Crossroads of Bhangra 2017 - Purdue University

[CrossroadsofBhangra]

Hello BTF!

We are excited to announce a new competition in the state known as the Crossroads of America, Indiana....Crossroads of Bhangra Competition! We are a brand new competition at Purdue University, and we have no affiliation with the previous Boiler Bhangra Competition.

The co-directors of Crossroads of Bhangra are proud to announce that the competition will be held on April 8, 2017 at Loeb Playhouse, home of the Boilermakers! Please go like us on Facebook if you haven’t already: https://www.facebook.com/Crossroads2017/.

[SIZE=medium]If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at crossroadsofbhangra@gmail.com
More information about applications and registration will be available soon.

Here's to a new name, new season, and new passion! #CrossingOver[/SIZE]

 

[sahab]

Re: BB to COB: Purdue University 2017

What are these major changes? Changing the name of your competition does not mean that everyone is gonna forgot how you screwed up last year and decided to cancel a comp 2 days before. You never even fully explained what happened when you cancelled the comp. Give a reason for why you screwed up, take responsibility. Don't just run away and try to cover up your turd of comp with some sprinkles by changing the name.

Side note: Your team selection has no rhyme or reason. It seems as though people who have never watched any Bhangra in their lives are picking the teams.



#PaghsOptional

reference: http://bhangrateamsforum.com/discuss/main-bhangra-discussion/boiler-bhangra-2016-cancelled/

 

[Basim]

Re: BB to COB: Purdue University 2017

+1. Good reference sahab.


I found it funny that the Boiler Bhangra competition organizers/Purdue SASA didn't have open communication and honesty with all teams about what exactly happened last year. Two days before the competition, there is a sudden announcement: https://www.facebook.com/purdue.sasa/posts/909317829181458


Many people thought that last minute cancellation announcement was an April fool's joke. Till date, I am not certain if all teams (especially those that were coming out of town) had gotten fully compensated back for all the expenses that they couldn't get refunded.


Still waiting for clarification on all of these things. A public announcement on the exact situation should have been made and the committee should have taken ownership of any/all mistakes.


I would advice all teams to be weary & heed caution with the organizers of this event.


~ Basim

 

[abhij95]

Re: BB to COB: Purdue University 2017

I agree with Sahab, I've seen elite teams get waitlisted by the committee

 

[CrossroadsofBhangra]

Re: BB to COB: Purdue University 2017

Hello sahab,

These major changes that we are talking about is new management, new experience, and anew perspective in hosting this competition. Our competition, Crossroads of Bhangra is NOT Boiler Bhangra. Crossroads of Bhangra is a brand new competition in the same location of Purdue University. This current management did not screw up and cancel a new competition 2 days before, and we do not plan on doing that either. We promise a show that WILL happen. Our new directors, and board members have been part of dance circuits before and have attended major competitions in every dance circuit. Thus, they do know what is expected from a competition, what works and what doesn’t. We can assure you that the directors, and new board will do everything in their power to put on a wonderful competition weekend.

If you would like to talk to someone involved with the previous competition we can provide you with contact information so you can receive an explanation from them. We cannot comment on the team selection because that was a part of Boiler Bhangra NOT Crossroads of Bhangra, they solely based their selection on audition videos submitted to them. We extend sympathies to all the teams that were distraught with the cancellation of the event. Again, we are a new competition at Purdue University. If you have any other concerns or questions please email us directly at crossroadsofbhangra@gmail.com. We will be happy to provide you with answers as soon as possible.

www.crossroadsofbhangra.wix.com/cobc

#paghsNOToptional #CrossingOver #BhangraCrossing

 

[CrossroadsofBhangra]

Re: BB to COB: Purdue University 2017

Hello Basim,

The competition organizers of Boiler Bhangra did their best of explaining the situation through social media and such, however, we cannot comment on their way of executing it and their announcement. We also cannot comment if the teams were fully compensated for all their expenses, you would have to speak with the organizers of Boiler Bhangra, as we are not part of that executive board. If you would like, we could provide you with direct contact information to the directors of Boiler Bhangra 2016, you can also contact them for a clarification.

We would also like to address your comment of advising “all teams to be weary and heed caution with the organizers of this event” because you ultimately have no idea what the organizers and team members are doing for this event. It is very unprofessional for you to judge a competition that has not even taken place yet. Once again, if you have issues and concerns with Boiler Bhangra, please contact the organizers for that event at boilerbhangracompetition@gmail.com.

