Pao Bhangra XIV: Feedback and Review

[Pao Bhangra]

Hello BTF!


Thank you so much to all the teams that came out to Pao Bhangra XIV and made the event an unforgettable time for everyone! This year's show was simply exhilarating with an even larger audience turnout compared to last year, and as always, amazing performances from all the teams. It felt great to hang out with all the teams in a such a relaxed and enjoyable environment.


We would specially like to thank Harjot from GTV for coming out to Pao again this year. We always have an amazing time with you, be it Pao or any other competition, and it is always great to work with you. All of us really appreciate what you do for this circuit.


The GTV video for the event's Opening Ceremony has been posted below. The videos of the performances will be released soon!


The Bhangra Olympics Opening Ceremony @ Pao Bhangra 2015


Finally, we would love to hear feedback and reviews about the weekend from all the teams who came to Pao, and anyone else who may have attended Pao Bhangra XIV. These reviews really help up make Pao a better experience for all the teams in the future!


Please share your feedback, reviews and thoughts below




~Cornell Bhangra

 

[nmistry2]

UMD had an amazing time at PAO. What people say is true, Pao is a great way to remember what bhangra is all about. There is so much support, help, and comfort given by both the committee and the teams that participated. For my first time at pao, I can definitely say that it was the highlight of the year.


Pre Show Communication
Having an online system was awesome, making all the forms on a google form, and the google doc that you guys had was really thought out and well done. I wish all comps did something similar to this, everything was very organized, it was all laid out for us to do. The best part was that you guys were very flexible with us and worked with what we wanted.


Hotel
The hotel size was perfect. Because the hotel was a suite there was enough space to accommodate our team between two rooms. The hotel staff was really nice for the most part and having breakfast there was really convenient also.


There was one issue with the hotel which we all know about. In all honesty it got out of hand and too much to handle. In the future please try and take precautions to keep it in control, maybe have the liaisons and the whole board force people out of the hotel for the after party, let the hotel staff know that this may get loud, something needed to be done. Also our team initially got charged for something that we did not do, so more steps to prevent this should be taken.


Mixer
Sadly, I can't say much about the mixer because I did not get there until the end of it. But everyone on the team raved about how much fun they had, the games, the dancing, the pictures, everything was inclusive. People had a blast at the mixer, the only thing I will say is that you guys should work on getting a better DJ. One who doesn't play other DJ's mixes off of soundcloud. That became a drag at time.


Post mixer practice space was awesome. You guys went out of your way to get us a speaker, it was really convenient and fun to see all the teams around us. It would have been nice to have louder speakers because it was pretty loud in there, but cannot really complain.


Tech Time
This was a lot of fun, we had plenty of space to set up our stuff and hangout. We had a speaker so we could listen to music, and we had plenty of water, gatorade, and food which made things really easy for us. Everything was so laid back, we felt no stress at all. Tech time went well, the staff was really good, they knew exactly what they were doing and accommodated us well. Having other teams watch us was a lot of fun. In the future try and make sure that barton staff doesn't drive their scissor lift in front of stage during tech. That kind of blocked our video, we delt with it but it became annoying.


Show
The opening ceremony is a really cool idea, definitely a cool easy concept. The show ran really smoothly. Having a sold out crowd and everyone cheering, alls i can say is that it went really well. I wish i could have seen more of the show, i was a little busy doing paghs, but regardless i could tell that there was good crowd reaction, no delay in the show, and everything went as planned.


After Party
The after party had plusses and minuses. I always heard that pao is a frat house and this time it was at a bar. The open tab you guys had was cool, but the space was pretty small. Try and get a bigger place and a better DJ (not sure if its the same guy as the mixer)


Sunday Breakfast
This was a really cool thing to do. While we were waiting, watching all the videos was a lot of fun. I would say to try and push this earlier because a lot of us have long drives, but making people wake up early after that weekend is hard to do.


All in all i think it was the best bhangra weekend I've had. No stress, fun on stage, and a chill weekend. If there is one thing that you should change, its the american song requirement. I understand what you guys are trying to do because of your crowd. But I feel that the crowd enjoys what each team brings to the stage, it becomes a hassle to re choreo a segment and make changes for an american song. Other than that, you guys are doing it right.