audiodb Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 But to become "legacy fans" the kids need to be new fans first. And that only comes by putting them first. So until DCI started doing that in the late 1990s, we weren't attracting any new fans? If the choice has to be made between getting new fans and alienating the old ones, or keeping the old ones happy at the expense of new fans, the logical choice will always be new fans. Not necessarily. It's not a black-and-white issue. But besides all that, there's another factor to consider - the average "lifespan" of a fan. Constant change and/or habitual neglect of the "legacy fan" leads to a situation where fans only remain with you for perhaps five years instead of 10 or 20. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have half as many fans that stick around four times as long - do the math. The same things are just not going to be entertaining or worthwhile to each new generation. No matter how awesome the 70s marchers thought their era was, and it was indeed awesome for them, you would be hard pressed to get kids in 2006 into that kind of drum corps. It all comes down to generational tastes. If the fans from the 70s and 80s prefer one thing, and the fans from the 2000s prefer another, which do you choose to focus on? The answer is simple. There will never be another generation of 70s marchers. But the 2007 generation is just about to begin. Focus on what each new generation wants, because without them, the cycle stops. The legacy fans of tomorrow are going to be built on the shows of the 2000s, not the 1970s. Like it or not, that's the way it is. And those shows don't have electronics. Interesting.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Bari Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 But to become "legacy fans" the kids need to be new fans first. And that only comes by putting them first. If the choice has to be made between getting new fans and alienating the old ones, or keeping the old ones happy at the expense of new fans, the logical choice will always be new fans. So, by your business model, Major League Baseball is losing fans by trying to remember Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Cal Ripken, and Sammy Sosa. If a fan's memory extends back before Albert Pujols, then just ignore him? Is that how you market the game of baseball, by defining the stars of the game as only what the newest generation knows? Heavens, No! Thank goodness that MLB doesn't do that! The choice should never be to alienate your current fans to gain new ones. It is only through DCI's ineptness that they are faced with that choice now. I view the recent changes in DCI to be like the "Steroid Era" of MLB, which MLB is still trying to shake off. In the baseball case, the league turned its head and looked away while its stars made a mockery of the game by taking substances that created unNATURAL performances, that distorted the fabric of the game, alienating it from its traditions. In the drum corps case, DCI itself altered the performances put on the field (by adding equipment that was unnecessary) that distorted the fabric of the activity, alienating it from its traditions. Yes, many people justified the inflating of the power hitters' abilities - through un-traditional, even though legal (within the game's rules) means, citing increased attendance at games and more sales generated through fan paraphernalia, etc. (Sound familiar?) Yet, the fans eventually recoiled as these drug-fueled hitters made a mockery of the age-old discipline that their forebears followed. Yes, Barry Bonds is poised to break the all-time homerun record, but some people are already discounting that feat because he didn't pay attention to tradition - he cheated. His performances have no organic relationship to what Ruth and Aaron did. He didn't follow the natural evolution of the game. He, and the others who "enhanced" their performances unnaturally, short-circuited that evolution. Drum corps followed a natural evolution, yet still remained rooted in tradition - until 2000. Then, they shucked off one tradition. Then, a few more followed. Here, in 2007, electronics didn't pass - yet. Unlike MLB, I doubt DCI will peer into the abyss and blink. You can't build a future if you don't honor the past. What's to say that current fans of DCI won't get turned off by some inorganic change that some future radical proposes and becomes the "latest fad"? When does it end? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgoth Bauglir Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 If you actually read my first post in this thread, I said I didn't think electronics are the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWonka Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Didn't want to quote your whole post. #### fine post though. Bravo. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowtown Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 I don’t know if DCI can keep the legacy fans at this point. Most of us have watched them bumble along for so many years…there’s not much trust left. They really have not shown any effort towards us in the recent years….so they have to show me something first to regain that trust. My gut reaction is keep DCI away from DCA, don’t want them fouling that up too DCI was never meant to be Drum Corp but when they torpedoed DCM and drove the competition out of business by unfair business practices and flexing the big boy muscles, they, by default, became the only game in town and thusly, took stewardship of the jr level activity. This is all rather recent mind you And really, if DCI wants my money so badly, why can’t they please me in Jr corp? Why can’t they leave Jr corp alone and come up with something new for the new fans? Sunlight is the best disinfectant and I think its about time we shine a light on DCI and take a good long look at their charter, their mission statement, their non-profit status, their tendency towards non-compete clause w/ volunteer performers.... I think to save Drum Corp, we should have a fun raiser and sue DCI into submission and start afresh. It’s about time for another revolution, heck...all the underage sex alone should make them an easy target Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgoth Bauglir Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I don’t know if DCI can keep the legacy fans at this point. Most of us have watched them bumble along for so many years…there’s not much trust left. They really have not shown any effort towards us in the recent years….so they have to show me something first to regain that trust. I guess getting ESPN, and Finals in the theater as well as the Classic Countdown don't count huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicagoFan Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I guess getting ESPN, and Finals in the theater as well as the Classic Countdown don't count huh? I don't think the ESPN deal and the ensuing "highlights" show resonated much with so-called "legacy" fans, since most of us remember the entire top 12 broadcast live on PBS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicagoFan Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I guess getting ESPN, and Finals in the theater as well as the Classic Countdown don't count huh? I don't think the ESPN deal and the ensuing "highlights" show resonated much with so-called "legacy" fans, since most of us remember the entire top 12 broadcast live on PBS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_S Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I don’t know if DCI can keep the legacy fans at this point. Most of us have watched them bumble along for so many years…there’s not much trust left. They really have not shown any effort towards us in the recent years….so they have to show me something first to regain that trust. DCI has made every finalist show back to 1974 available on DVD, and audio for streaming or purchase on DCI.org. They have held the Classic Coutndown twice, and ensured that each decade is represented. What more would you have them do? Considering that the only product they really have is drum corps shows, what more can they reasonably offer you? Short of changing the product currently on the field, how do you claim that DCI has "not shown any effort towards [you] in the recent years"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Bari Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I guess getting ESPN, and Finals in the theater as well as the Classic Countdown don't count huh? No, they don't. Classify them under "Too Little, too late". The ESPN broadcast is a joke to me. When I first watched DCI on TV in 1985, I saw the Top 12 highlights - almost wall-to-wall drum corps - for over 2 hours. The next year (and the next and the next, etc) I saw the Top 5 live - and all for FREE (no cable required)! If I were so inclined, I could've gone to see the entire 1993 DCI Finals live at a closed-circuit broadcast in some arena somewhere with (at least) hundreds of fellow fans. Getting to see some old-school DCI in a theater once a year is nice, but I can watch my DVDs at any time. So, no, those little bones they throw me, the "legacy fan", don't count for a whole heck of a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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