If you have comments, questions, or concerns regarding Crossroads of Bhangra, please email crossroadsofbhangra@gmail.com for any questions or concerns.

www.crossroadsofbhangra.wix.com/cobc

#CrossingOver #BhangraCrossing

 

[CrossroadsofBhangra]

Re: BB to COB: Purdue University 2017

Hello abhij95,

On behalf of the Crossroads of Bhangra Committee, we would like to address the selection process for our competition. Although we cannot comment on how teams were previously selected for the Boiler Bhangra competition, we do have experienced bhangra dancers and knowledgeable judges that will be part of the selection for the Crossroads of Bhangra competition.

Please let us know if you have any additional comments, questions, or concerns. You can email us at crossroadsofbhangra@gmail.com[SIZE=large] and we will be happy to address them![/SIZE]

www.crossroadsofbhangra.wix.com/cobc

#CrossingOver #BhangraCrossing

 

[unknown111]

Re: BB to COB: Purdue University 2017

As an anonymous captain who was going to compete at Boiler Bhangra last year. I can with accuracy say that teams were NOT compensated for the fees they paid. Nor was any good reason given for the reasons as to cancellation. The whole process was utterly ridiculous. Furthermore, the Boiler Bhangra competition informed all the teams that as some sort of recourse, accepted teams would automatically receive a bid for a spot in the competition the following year. While I probably would never attend a competition that completely bailed on us with no information a day before, I guess changing the competition is just another way to break more promises that the board promised teams as recourse.


I also completely agree that simply changing the name of the competition does not just negate the faults of the previous board and provide teams with confidence that this "new" competition will be smoothly run and free of the huge mess up of the previous competition. In fact if I am correct I recognize that both the leader of this "new" competition as being involved in the previous Boiler Bhangra board, and I find it extremely hard to believe that at a single university with this new competition would find and compose an entirely new set of management and members when this new competition is being held at the SAME university pulling from the same pool of I'm sure the EXACT SAME indian community.


All responses that Crossroads bhangra has provided seems to be already based in lies since members of it clearly know what went wrong at Boiler Bhangra and continue to not be upfront about the issues that caused its cancellation and whether teams were compensated. This just seems to be another competition destined to fail and built on false promises.

 

[Saleem]

Re: BB to COB: Purdue University 2017

Maybe how this should have gone:

Hey we are introducing Crossroads of Bhangra, a new competition

Introduces new competition, unattached to the negative stigma of Boiler Bhangra

We're a new competition held at Indiana University, but have no affiliation with Boiler Bhangra.

double confirm

We are veterans from all types of indian dance circuits: {x}, who has competed in 5 bhangra competitions, {y} who has placed at XYZ Raas competition as part of ABC collegiate team for 4 years, {z} who has been on XYZ bhangra team for 3 years, and {a} who has competed at 7 bhangra and raas competitions

We know what it takes to make a successful competition.

We're excited to have this competition on April 7 2016. We are in conversation with X venue, and will have this confirmed and publish the confirmation from the venue before we finalize any team registrations

We aren't Boiler Bhangra, did I mention?

Beyond throwing a successful competition that doesn’t fail as Boiler did, here are some interesting “major changes” we’re considering to bring passion and fire back to the stage: A, B, C.

Concrete info.

What not to do:

Hey guys, remember Boiler Bhangra? This is the new Boiler Bhangra, named COB. And although we will be better than Boiler Bhangra in so many ways and are unaffiliated with that trainwreck, the one thing we will keep in common is an inheritance of the name.

 

[CrossroadsofBhangra]

Hello unknown111,

We deeply apologize on behalf of Boiler Bhangra for all the complications it caused for your team, as well as the bad experience. To begin, we are not breaking any promises, we are making new ones. Additionally, we are aware that the previous board promised the teams an opportunity to compete in the competition in 2017, and team’s were sent an email regarding this. If you have not received the email, or believe the email was sent to the wrong person, please email us and we will take care of that directly. We can assure you that all of the information we are providing, and everything we are addressing are all truthful and answered to the best of our ability. We cannot comment on the teams being compensated, or take blame for boiler bhangra competition because we were not directly involved with the cancellation. If you would like to be provided with a good reason for the cancellation and speak with the previous organizers, you can contact that organization directly.


