Jeff Collins Appointed DCA Director of Corporate Development

DCA President, Gil Silva is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeff Collins as Director of Corporate Development. In this position, Collins will bring a long history of marketing excellence and will spearhead corporate sponsorships and advertising. Jeff comes to DCA with a long and varied drum corps background and is celebrating his 42nd consecutive season in the Activity. Beginning as a performer in a small Sacramento, CA corps in 1967, Jeff has served as a drum technician, drum caption head/arranger, staff coordinator and the first assistant director of the Concord Blue Devlis, under drum corps legend and hall of fame member, Jerry Seawright.

Jeff has a successful sales and marketing background and was Sales Manager of a large cable TV operation. Working with companies like, ESPN, CNN, USA and MTV. In the early 90’s, Jeff was approached by Drum Corps World publisher/owner, Steve Vickers (a recent DCI Hall of Fame Inductee and member of the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame), and asked to bring his sales background and his passion for the drum corps activity to the national publication. As Director of Advertising Sales for Drum Corps World (a position he still holds today), Jeff became well known to manufacturers supplying the industry as the one to contact to market their products.

In 1999, Jeff was asked by DCI Executive Director Dan Acheson, to discuss creating sponsorship opportunities for the next DCI championship event. Jeff was, at the time, handling advertising sales for DCI’s program book. Jeff comments that “In 1999 I had no idea what the challenges would be, it was truly a pioneering experience. I didn’t know what to expect. Buying an ad is one thing, but forking out big bucks to sponsor an event, was quite another”. When the dust Settled, DCI had 15 corporate sponsors, and the “marketplace” was born. He went on to add, “I’m proud to say I had something to do with the success of the DCI Marketplace that is still doing so well today. I intend to bring that same enthusiasm, passion and now an even greater knowledge to DCA! DCA has so much to offer, that THEY are not being recognized for. We need to change that and we will.”

Jeff is currently he Director of Advertising Sales for DCWorld and is also the Assistant Director of Sacramento Freelancers WGI winter percussion group. President Silva advises that Jeff will begin work immediately in preparation of the 2009 DCA Championships this coming Labor Day Weekend in Rochester, New York. He will work closely with DCA Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Tom Peashey who advised, “I’m thrilled to have Jeff on board with DCA. His knowledge and enthusiasm for marketing the activity we all love will go a long way towards getting DCA the recognition we deserve. We have been going through a growth spurt the past few years and it’s important that those providing the equipment we all use learn that their support of DCA will give them the kind of visibility and identity they need to market their products successfully to not only drum corps, but to the hundreds of band directors associated with those corps as playing members, staff members and adjudicators. Jeff Collins will be the professor to educate these companies and bring them to Rochester.”