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Crafting a well run competition: A dancer's perspective.

J Wong

Member
Messages
301
Throughout my career thus far I have danced at/attended many bhangra competitions. Some good, some bad. Through these experiences I hope to list the necessary qualities of a good competition. Here we go.


Application Process

The application should be clear and concise with definitive due dates (tryout video, completed application, fee, notification date, etc). The application should include information about the competition, rules and regulations, rubric, and other general application questions (names, addresses, team information, etc).


Upon acceptance, the follow up documents should include venue information with detailed stage diagrams. Judge information. Definitive due dates (mix, lighting, roster, etc). Hotel information (competitions should attempt to negotiate a team rate). Additional rules, etc.


If "points" are to be awarded for successful submission of the team's application and further components, these rules should be outlined prior. Under no circumstances should a competition amend said rules to award more or less points to a given team. For example, "We felt that teams who submitted parts early should get extra points even though you submitted on time."


Pre-Competition Weekend

Regular updates emails and a dedicated committee member that will answer team emails quickly.


Competition

Meals: Funds can be a limiting factor for a competition, if only one meal can be provided, lunch on the competition day rather than the mixer should be provided given the lack of time teams have. If you cannot provide meals it is important that you inform teams.


Mixer: Do what you want (try to make it entertaining), but start on time and provide transportation if needed. MC/announcer should be competent (e.g. know the team names).


Water: Water should be given to teams following the mixer.


Parking: Organizers should keep parking availability in mind as many teams drive to competitions. Furthermore, hotel parking can be ludicrously expensive and shouldn't, generally, be considered a viable first choice.


Venue: A venue needs to be functional, if a committee is able, choose a venue with a reliable stage. Competitions have generally favored the aesthetics of the venue rather than how functional the stage is to the teams. Additionally, venue staff need to be knowledgeable (i.e. proper lighting cues, test sound prior, etc).


Practice Space: Finding a decent space for teams to practice in is always helpful and appreciated.

Hotel: Work with the hotel to secure spaces for teams.
Note: Hotels need to learn to treat us with respect if we reciprocate it. Too often do hotel managers attempt to restrict our use of the hotel (i.e. excessive noise complaint warnings (if we aren't making sound), confinement to rooms (while other patrons can use the facilities as they please), etc).


After-party: Venues need to be sensible - teams of 12-16 + groupies + liaisons/committee + locals = a lot of people. Teams should have first priority regardless if someone paid for a "VIP ticket". Additionally, committee members need to work with the staff of the venue to create an efficient method of allowing access. Many times teams cant enter the AP simply because of the sheer incompetence of some venue staff.


Tech-time: Attempt to remain on time (create a schedule and stick to it)


Liaisons: Need to be knowledgable. Set up meetings during the weeks prior to educate your liaisons. Create a method of communication between liaisons and the committee (GroupMe is always good). Additionally, liaisons shouldn't disappear before the show ends and teams return to the hotel.


Committee: All members should be abreast of all information in order to better aid liaisons with questions. It is not fair nor practical to rely on the organizer for all the information.

Staff: Shouldn't be in a drunken stupor at all during the competition. Staff should be available in the event a team encounters complications. For example, a team member missing a band due to missing the mixer, and denied entry into the venue.

Judging: Select a judging panel based on dancing experience (not because they danced with someone famous, or play dhol, or are well known on the circuit, or because they were on some old team, or because they captained a team) Give the judges ample time to deliberate. If a judge states they need to finish tallying and/or fix an error allow them. Fair judging should not be compromised because of time constraints. Committee members should not be involved with judging as well. Furthermore, all judging documents should be released to teams and the community (unless it was rigged, there should be no reason for the committee to withhold this information).


A competition and judges should be open about what they are looking for in a "winning" team as a general courtesy so that teams that do not fit this type of competition don't waste their time.

That is all for the moment. If I remember more I shall add it.
 

sajan250

Member
Messages
58
Every comp organizer should see this and make sure they cover all of it. Good thread.