The directors of this show were not on the executive board of Boiler Bhangra and the members of this current board have the same amount of information as the rest of teams and public do. We are not satisfied with the response they gave as well, but we cannot do anything about that. We are creating a new opportunity for Collegiate and Independent Bhangra teams to perform at Purdue University in Crossroads of Bhangra. In a large school of 40,000 the Indian community is large enough where there are new individuals on board every year that want to make Purdue University a success.


Once again, we have sent information to all the individual teams that were accepted to perform at Boiler Bhangra 2016 this past week, and you can email crossroadsofbhangra@gmail.com directly if you have any questions or concerns.

#Bhangracrossing #Crossingover

 

[anonymous123]

I graduated from Purdue and was able to see the events of each competition over the past 4 years. I participated as a liaison a couple times, and paid attention to how everything went down each year. I do have bhangra experience and have danced at other competitions.

In my opinion the competition went pretty smoothly the first 3 years, a couple issues here and there but nothing extreme. My biggest frustration since the second year has been the lack of the committee on using individuals outside the board to decide on the teams. Each year I heard about teams highly regarded around the circuit being waitlisted or denied, which was shocking and upsetting. And I do know for a fact that the individuals involved in the process had either none or extremely minimal knowledge and exposure to bhangra. This has been a concern by so many other teams, and I think it is a very valid and fair concern. When assistance was offered, they refused and constantly said they had people with bhangra experience, which was a lie.

And as unknown111 wrote above, the new committee is definitely affiliated with the past committee. These members have been a part of the previous Boiler Bhangra Competition. They also talk about having members with dance experience, but again, not bhangra.

I really didn’t get to see much of what happened to this year’s comp, but reading about it was so sorely disappointing. It saddens me to see such a negative image brought upon the Indian community surrounding the comp, but what they did was inexcusable and not offering an explanation to the bhangra community renders the board completely unreliable.

I am not looking for a response from the committee. Instead, I wanted to give the rest of the BTF community a perspective of a bhangra dancer and member of the Purdue community. The facade they are putting up is just not right. All in all, I would definitely advise teams to be extremely cautious, because you work so hard and to be disappointed in such a way is just not fair or acceptable. There are so many new comps starting, so it may be better to take your talents elsewhere…

 

[CrossroadsofBhangra]

Thank you for your concerns. Crossroads of Bhangra (COB) is committed to transparency and will answer all questions publicly asked of us to the best of our ability.

We would like to start by explaining the organizational structure of Purdue SASA. In previous years, the President and Vice President would serve as Co-Directors for Boiler Bhangra. Purdue SASA was the parent organization and its Board organized the Boiler Bhangra Competition. While this year’s President and Vice President for Purdue SASA are the COB Directors, Crossroads of Bhangra and Purdue SASA will be run by separate boards. This is to ensure that the organizers of the competition will be able to fully commit to making sure the weekend is a success.

We would like to clarify the failure of Boiler Bhangra 2016, how we came to know of that failure, and the steps we are taking to ensure that we can deliver on the promise that is Crossroads of Bhangra. In order to best prepare for Crossroads of Bhangra, our Directors reached out to the management of Boiler Bhangra 2016 to discover why it was cancelled. Boiler Bhangra 2016 was cancelled due to Director error; the Co-Directors failed to confirm with the booked venue 1 month prior to the scheduled date that the scheduled event was to take place. The cancellation was not announced at that time because the Co-Directors attempted to find alternative venues suitable for the show. They were aware of the possibility that Boiler Bhangra 2016 would not be possible, but waited until the show was no longer a possibility before informing teams, managers, and the remaining board members. This decision directly resulted in the last minute announcement of the competition’s cancellation.

To be clear, the critical error that led to the cancellation of Boiler Bhangra 2016 was one that is easily avoided. However, given the scope of impact of a cancelled competition, and the proximity of Boiler Bhangra to Crossroads of Bhangra, we as an Executive Board will take additional steps to assure our participants and the circuit at large that we can guarantee event viability. We are committed to:
1. Create a public schedule for running our competition. This will include (but is not limited to): fundraising, venue booking, hotel booking, board selection, team selection, mixer booking, and afterparty information. All of our checkpoints and progress will be posted on our website http://crossroadsofbhangra.wix.com/cobc on a biweekly basis.

