Are you willing to help fund a band trip?

[MNHerb]

The band has the money in their budget. They just choose to allocate it to other purposes. It is a matter of what the band director sees as priorities and taking the band on the road to a football game does not rate very high at Minnesota.

 

[highwayman]

Sorry, don't like the concept. Don't want visiting bands here. No thank you. I believe in reverse reciprocity. No problem for me that we don't travel the band.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

Tuba section replacements at the tune of $150,000 or do one or two trips. It is all about priorities and maybe trips are not that important to Mr. Diem and Maturi. I am guessing that is the case, absent any outside fund raising efforts on the part of the department or the alumni in the past or on the horizon.

Me? I would replace enough tuba's a year to allow for a trip.

Certainly the band members, a good share are not music majors, deserve that for their efforts.

 

[RailBaronYarr]

People aren't looking at this from the right angle. It's not a "woe is me, feel bad for us students who don't get to travel," nor is it a "well they choose to allocate their funds the way they see fit so screw em" situation. Other bands are able to buy uniforms, replace instruments, pay the directors, etc ETC in ADDITION to traveling. What we need to look at this as an opportunity to market the U of M and its athletic department. It's a sign that you're serious about the team, the program, the entire department. You're committed to sending the band (or part of it) on 1-2 trips a year. You're one of the "big boys." Name a big time college football team that doesn't have their band travel... USC, Notre Dame, Michigan, OSU, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, etc etc. Having the air time on TV at the opposing stadium, playing the rouser, being mic'd, right on the sidelines with the cheerleaders. It says a lot about how serious your program is.

While $75k sounds like a lot, I guarantee the webisodes we loved so much cost a heck of a lot more to pay the people to produce. And they got, what, 1,500 views a piece, probably by the same people on each one. And those are already die-hard Gopher fans (us) that don't need more convincing to be a Gopher fan or that the team is worth rooting for. $75k to get a little extra marketing seen by hundred of thousands of people on national TV may have even more of an effect. (Note, I think the webisodes are great and continuing content like that as the program improves keeps us on the cutting edge of social media, but gotta think of Return on Sales Effort).

 

[umn99]

What we need to look at this as an opportunity to market the U of M and its athletic department. It's a sign that you're serious about the team, the program, the entire department. You're committed to sending the band (or part of it) on 1-2 trips a year. You're one of the "big boys." Name a big time college football team that doesn't have their band travel... USC, Notre Dame, Michigan, OSU, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, etc etc. Having the air time on TV at the opposing stadium, playing the rouser, being mic'd, right on the sidelines with the cheerleaders. It says a lot about how serious your program is.

Exactly this.

 

[Maximus]

While $75k sounds like a lot, I guarantee the webisodes we loved so much cost a heck of a lot more to pay the people to produce. And they got, what, 1,500 views a piece, probably by the same people on each one. And those are already die-hard Gopher fans (us) that don't need more convincing to be a Gopher fan or that the team is worth rooting for. $75k to get a little extra marketing seen by hundred of thousands of people on national TV may have even more of an effect. (Note, I think the webisodes are great and continuing content like that as the program improves keeps us on the cutting edge of social media, but gotta think of Return on Sales Effort).

"Boy, I was all set to be a Wisconsin Badger, but I saw the Gopher band at Kinnick Stadium for 30 seconds on TV...I'm going to Minnesota!"

(The webisodes were also repackaged and aired on FSN and the BTN.)

 

[RailBaronYarr]

"Boy, I was all set to be a Wisconsin Badger, but I saw the Gopher band at Kinnick Stadium for 30 seconds on TV...I'm going to Minnesota!"

(The webisodes were also repackaged and aired on FSN and the BTN.)

First, I guarantee you bands get more than 30 seconds of air time, particularly in big games.

