Potential Danger

[Michael Boo]

One also wonders what Coltrin & Associates has in store for DCI.

Liked the speech we got from Mr. Coltrin at the end of the Atlanta regional. :)

Steve Coltrin impressed the daylights out of me in Atlanta. The man is sharp and he is a visionary. And he has passion. Expect great things to come from his relationship with DCI.

[Michael Boo]

...oh and how many times did I get to see the local Midwest corps in the Midwest this year excluding Finals week?...

Well, their were DCI regional shows in Lisle, Columbia, Battle Creek and Indy...the last featuring all but one Division I corps.

The corps were performing as much as ever. I guess one could ask how often those outside the immediate area got to see these same corps, and that answer would be a lot more than the old days.

How are you defining "Midwest"?

Edited August 19, 2006 by Michael Boo

[Liam]

not enough info...

<snip>

I don't see where others get the idea this is just fine tuning when the DCI press release states 'discussion and presentations on a comprehensive new governance structure for DCI'

really, I don't know enough to know, ya' know?

but I'm just saying, I can see who is drinking the Kool aid already

it may be for the best and all will be smurfy forr the next 500 years, don't know hope so...

<snip>

(Note -- above quote snipped for brevity and to take out the stuff I didn't really understand)

Not sure I understand where this comes from? The posts on this thread after the Jonahon link were of the "sounds nice, need more detail, hope it shakes out this way come Sept" variety

Remarkably similar to the sentiments of Mr Willis himself. Reading Mr. Willis' comments as hey, trust me and drink the Kool-aid, and questioning his rationale for agreeing with the proposals, I think is a rather jaded interpretation, imo.

Also, I don't recall anyone saying that this was just fine-tuning; all seem to grasp that this is a major change and although the summary presented so far sounds good, more scrutiny is needed.

The general consensus, seems to me, is it looks like DCI is trying to reorganize themselves similar to a business structure, that the initial summary of the path they are taking sounds interesting, and that we should stay vigilant to make sure that the reality in detail is similar enough to this sketchy summary.

Again, don't really see where your angst on this comes from?

[jsualumnus]

Look....a puppy!

[jwillis35]

I really wish I could give more details, but for starters I can't do that at this time. Most of you who are reading this change in structure as a way for DCI to run its operations more like a good business are right. I believe this is what they are going to do. And as I said before, I have no idea how this will shake out. I have a 32 page proposal that I read back in the spring. It was given to our board members so we could read it through, get a feel for what it was asking, and ultimately have ideas and questions that can be discussed before the DCI Directors Meetings in the fall.

All I can say is that I think it looks great. The proposal was put together by an ad hoc group called the Center Group. I think they realized that DCI needed to change its governance structure. I have no say in this or where it goes, other than any comments I make at a Bluecoats BoD meeting. Ultimately, our Executive Director and President of the Board will decide on how we fit into this, and I suspect all the other corps will do the same. From there those directors of the corps will converge on the fall meeting and discuss issues and start voting on things.

All I can say is that I really liked the proposal. I think it would change many things for the better. But I cannot predict where it will go from here. I do not know how others feel about it. I am sure the proposal has changed from the version I have.

The only reason I am responding to this at all is because I think the initial post was a bit dangerous. I am not trying to tell all of you to drink the kool-aid and accept this proposal. Even if I wanted to I couldn't tell you that because I have no clue about what will happen. But I trust our Executive Director, who is a very bright and hard-working guy, and I believe he has put a lot of thought into this proposal. He knows better than I what he likes and doesn't like about it, and his heart is in keeping the activity and the Bluecoats alive and healthy.

I am not sure any of the directors will respond to that initial post because I don't think it would be wise, but I am pretty sure DCI will have more info for all of you when the time is right. Now is not the time to be ripping DCI or blasting a proposal that is not complete, and that none of us have any real idea about what the end result will be.

[tubamann]

not enough info...

that Jonathan link, well...really read it, again

this is the key point, besides he's all for it because he LIKES them :sshh: (Always a good way to manage decisions ) is this of his...

yes, trust me, this is for YOUR best interest...(all I wanted was a pepsi and she wouldn't bring it to me)

I don't see where others get the idea this is just fine tuning when the DCI press release states 'discussion and presentations on a comprehensive new governance structure for DCI'

really, I don't know enough to know, ya' know?

but I'm just saying, I can see who is drinking the Kool aid already

it may be for the best and all will be smurfy forr the next 500 years, don't know hope so...

so, anyone look at this history of DCI attendance stats for finals?

then check the growth rate over the years (while adjusting for format changes)?

oh my ^0^

how NOT to measure success I guess

I was looking at the Knights website the other day, I saw they got 205 place in DCI one year, I recall the number of corps being the standrad of success in the past...but who wants to see all those corps when you got a few big boys and all those bands out there :P

Man..and I thought some were bad..You ahve no idea about what your talking about and you insult fine people without merit..anonymously to boot.. <**>

Oh and BTW..if corpsreps listed a corps placement as 205, that means that they finished 5th in division II or Class A. There have never been more than 2000 active corps competing at the national level..ever.

but you would know this..riiiiight. b**bs

[tubamann]

So could a few of those that claim the OP does not know what they are talking about, 'don’t worry, we’ll take care of everything', actually explain their version of this idea? I’m all ears and would love a bit of elaboration on this matter.

