This is a matter of opinion, but I'd say that the average group does not campaign at all during the season that they plan to be competitive. I've heard of some people starting campaigns at night or when they know they will be inactive for a bit, but they realize that other groups will not miss a beat and that they are taking the risk of falling behind. Groups win by the tiniest of margins like 10ths and 100ths of a point.

The season that my drum corps took silver in d2, I rehearsed every 5 to 6 hours, even at night, never losing any energy. That's how competitive it is on here, especially in d1 and d2. You can't miss out on any rehearsal points, or you will miss out on a chance to medal.

Making finals in d3 is easy, even if you're just pseudo active. Season 36 was my first season. I made the rookie mistake of spending my start up cash on hiring staff members. Thus, I didn't have any money left over to create an event. Therefore, I campaigned on days that my groups weren't performing to earn some extra cash. I finished 9th in finals with a 73.150. The next season, I moved up to d2. I finished 5th in finals with an 85.380. I didn't do any campaigning and rarely missed any rehearsals. There were a couple times that I overslept and let my energy sit at 600 for a few hours, but that's a mistake that most people make and overall groups pay for it. These tiniest of margins will kill you if you make that mistake often. You see the difference in points by campaigning some and not campaigning at all and rehearsing steadily every 5-6 hours? Being the best comes from sacrificing sleep and adjusting your schedule to not miss any rehearsal time or energy.

What makes better bands good is time. It seems that many groups want to be the best right away, but it just doesn't work that way. The groups who have been on here since season 1 weren't powerhouses over night. They've had time to rank up their staff members, earn money from events, learn effective rehearsal strategies, and build up their influence. Someone once said, divisions 2 and 3 are like rehearsal 101, and I totally agree. Heck, all of my groups are in d1, and I still need more time to compete with these better groups. It takes times and patience, and I have no problem taking off a few more seasons to campaign, rake in the money from events, and work on ranking up my staff to a division 1 competitive level.

BRAVO! Boston is our final event for week one of season 40. Alumni Stadium on the campus of Boston University plays host to this BRAVO! BANDS competition.

http://www.allprosound.com/commercial/images/projects/large/BCAlumniStadium_004.jpg

Best wishes to all BRAVO! bands in performance tonight. Look for a full weekly recap of BRAVO! BANDS Season 40 Week 1.

I'm excited, fingers crossed that i will do well!

so random question, but what time are events scored at? I'm just curious so i'm not always just getting on a bunch waiting for scores

Kopar, scores are announced at 8pm eastern time USA. Its wierd for me, as that is 2pm the next day here.

That must be confusin, it's only a hour difference for me, so it's rather easy to keep track

it feels a little weird not competing this season but i plan to come back strong and ready to be a force in div one might take me a few seasons Lol for now i consider this band camp

Hello lovelies.. i'm just checking in and seeing how everyone's doing. I hope all are well. Moongard take all the time you need. There is no need to rush perfection :D

*tap tap tap* Is this thing on??? ;)

No, sorry, we are having issues XD

What's the matter?

It appears that there is no one here lol

sorry Katie I'm here I just lurk a lot lol

Who's Katie?

AlanLovesMe (or ALM) is Katie, our league founder and President.

Ok, good to know.

Dont lurk sweetie I miss you :) I miss my Kiwidrummer, too.. Where's Jim? I haven't seen any posts since the other day when there was an earthquake in NZ

Hey Katie. So sorry hun. I am OK. There was no damage where I live, but it just brought back some scary memories of 2011. We've had a few aftershocks in the last month, but they were in the 4.0-4.5 range. Quite a big difference from a 6.0. My townhouse swayed and shook, but nothing fell over. It was long lasting, but not violent.In Feb of 2011, we had a 6.3 aftershock that was less than 10km from the city. My two car brick garage fell completely over and the inside of my house looked like a tornado went through it. If you want, I can email you some photos at some point.

glad your ok man! scary stuff!

Where I'm from has earthquakes from time to time, but the biggest we've ever had is a 5.5 and that was scary enough, I can't imagine one even bigger. Glad your ok!