R2B2 Review

[scaplash]

I feel like comp reviews aren't done enough by teams, so hopefully we can get one going for R2B2

Mixer- This was my first mixer that had both Raas and Bhangra teams- I think the committee did a good job of engaging both sides and making it fun. Though I think there should have been more interaction among teams-maybe have another game that mixes up people? I was a big fan of lineup selection-it was completely random on several levels and made for a fair lineup decision. Overall, the mixer was short and sweet-could possibly be a bit longer.
One thing that I wish would change about the mixer is when we got our dinner- I wish it was a bit earlier. It was set up so that the food was given after the captain's meeting- but because that went late a lot of my team didn't get their food til at least 10:30-11:00


After the mixer was the captain's meeting-s/o to the committee for hearing out the captains and their concerns-they adapted the schedule to give later teams more time to tie pagghan

On the day of the comp, there were a lot of delays due to the inclement weather, the committee I felt did the best they could managing the delays and making sure every team got their tech time.
Breakfast I think is something that could be improved upon-even though we got discount vouchers for breakfast at the hotel, it was still somewhere in the range of $8-9/person for food-we instead just bought a huge pack of bagels and cream cheese and fed the team for way cheaper-even then we were only able to get the bagels because we knew someone in the area with a car. I think in the future it would be nice if the committee provided this (I certainly don't mind it being included into the reg. fee).
Lunch however on the day of the comp was perfect, light sandwiches and a small amount of pasta-all of it tasted great and didn't fill us up too much.
Tech time-
There was a hiccup in our music as the auditorium staff was having trouble playing the mix-which wasted some valuable time- hopefully it doesn't happen next year. The rest of the comp including the performance went well-everything was well organized was they led us from where we were getting ready to the stage.
Afterparty-
This was probably the worst part of what was an overall well-run comp-my team and many other teams purchased after party tickets ahead of time and then found out that by the time they got out of their vardiyaan and got ready to go to the afterparty-they were no longer letting anybody in. It felt like there were more randos in the afterparty than actual bhangra teams. It was a bit frustrating and I understand that the committee didn't have much say in it and I appreciate the refund they are giving to teams-but hopefully next year they will give teams priority so that they can celebrate after the comp.
Overall Pros:
-Committee was understanding and approachable
-They dealt with adversity well
-well-organized and flexible
-Hotel and venue were nice
Overall cons:
-Saturday breakfast could have been better, Friday night dinner could have been given to us to earlier
-Weather could have been better
-Afterparty fiasco kinda sucked
Sidenote: We have a couple of videos of the other bhangra teams- and I am currently working on getting them up on youtube (as private of course) PM with an e-mail address you would like me to send it to.
Best,
Sonny

 

[Basim]

Thank you for detailed review of the competition Sonny! This always helps teams, organizing committees, and gives bhangra fans a perspective of what it was like.

Really wanted to make it down to R2B2 this year to support the teams & competition, but unfortunately I had other priorities (growing up sucks!).

Along with reviewing the events, it would be great to add in critiques that could help other teams out too (like general statements of what you liked/could use improvement from other teams that you saw compete).

There are handful of bhangra teams that attended this year, so it would be great to hear from more dancers! Please comment guys.

Congrats to the placing teams & ty R2B2 committee for putting in the hard work to organize this Texas competition.

~ Basim

 

[Psant]

Major props for the comp review. We need to have more of these!

 

[Ricky916]

I was one of the judges for this competition, and I wanted to say that it was one of the most organized competitions I have been to. They provided transportation for where ever I needed to go and always asked if I needed anything, etc. I would highly recommend teams to apply next year.

 

[sargam627]

Ricky you suck

 

[scaplash]

Yeah, overall, if it hasn't come through properly with my review, the comp was overall super well-run and organized- so I'd def also recommend teams apply. Also, Basim, we are having trouble getting the videos uploaded, but I'll probably post a team performance review once we get them up (to refresh my memory a bit on the performances)!