Also, I think somewhere there should be certain rules/requirements for liaisons and anyone involved with the competition. I feel like some comps don't realize the importance of liaisons, but they are what keep the teams in the loop and what help keep everything more organized and running smoothly (also make sure nothing else adds to the stress of the competition).
 

amancheema

Active Member
Messages
240
If you advertise/follow through with a credible judging panel, you will have a legit team lineup.


In my experience, who the judges are plays a huge role in a team's decision to apply/re-apply to a competition. Many teams don't apply to certain comps simply because the judges are incompetent and have no business being on any judging panel in the first place.
 

Shahrukh

Active Member
Messages
505
amancheema said:
If you advertise/follow through with a credible judging panel, you will have a legit team lineup.


In my experience, who the judges are plays a huge role in a team's decision to apply/re-apply to a competition. Many teams don't apply to certain comps simply because the judges are incompetent and have no business being on any judging panel in the first place.
+1
 

J Wong

Member
Messages
301
amancheema said:
If you advertise/follow through with a credible judging panel, you will have a legit team lineup.


In my experience, who the judges are plays a huge role in a team's decision to apply/re-apply to a competition. Many teams don't apply to certain comps simply because the judges are incompetent and have no business being on any judging panel in the first place.
+1 and added to the list.
 

nmistry2

New Member
Messages
84
well said, very well said, i think food and water are very important for the competition day!
and getting into after parties without stress would be nice if i am on the team
 

Trisha Arora

New Member
Messages
21
I couldn't agree more. One thing that I've seen a lot that's been a major problem is the noise complaints. A lot of the time this is because teams are on the same floors as other guests. Organizers should try to get all of the teams on the same floors to avoid the complaints since all of the people involved with the competition won't be so spread out throughout different floors.
 

Ak_Di_Nishani

New Member
Messages
313
Trisha Arora said:
I couldn't agree more. One thing that I've seen a lot that's been a major problem is the noise complaints. A lot of the time this is because teams are on the same floors as other guests. Organizers should try to get all of the teams on the same floors to avoid the complaints since all of the people involved with the competition won't be so spread out throughout different floors.
its not as easy as it sounds and most hotels try their best to do this.. but if teams arrive and they need rooms they cant just make them wait while rooms are being cleaned due to late checkouts etc by guests the night before... there are alot of logistical issues that go along with it.. but this is definitely one of the methods that could help reduce noise complaints if deemed possible by the hotel
 

RsKderpu

Member
Messages
264
J Wong said:
Liaisons: Need to be knowledgable. Set up meetings during the weeks prior to educate your liaisons. Create a method of communication between liaisons and the committee (GroupMe is always good). Additionally, liaisons shouldn't disappear before the show ends and teams return to the hotel.

I'm not sure if this is something that teams already do but, In order to make things more organized and easier on everyone (the teams and liaisons), teams should make a list items they KNOW they'll need for the competition and give it to the liaisons prior to the competition weekend. This will give liaisons time to get it all together and have it ready for their team; instead of teams listing a few things here and there last second. In my opinion, this would make everything less stressful for liaisons as well teams.
 

smehta313

Active Member
Messages
382
GroupMes & Whatsapp Groups before the competition weekend have been helpful and have also been great during the weekend of the competition.
 

mafzal

Judge / Dancer
Messages
2,098
There are some great tips and ideas here. I'm currently working on a resource packet for competitions, mainly centered around judging practices, tentatively titled "Bhangra Judging Best Practices for Competition Organizers". Content will include advice on running useful and efficient captains' meetings, suggested rules for deliberation and placings, how to run feedback sessions, etc. The goal is to help new competitions in particular, increase efficiency and standardization across comps.

If you're able to contribute please shoot me an email: mariam.afzal00@gmail.com

I'd love to have a couple team captains and competition organizers involved.

