From: fath@mbcrr.dfci.harvard.edu (Michael Fath)
Newsgroups: alt.drumcorps
Subject: Re: Popcorn Survey & DCI
Date: 23 Nov 92 15:28:39 GMT
Organization: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
NNTP-Posting-Host: mbcrr.harvard.edu

In article <1992Nov20.171007.1@ulkyvx.louisville.edu> dapack01@ulkyvx.louisville.edu writes:
>Dear Drum Corps Fan:
>

Where did you send this letter?  DCW or DCI Today?  Has it come out yet?

:>This letter is in regard to the opinion survey conducted by "...a loyalist
:>group of dedicated drum corps fans" known as "Popcorn".  This survey form was
:>distributed to the viewing audience during the final night of the 1992 DCI
:>competition. After reading the propaganda, I knew right away that DCI did not
:>endorse this group.  Comments such as "... today's music selections ... lack
:>fundamental audience appeal, and visual presentation ... resemble strands of
>spaghetti being pushed around a plate or an ashtray at the end of a long night
:>of socializing" are  inappropriate in eliciting an objective and valid survey
:>response.  

I agree completely that these comments do largely undermine the objectivity
of the survey and I suspect that DCI would take any results given to them
with a heavy grain of salt.

I was not at all upset by the Survey in theory, but I was very upset that
they made so many errors on the form itself.  First, they included outlandinsh
comments like the ones you mention.  That wrecks any objectivity that they
would need to make this survey useful to the drumcorps community.  
Also, just as bad, they misspelled the names of several corps and left out
the BLUECOATS altogether!!!  

IMHO, Popcorn could have been an interesting and useful survey, but these
errors made it completely useless in collecting any valid drumcorps 
fan data.

Too bad, too.  I will be very suprised if the results of the Survey are
ever released.  I think the people who made it should be too embarrassed
by their errors to release the data.

And their mistakes potentially hurt a good idea and will probably prevent
any OBJECTIVE fans response survey from being tried in the near future.

:>Furthermore, I question the rationale and timing in conducting this
:>survey.  Why did Popcorn wait until the final night of competition to
:>distribute their survey? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that
:>audience appeal was in favor of the Velvet Knights and the Cavaliers.  An
:>applause meter would have been more valid in gathering data for Popcorn's
:>survey.  I feel that Popcorn's real intention was to undermine the entire
:>judging process of the DCI World Championships. For example, if the Cadets of
:>Bergen County or the Star of Indiana was given the honors of champion, the
:>majority of the audience would probably voice their dissatisfaction resulting
:>in an escalation of survey response.  Furthermore, Popcorn could use the
:>results of their survey as political ammunition when there is discrepancies
:>between audience appeal and the professional judging process. 

I did not view the Popcorn Survey as anything so sinister as you make it
out to be.  I think that the people who made the survey were expressing
a sentiment that has been fairly common in drumcorps the last few years -
that the judges evaluate corps very differently than the fans do and that
many fans feel left out.

I concluded that their intention was to get a different opinion on the issue
of drumcorps by the people who really do matter the most, the paying audience,
the ones who support the activity and keep it alive and well.

Yes, I suspect that they could have used the information as some kind of
"political ammunition" but I don't think that they would have had any kind
of clout with the DCI Board of Directors, who IMHO seem to go on their own
way regardless of the wishes of the drumcorps community.

>
>I'm not trying to minimize the importance of audience appeal and entertainment
>value.  The audience buys tickets and ticket sales keeps this art-form viable.
>In evaluating the overall effectiveness of each corps, objectivity should be
>the primary goal in the judging process.  How objective can the audience be in
>judging drum corps?  Leave the evaluation process in the hands of qualified
>judges who have professional expertise in providing objective results.  

I disagree here.  As someone else posted, the judges are also very subjective
in their evaluation on corps.  Judges should make up their own minds using a
set of consistant standards, but they should not judge in a vacuum.  And I
don't think that they do.

:>
:>With regard to the future of drum corps, it is my hope that DCI will not lose
:>sight and become hostage to audience appeal.  An art-form judged or evaluated
:>by an unqualified group of people (the audience) will no longer be progressive
:>and is destined to become stagnant.  Perhaps it is to late.  

I think that many DCI corps did hear the complaints from 1991 and that as 
a result, the shows in 1992 were much more enjoyable as a whole.  AND, I
don't think 1992 was the "beginning of the end".  

What drumcorps needs is balance -- and I think that 1992 showed that corps
do seem to be able to balance innovation with entertainment.  That is
good for the whole activity and I hope it continues.

>
>Don A. Pack
>Louisville, KY

BTW, I sent in my Popcorn Survey (after adding Bluecoats to the list) and
requested the results when finished.  I don't feel that I was part of any
anti-DCI conspiracy by doing so   :-).
If they ever do release them, I'll post them.

-- 
MM   MM FFFFF 	Michael Fath		fath@mbcrr.harvard.edu
M M M M F	Dept of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
M  M  M FFF     Harvard Medical School         
M     M F       Boston, MA 02115	*Clinton/Gore '92 - WE WON!*