Meeting New People

[sulmoney]

vic is right about it for the most part. a lot of people/teams are in it to win it, and see other people as competition, and therefore, dont want to give the impression of fraternizing with the enemy, i guess you could say haha. i think that is part of the problem with the scene though, personally, i love going to these competitions just to hang out and meet people with similar interests. also, that could be why we didnt place anywhere this year haha, since our main objective was just to socialize.

 

[Waleed]

I dunno Amrik, I was at the mixer and I thought it was pretty good. I wouldn't say that team members formed life long friendships with each other but it def brought everyone together.

 

[Raashi]

this was my first year going to blowout and initially when i heard that teams would be sitting with other teams at the mixer i was not really excited about it. BUT when we all sat at our respective tables, i found that it really was a good way to meet the other team members... i agree with having to sit with other teams at the mixer cuz it really allows you to get to know other people. just my thoughts lol. =)

 

[Vick]

I dont understand why people have problems sitting with others... I think I should be allowed to every mixer from now on to stir things up a little... People being "cliquey" even when they are split into groups? WTF? thats retarded...

 

[Jimmy]

I agree with what Vick said, I think it'd work. But there are always a few people who can't open up as easily.

 

[Vic]

Once again...

Fusion gave 2 people per team a number, so if there was an anti-social person they still had a teamate.

 

[Ashqe]

Yeah what Vic said about what Fusion did seems like it would work pretty well. Though, I'm still a fan of just having Bhangra music playing while people just talk and do bhangra. I don't think that would show cockiness at all. I would be much more willing to do something like that then some kind of icebreaker activity. Besides, then you get videos on youtube like the one with guy from Nachdi Jawani danced against this one girl from another team for fun.

 

[Velli]

I think it depends on the mixers and how they are run, if its a small place, ppl usually mingle more cause there is no way around it but where there's tons of space and teams get to pick their own corners, they usually keep to themselves. I hate to say it but NBA and Empire (except Nav), 3D are pretty into themselves and dont like to be bothered unless ruining the pic ur about to take by popping your head in randomly (Ajit..lol)

 

[panic! at the bhangra]

you know what's the MOST awkward???

when you go get food and everyone stares at you. it's especially weird when they're eating while people watching and they end up staring at you and follow you across the room with their eyes......

 

[Raashi]

lollllllllll to panic! at the bhangra's comment. so funny yet so true haha.

 

[Kaur]

Ive heard many teams say that going to a competiiton is like doing a job, go there get it done and come back. Mingling and making firends isnt a priority. Personally PANJ only came into the game last season, so I know we had the 'omg look its NJ' type of mentality, and were kinda intimidated to speak to some teams. But opened up after the first few comps. Some teams are very exclusive, and wont make the effort at all to speak to other teams. Theirs always the one or two ppl on a team whihc are more social then others, but very seldomly do you find full teams who make the effort to get to know others.

Heeray, United, ABC, UCI, Estegal..lol, Ajit from 3d, Annay lbc, Prab duniya, UBC Girls....some of the ones who I noticed have always made the effort

 

[Temurzai]

panj + esteghlal = love

 

[Pooja]

I like the idea of basically forcing people to sit with other teams. My theory is that I'd like to get to know people in the Bhangra scene to be social but also to learn things from other teams. I always have tons of questions about bhangra and getting to talk to teams face to face is always a good thing.

I personally made the effort to talk to people on other teams at some of our competitions like Burgh and Royale and most people I found were very receptive and inviting. Competition is a great thing for drive and motivation but it's not my life...so I take this as an opportunity to mingle with all kinds of people as well.

I do think collegiate teams are slightly more outgoing when it comes to meeting new people maybe because of just the nature of being in college and what not...I know some won't agree but that's just my thoughts.

 

[Vick]

Gotta love NYU bhangra... If you dont know them, they'll make sure you know them by the time the show is over...

 

[panic! at the bhangra]

panj + esteghlal = love

umm... EXCUSE ME taimoor...



i love panj moreeeeeeee!!!! <3 panj is awesome, harkiran is SUPER friendly and was the first one i met from the team, the rest of the team was a little shy at first but now they talk and they're all hella tight!


p.s. harkiran, where are my shirtsssss ???

 

[Kaur]

Thanks Tamjot and Avni.....

Ur cheques are in the mail ahahha

 

[zagreus]

Wow, a lot of good posts coming up here. My question is, do you think that mixers themselves can change? I like the idea of like, forced mingling. Split up teams and give people the chance to meet other people.
I love the teams that are at competitions, yes...to compete but they also strive to meet other people. I remember United Bhangra from Bash a year ago, and they made sure they met as many people as they could. They were by the far the most accessible team that I saw that weekend. Oh yeah, SFU Elite was fun too.

And Vick, I say you become the Bhangra Mixer Consultant. There's a big market for your services. You can help facilitate great conversation and help bring the teams together.

 

[Havish]

Seriously gotta say this is one of the best posts

I think there are a lot of issues that comes up to the whole meeting people at mixers. I have been to a lot in my past four year career of bhangra and have experienced a lot of different kinds. I think competitions that do have the teams mix with each other are better off because it allows the teams to actually "mix" instead of just having teams sit around. Usually if you just put everyone together, teams will just stay with their teams besides those people who go out of their way to meet other teams.

I do think POL has created a level of hype for certain teams which I think is bad. I know because I experienced it a couple of years ago when we first went to VIBC, we saw KJ and LBC and all the west coast teams and were like "omg... its kg... omg this and that" it does make it harder for someone to go up to that team and be like hey...

but I think things have got better since then the mixers I went to this past year were some of the better ones

I understand what vic was sayin when he was talking about it being a competition and its about winning, which is true, all the teams what to win, maybe some more than others, we are all there to compete, but at the same time its about the experience, I'm not saying that you have to dance at the mixer, im just saying that I find it really annoying when teams dont talk about their team and stuff trying to make it seem like they have something huge they bringing out or something, its not like other teams are going to change their routine that night to copy you.

overall i think everyone needs to be more open with teams and have fun meeting new people, I am always open to talking to new people cuz I love hearing what other people think about bhangra, how they have been involved and how things work for them and their team

one thing that i have come to realize is that it always gets more chill after the competition, for example all the times teams have just chilling and hanging out with each other in the hotel lobby or afterparties and stuff, which to me means that everyone is all worked up about the competition during the mixer, just something i have come to realize

 

[Meistro]

Another factor that I wanted to bring up in this discussion is the type of bhangra team that you are. have you ever noticed that traditional teams always seem to be together at competitions? I remember when GTA came to bhangra idols 06, the duniya all star boys and I spent all weekend with them. Drank together, sang boliyan in rooms together among other things. Realistically I think it comes down to how much you appreciate another team and how much you have in common. I personally have seen few instances where a crazy traditional team chills with a modern team all weekend at a competition. This is aside from just greeting the other team. Now, Im not saying all traditional teams are like this and Im not saying everyone who dances traditional is like this. Just an example and another perpective to look from on this topic. I usually like to start off by introducing myself to people that i recognize from POL (and now BTF lol) and teams whose videos ive seen.

 

[Jimmy]

Now that i think about it, I think things are changing a little. Most teams used to be hush about their routines before the actual competition. And like at bruin, there were multiple teams practicing outside in front of each other. So in that sense, I think things are changing a little.