Ultimate_cab_fan Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Just for the record here, Heat Wave 2007 was going to 4 shows and Rochester. Our estimated travel expanses were going to be about $30,000.00 Wow... were you guys going camping each time? Talk about a shoe-string budget. BUT, if you love to do it, I guess we all find a way to make it happen. I wished you guys would go on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave27th Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 When my kids were young enough to march, school started around the 12th of August, so they usually missed a few days of school, plus band camp. Hey, Charlie, good to hear from you, how are you enjoying CA? Glad to see you're still with Renegades, life sucks down here without drumcorps. I'll tell Val you said 'Hi', Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave27th Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 (edited) Wow... were you guys going camping each time? Talk about a shoe-string budget. BUT, if you love to do it, I guess we all find a way to make it happen. I wished you guys would go on. I'm not sure about this year, but, typically, it would be around $6,000 for the bus for each trip, each member would have to pay for his/her food, and we slept on a gym floor. The only time we stayed in a motel was at Finals. We did not have bingo for revenue, we earned it by show fees, working concessions at Orlando Magic games, college football bowl games, Daytona races, concerts at the Orlando arena, playing for conventions and anything else we could do to earn money. In the very beginning, we even played for car dealerships and minor league baseball teams. Doing something conventional like marching in parades did not earn us any money. Usually, in Florida, the parade sponsor wants the marching unit to pay a fee to march. Heat Wave was extremely lucky in that the Bahia Shrine let us use its facilities at no charge for rehearsals and we were able to find practice facilities that did not charge us. Dave McBurney Heat Wave Charter Member Edited June 6, 2007 by dave27th Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 I'm not sure about this year, but, typically, it would be around $6,000 for the bus for each trip, each member would have to pay for his/her food, and we slept on a gym floor. The only time we stayed in a motel was at Finals. We did not have bingo for revenue, we earned it by show fees, working concessions at Orlando Magic games, college football bowl games, Daytona races, concerts at the Orlando arena, playing for conventions and anything else we could do to earn money. In the very beginning, we even played for car dealerships and minor league baseball teams. Doing something conventional like marching in parades did not earn us any money. Usually, in Florida, the parade sponsor wants the marching unit to pay a fee to march. Heat Wave was extremely lucky in that the Bahia Shrine let us use its facilities at no charge for rehearsals and we were able to find practice facilities that did not charge us. Dave McBurney Heat Wave Charter Member I kinda thought it was gym floors for your tour....hotel rooms are the killer. How much did you guys get from that commercial? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow_7 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 I would love to know how you were going to make four road trips on just a 30k budjet.Please share. :) Well, bus fares are about $4K to $8K per trip. And if you live far enough away from the gigs, you spend all of your down time on the bus in route, so no need for gyms or hotels. Taking the middle road of 4x 6K == 24K. Throw in a couple K more for gas for the equipment truck, and hotels for the bus drivers. And maybe 4x $500 for school facility fees if you do happen to have time to enjoy the horizontal in a non moving facility. $30K is just about right for us southerners who live 200 to 1500 miles from each other. You can go lower than that if you have enough > 25yo members and rent vans with the members doing the driving. Although vans are not as fun as busses if only because you have to stay sober, drive at some point, wear seatbelts, and can't find many isles to sleep in. Granted that this is for a corps that fits onto one bus, or three or four vans. Unfortunately meeting the 35 rule means 2 busses at 2x's the costs. Since you need a large enough safety buffer of members to ensure you don't come up short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersop Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Most bus companies have 56 seaters now. So some of us can still operate on that budget without having to get 2 busses. So far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idontwan2know Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Actually here in NJ most districts I am aware of start after Labor Day....with the first football game that week. The earliests USSBA shows are around the 14th-15th of September.Are there football games and band contests in Florida prior to Labor Day? Recently the legislature mandated that school can't start any earlier than two weeks prior to labor day, so the situation has improved quite a bit. Before that, some districts would actually go back to school in late July, and everybody else started in early august. Usually the friday before labor day would be the first game of the football season. It was a big problem as certain high school directors would not allow their students to miss that game, and if they couldn't march championships, there wasn't a whole lot of point in them doing the whole season. We also had a lot of college kids from UCF and FSU come out, only to find out that championships is the same weekend as the first college football games and realize they can't do it. Now the high school situation is a lot better as there are only a few "kickoff classics" taking place labor day weekend, but the college situation is unlikely to change anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Recently the legislature mandated that school can't start any earlier than two weeks prior to labor day, so the situation has improved quite a bit. Before that, some districts would actually go back to school in late July, and everybody else started in early august. A lot of states seem to be doing that. I think NC passed a law mandating that schools can not start before Labor Day, even. It was a tourism thing, from what I remember. Usually the friday before labor day would be the first game of the football season. It was a big problem as certain high school directors would not allow their students to miss that game, and if they couldn't march championships, there wasn't a whole lot of point in them doing the whole season. We also had a lot of college kids from UCF and FSU come out, only to find out that championships is the same weekend as the first college football games and realize they can't do it. Yes, that would be an issue. I know it would for me if I were still a band director and had a performance. I guess I have some of my parents attitude that school activities always came before non-school activities. A number of years back our music arranger (at the time...now it's me) was recruiting for members for the corps he was with (actually, it was the Skyliners, come to think of it), and tried to lobby the band director. Unfortunately the weekend before Labor Day was when our band camp started, and his corps needed all of the members available that weekend, so he had no luck with with the BD. Now the high school situation is a lot better as there are only a few "kickoff classics" taking place labor day weekend, but the college situation is unlikely to change anytime soon. Yes, my daughter goes to school in NC and she still starts prior to Labor Day....8/23 or something, even though HS can not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigLou Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Hey Dave, out of the 4 shows we were only getting paid for of them, and that payment only payed 25% of what that bus was going to cost us. It is real easy to get in that financial hole that most corps can not get out of. Look at Magic as an example. At least Heat Wave does not have any creators knocking at our doors. I'm not sure about this year, but, typically, it would be around $6,000 for the bus for each trip, each member would have to pay for his/her food, and we slept on a gym floor. The only time we stayed in a motel was at Finals. We did not have bingo for revenue, we earned it by show fees, working concessions at Orlando Magic games, college football bowl games, Daytona races, concerts at the Orlando arena, playing for conventions and anything else we could do to earn money. In the very beginning, we even played for car dealerships and minor league baseball teams. Doing something conventional like marching in parades did not earn us any money. Usually, in Florida, the parade sponsor wants the marching unit to pay a fee to march. Heat Wave was extremely lucky in that the Bahia Shrine let us use its facilities at no charge for rehearsals and we were able to find practice facilities that did not charge us. Dave McBurney Heat Wave Charter Member Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Doing something conventional like marching in parades did not earn us any money. Usually, in Florida, the parade sponsor wants the marching unit to pay a fee to march. Quoted for us NE people who are (overly) used to doing a boatload of parades to pay the bills. How many NE All Age and Alumni-type corps could survive without parade $$$$$? No wonder Heat Wave did a bunch of Baltimore area 4th of July parades a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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