Umm, why does that phrase worry me? Oh, because it gives credence to the OP’s stated beliefs

Why does that statement annoy me?

Oh, how was attendance at the DCM championship this year?

Zero, you say…why is that? It was driven out by a DCI monopoly…oh and how many times did I get to see the local Midwest corps in the Midwest this year excluding Finals week? About a third to a quarter of the of the times I did years prior.

Yep, drum corps doing so great…that’s why I see fewer shows and corps around me each year. They are going great this thing into the ground.

Tangent: I hung up with the DCI folks and staffers many years ago for 2 finals, some of my old corp-mates worked for them…I love those guys dearly but be afraid, be very afraid of the level of competency and also the priorities that I had the misfortune to witness…the wretched taste still lingers.

now might be a good time to go find Cook, some DCE, DCM folks.. add in the 13-2? corp and sprinkle with say a Cadet or Crossmen who have new ideas and want to see another new direction...hmmm

cowtown is accurate as this post is the biggest pile of BS I have witnessed in a long time.. :sshh:

[Jeff Ream]

If Jonathan's summary of the proposal is accurate, it sounds like a great idea to me.

thats been my take too. i remember the original thread, and the dearth of info Jonathan gave us. If that is really the model, it's good for all, not just the powers that be.

[cowtown]

Well thank you Mr. Willis, I do appreciate your input. I’m sorry I don’t share your faith at this point but I really don’t know…

I do know that I have heard that line about DCI being run more like a business several times, starting way back in oh, 198? (or was it after ’79 when that first appeared?). So I’m sure you can understand my confusion as to why it is not already run like a business.

So how is it run now? Like a private club or something, really...even a non-profit is run like a business so that strikes me as more hallow propaganda but anyway (and no, not directed to anyone personally)

Lets see, the mid-west is defined as…a 2 and a half hour drive from Chicago (just enough to cover whitewater) and to suit me. So if you take all the corps and shows from say the season of 1982 and compare it to all the corps and shows of this year, you’ll see its very lacking today. I’m sure by the numbers, it’d be grim. Oh, how I hate that shortened season. We also had more decent corps, more feeder corps too.

And that’s what it all comes down to, really, my drum corps experience.

After all these years of DCI promising more, I’m getting less but paying more:

Tickets prices are through the roof

Fewer local shows (I miss DeKalb)

Fewer local corps (I miss you guardsmen, kilties jr. corp., knights, rivermen, Illiana lancers, west allis wranglers, kiltie kadets, vaqueros, Americanos, los charros, cavie cadets, Madison jr scouts, bandettes, sagnieres, marion cadets, Star of Indiana, Racine scouts and all the others that entertained me through the years …)

Finals attendance is fairly stale, defiantly not showing a steady progression of growth that would keep a CEO employed for the last 20 year

The broadcast is now on Cable TV (yes, I don’t have cable) not free TV, and it use to be more than just a package show (don’t know what it will be this year, many never know)

So what’s in it for me?

Where is the pay off?

Where is the better?

How did DCI make it better for the fan?

And save that quality of the few corps being better, the Blue Devils, SVC et all were always amongst the top corps, their shows would have evolved after they left the VFW circuit regardless and paying $40 bucks to squint at a CPU screen, hoping the net don't crash is not what I would call being better than seeing a local show

who does DCI Serve?

Looks like DCI

(Yes, I know...DCI is the drum corps, kind of like the NHL is pro hockey teams, how'd ya'll like that stike season?)

[vferrera]

My dad was involved in the founding of DCI. The original intent of the founders was to make it as democratic as possible: one corps, one vote; profit sharing, etc. This was a reaction to the VFW/AL systems that were purely dictatorial. It may not be the most efficient business model, but it was designed to prevent a small group of people from taking control of the activity.

It's no secret that Geo. Hopkins wants to shrink the activity to 10 "supercorps". He said so publicly in an interview posted on BlueDevils.org in 2001. Reducing the size of the BOD is part of that plan.