PS - You're probably thinking "omg what about rubrics and choosing judges"? Stay tuned...
 

sahab

Well-Known Member
Messages
169
Submitting materials post-acceptance:

The best so far has been Buckeye Mela. They use a website that uses your team name and is secured with a username and password. For Furteelay, ours is https://www.buckeyemela.com/furteelay.html. The website is your one-stop shop for submitting all team material (roster, mix, team pic, intro video, etc.). It also displays due dates in a clear manner and has links to buy show and after party tickets.

I prefer this to google drive (which Blowout used in 2016 when I went with MBT, it may have changed since then) or emailing all these files to the competition email.

This is a great tool that I hope more competitions implement.
 

Saab

Today is a gift
Messages
991
Couple of thoughts since this was first posted:

1. Feedback for teams that don't make the competition would be a huge plus for up and coming teams. Typically, competitions are looking for something specific in who they accept, so providing feedback (even if it is "We are looking for elite teams, you are not that") is helpful for team's so that they can understand how they did

2. Organizers <-> Judges <-> Teams have bi-directional input on the judging process - teams can give feedback to judges/organizers (how was the judging process/what feedback do we want to hear?), Judges to teams/organizers (why X team placed this way), and organizers to teams/judges (we want X). This allows for better expectations and less drama

3. Embrace the internet/Apps - Amazon Prime, PrimeNow, Websites (like Buckeye), PostMates, GroupMe, Whatsapp. Most competitions have group chats with liaisons and organizers, but why stop there? Portal login of information, more electronic schedules/views (no more paper schedules), real time electronic updates (it would be cool if you built and app for a comp, tech time was delayed 10 minutes, and you were notified on your phone for example) are small examples of how to embrace tech and stay with the times. Also, comp organizers, if your liaisons are running around/doing other things and have a budget for teams, PostMates + PrimeNow are good options to get teams stuff (water, meds, pins, etc) during the weekend without compromising logistics.

4. Empower and educate liaisons and staff to make smart decisions. Too often I have seen issues with getting answers on questions/logistics/timing, etc from folks and they don't know or don't feel they can make a certain call. It is important that liaisons can provide a bulwark for all of the teams concerns and establish a clear line of escalation for specific issues so things can get resolved quickly (no one wants to be stuck at tech time for three hours without knowing whats up...)
 

Alif Laila Tisha

New Member
Messages
1
Taking a high quality video of each performance, or at least ensuring that someone is taking one, is extremely important. The first thing any team wants to do right after their performance is to watch themselves. This requires no funds AND adds a lot of value to any comp organizing team.
 

Akash_M

Member
Messages
7
Its been a minute since anyone has posted on this thread, and some of the older posts are either dated or now standard at most if not all competitions.

I feel like most competitions have definitely been improving over the last few years and there has been a bunch of new competitions that have been popping up that could be doing things well.

What has been the best competition you'e been to in the last 2 years, and what did they do well that you think should be standard?

I ask because I am transitioning from directing comps and dancing to trying to help advise competitions to be the best experience for those teams that attend
 

siddyp

Tough times never last, but tough people do.
Messages
1,270
Its been a minute since anyone has posted on this thread, and some of the older posts are either dated or now standard at most if not all competitions.

I feel like most competitions have definitely been improving over the last few years and there has been a bunch of new competitions that have been popping up that could be doing things well.

What has been the best competition you'e been to in the last 2 years, and what did they do well that you think should be standard?

I ask because I am transitioning from directing comps and dancing to trying to help advise competitions to be the best experience for those teams that attend
Burgh lighting cues: However they did it, and whatever they used for lighting should be used everywhere. They let us detail when a cue was to happen down to a millisecond. they opened our mix on audacity, located and made a marking when a cue should start and stop and they programmed it. After tech time, they had us look at said audacity file and adjust the marks with headphones on so they were exactly where we wanted them. Lighting cues and their timing wasn't in their hands, it was in ours. Phenomenal.

@burgh, please enlighten the world on what you guys use :)
 
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