Second, I never mentioned it was strictly about recruiting. Anyone with a sense for what college football is knows that bands, cheerleaders, etc are part of the fabric that makes up the game and why it's special. As others have pointed out, many big-time rivalries allow opposing bands in their stadiums. USC is a prominent football team and part of that is hearing Fight On every other second on TV when they play. Again, how many people other than die-hard MN football fans made it a point to watch (or didn't flip away when they came on) the repackaged webisodes on FSN/BTN? It's not even about doing one vs the other (as I stated above) since they aren't mutually exclusive marketing activities. I just think that 50-75k would be well spent 1-2 times a year.

How about this as an alternate route. DO you think having the band there playing on big downs, when the team scores, etc would help the team get a little more jacked, the fans in support a little louder? Do you think it would maybe encourage more fans to travel?

 

[Winnipegopher]

"Boy, I was all set to be a Wisconsin Badger, but I saw the Gopher band at Kinnick Stadium for 30 seconds on TV...I'm going to Minnesota!"

(The webisodes were also repackaged and aired on FSN and the BTN.)

OK repackage the question. Do you think sending the band to Madison or Iowa City is a better investment than 1 webisode?

I sure as hell do.

Maximus, you are great at tearing things down. Do you have any suggestions for making things better?

 

[popeyoung5]

I write a $25,000 check for my son to attend. Add a band fee. I paid no less than 8 different fees on this semester's bill. It's like politicians, they don't raise your taxes, they just create a new fee.

 

[popeyoung5]

The 8 different "fees" totaled $796 for one semester.
student services, stadium, capital enhancement, chem course,student assc., council of college boards, transportation,cfans.... What is tuition for? lmao.

 

[year of the gopher]

If they tacked a $10 band fee onto the season tickets, I'd be fine paying it. Take 50% of the proceeds and put it into a scholarship endowment. Take the other 50% and put it into a travel budget. If there are 35,000 season tickets, that comes out to an annual endowment contribution of $175,000 and $175,000 for travel. Another $30 (3 tickets) on my $700+ season ticket bill isn't going to make a difference in my decision making.

 

[sec105]

Limit it to the top 5 performers in each horn or drum and I'd be fine with a surcharge. But I agree that the whole darn band doesn't need to go.

 

[lumpywideass]

Others can probably answer this: What is the reason why the Marching Band is NOT under the Athletic Department?

Are all the other Big Ten marching bands under their respective athletic departments?

Wisconsin Marching Band is part of the school of Music. IIRC Michigan is also.
Purdue is part of the AD, because they don't have a school of music.

Wisconsin Band raises a lot of it's own money via fund raising concerts during the school year. They'll team up with a high school band, travel out to the HS, do a concert and split the profits with the host HS band.

 

[RailBaronYarr]

Limit it to the top 5 performers in each horn or drum and I'd be fine with a surcharge. But I agree that the whole darn band doesn't need to go.

Per year of the gopher's post, even a $5 charge per season ticket would net $175,000. That pays for one road trip (with $ to spare) and $87k towards scholarships, equipment, staff, etc. Is that really a big deal? Heck, think outside the box.. make it voluntary to donate a certain amount per ticket, also put in donation boxes at the stadium, and/or make one shirt or item at Goldy's Locker Room per year give a portion of its sales to the band.

I also don't want to bring up a bad discussion, but if you look in to the fees every student pays for their year, it includes funding student groups specifically named out (GLBT, MSA, etc), capital funding (stadium fee, building capital enhancement), and other random fees. $2-3 bucks per student is a drop in the bucket but would easily pay for a trip.

OR.. OR.. the band could come under the fold of the athletic department and funding it is seen as a part of the gameday atmosphere enhancement and marketing of the program. The band contributes a LOT of time and energy towards athletics and should be funded by them. Their home is IN the stadium. The band and AD could work together on programs to bring in musicians for the band, sell unused tickets to high school bands, etc to help get a bigger football fanbase and increase awareness of the band (within the state and anywhere they travel).

 

[MNfootballfan]

I don't want any additional fees to go on my tickets. I like the band at home games and that is great. I am sorry if this offends anyone in the band, but I really don't care if our band goes on any road trips to other stadiums, other than bowl games.

 

[Zales04]

The band alumni are trying to put a fund together. When the details are squared away, I will make sure they are posted.