2. Post major milestones, publicly answer questions, and address concerns on our Facebook page and/or BTF and other relevant social media.

3. Post delays. We understand as college students, schedules sometimes get hectic and circumstances change from the projected schedule. However, we will post about delays on our website as they occur. This will allow everyone following the competition to understand and see why we are facing setbacks, and what actions we are taking to alleviate them.

We also understand that there is a concern regarding team selection. Crossroads of Bhangra has no knowledge of the method Boiler Bhangra implemented in the past to evaluate audition videos. However, Crossroads of Bhangra will be implementing an external evaluation committee to select teams in a blind evaluation to ensure that no bias enters the process of choosing the most elite teams to compete at our competition.

We will also address that teams that were expected to compete in the Boiler Bhangra 2016 competition were promised an automatic spot to compete in the competition this upcoming year. The COB directors have already contacted teams with an offer to perform in the Crossroads of Bhangra 2017 competition. The teams were given a firm deadline of November 1, 2016 to accept or decline this offer, allowing the board to open up applications for the remaining spots to the rest of the bhangra circuit. This method allows many other teams an opportunity to apply to the competition and display their talents while also recognizing that teams denied the opportunity to perform last year were promised an automatic bid to a competition this year.

Once again, if you have any comments, questions, and concerns that you would like addressed please contact us at crossroadsofbhangra@gmail.com
-Crossroads of Bhangra Executive Board

 

[Howie Magz]

If there is a wild Charizard at the mixer and a wild Venasaur at the venue the day of the comp count me in.

 

[Armaan Kapoor]

Here's my take on this guys. Everyone will believe you undoubtedly have some affiliation with some members of Boiler Bhangra, no matter how many times you say you don't. It's just inevitable. Throwing this competition next year isn't a good idea because teams are very well of what happened last year and are not going to apply (which means you won't have enough money to properly throw this comp which will lead to a downward spiral).


Here's what I suggest you do:


1. Have the Boiler Bhangra board issue an apology via BTF and properly to each team, because it hasn't happened, and that's pretty insulting to everyone involved.
2. Use your funds this year and next year (or fundraise) to fully refund your teams from Boiler Bhangra 2016. What you're doing right now to throw another competition (and just change the name) after not paying back teams last year sounds like a Ponzi scheme and a scam that no team will be interested in.
3. Build back your credibility, have teams confirm they were taken care of, and use the next year to properly redevelop this competition, address where you went wrong, and see what you can do to make sure such a situation doesn't happen again.


Main point here: build your credibility back and show that Purdue SASA, Boiler, COB (or whoever is involved) has officially apologized, rectified their mistakes, refunded teams, and assured the bhangra community that such mistakes won't happen again. You need more than 9 months to get that credibility back. Don't force this.

 

[Saleem]

@Armaan, while I agree with you in spirit, the supply (competitions) and demand (teams, especially junior ones who are looking to get into a competition) economics in the bhangra community means that teams will apply and attend.

 

[Mr. Mankiran]

@Armaan, while I agree with you in spirit, the supply (competitions) and demand (teams, especially junior ones who are looking to get into a competition) economics in the bhangra community means that teams will apply and attend.

Word, I don't think its a bad thing to have a collegiate comp that doesn't have the same lineup as the other 4 comps during the spring.

 

[Nimit]

You guys should try and take some pages out of Circle City's book. They were professional, gave us a personal call, and were very upfront with who they were, why they were involved, and what they were going to do to change the stigma that now surrounds Indiana bhangra.


A BTF Post about your comp should be way more thought out than this. If you posted your most recent post first, you might have gotten people's attention. You guys seem committed to righting wrongs but the people responsible for the screw up still need to take some fucking ownership. Comps have been cancelled before but it is ridiculous that the first time I'm hearing an explanation is from another competition's board 3 1/2 months later. Until Boiler comes on BTF so we can give them all a resounding and unanimous "FUCK YOU", I think you guys are going to find it very hard to make a good (or even a full) lineup.

 

[HdBrar]

@Armaan, while I agree with you in spirit, the supply (competitions) and demand (teams, especially junior ones who are looking to get into a competition) economics in the bhangra community means that teams will apply and attend.

Word, I don't think its a bad thing to have a collegiate comp that doesn't have the same lineup as the other 4 comps during the spring.

Preach.