressed the use of marching band instruments in successful commercial performances, one by Gwen Steffani.

The second blast show, not sure what the name was, was a failure because it was wierd. Who knows what the third show will be like, but it just started. I haven't seen a review here on DCP of that show, but now it is in Japan.

Drum Corps will be a niche activity as long as DCI decides to keep it that way. When DCI consistently produce shows that make average Joe (it doesn't have to be loser Joe) stand up and scream for a performance, DCI will become more popular. It will take years, not a year, of consistently entertaining shows to gain popularity.

There are huge stars using our sound. There are thousands upon thousands of former performers all around the world. There are may more former high schoolers that watch drum corps in high school that are untapped.

DCI already has the audience, just not the entertainment factor to keep them interested. Would making DCI become popular be a bad thing for the activity?

[bartyount]

We're trying to cure drum corps.

Actually - we're trying to spread it.

[vferrera]

No one has mentioned th success of Blast and the failure of the second show. Blast is a success and probably makes enough money to support itself - that's all we want. Blast had successful runs at all the Disneyland venues and still enjoys success as a touring show.

Blast! on Bway grossed about 8M in 6 months. That's about equal to DCI's yearly revenue. But I think they were just barely breaking even. Their occupancy rate was somewhere around 70% I think. Most long-running shows stay around 90%. Then 9/11 happened and Broadway closed down for a week. Blast! closed the following week.

In terms of the critics, I think the reviews were mixed. Most of the reviews I read appreciated the talent, but felt that the show didn't connect on a visceral level (except in a few spots). Basically they were too artsy-fartsy even for New York theatre critics.