 

[Sundeeptij]

I agree! These are not done nearly enough so props to Sonny for starting this! First off huge congratulations to Nishani for 1st place and Husky for 2nd place, you guys were amazing!


Transportation- This is our 3rd year coming back to R2B2 and getting the charter buses was probably one of the BEST decisions/additions the board could have made. Having proper transportation(that's reliable) always keeps the whole day running very smoothly. So major props to board on that decision!


On that note however, in past years you all have rented buses from the school to pick us up from the airport in my experience that was much better, 6 of our team members waited for over 3 hours at the airport for the hotel shuttle and didn't make it to the mixer.


Hotel- I wish the hotel was in a better location, there were no restaurants or stores nearby so if you didn't have a car you were pretty much stranded at the hotel. The hotel staff however was very nice, they handled the noise that comes along with Bhangra competitions very well and were very accommodating.


Mixer- The mixer was good, I liked that there was a theme. I do wish that more of the games facilitated interaction between teams, the dance off did a good job of that. The mixer was a bit short, not a big problem but again if we could have had more interaction with other teams it would have been nice! Food Friday night is one of the things I would agree should maybe be looked at by the board, first it was given so late to our team, and some of our team had been at the airport all day and came straight to the mixer so not having food sucked Also maybe more food, a lot of the guys on our team would've liked more than one 6inch sub!


Captain's Meeting- The captain's meeting was great, the board did a great job of answering questions and adjusting/ accommodating to each teams' needs! There was initially not going to be a judges meeting after the competition however after requests from multiple teams the board made sure they set up a judges meeting and that was great so thank you to the board and the judges for that!!


Ya'll came in clutch with the water, we were provided with ample water and if we needed more all we had to do was ask!


Breakfast- We were provided a basket of food which I think was our breakfast? And we were given the breakfast vouchers however last year we were given milk and cereal, that was great. I would recommend giving more of a breakfast or at least healthier options because most dancers prefer not to eat sugary foods the day of the competition!


Tech Rehearsal- Everything was running a bit late on Saturday because of the weather and the board had buses cancel on them however I think you guys did a great job adjusting to the situation and making sure, we were taken to the venue and understood our schedule for the rehearsal. I think having the mirror room and the other room upstairs to stretch was great, and being transported to each room before we got on stage went very well, not hectic at all! Ran fairly smoothly. The only problem we had was that an older version of our mix was played and we were told that we would have to use that for rehearsal but when our captain talked to them they fixed it for us and did not take time out of our rehearsal time for that mistake so that was great and much appreciated! Also we were provided with fruit snacks and water after which was perfect!


Lunch- I thought lunch was great, we were given lunch after our tech rehearsal which was ideal, again some members on our team wanted a bit more but overall it was a good lunch!


Show- The show ran pretty smoothly, I like that you guys let the teams sit on the 3rd floor and watch, makes it a more enjoyable experience! Also having chips and iced tea in the basement for the teams was great as well as pizza when we got back to the hotel!


Afterparty- Most of our team got into the afterparty and personally I thought the afterparty was great, it was a good venue and they had good music! I have heard many different stories for why they stopped letting people in so i'm not gonna comment on that and I know it was out of the boards hands, however we really appreciated the reimbursements for those who could not get in!


The committee this year was amazing, you guys were very accommodating, approachable and super fun! Handled anything thrown at ya'll very well, and even if you guys were stressed nobody took it out on the teams which has been a problem in past years/other competitions so that was excellent!


Shout-out to our liaisons Hassnain and Vanisha you guys were awesome!


The judges were very qualified this year, which always makes the competitions better/more legit!


Overall, it was a very well-organized competition, I had a lot of fun and it was great meeting so many other teams, wish you all the best of luck for the rest of the season!


-Sundeepti

 

[mafzal]

This was my second year judging R2B2 (also did it in 2013 when it was all Bhangra) and I would love to do it again. The teams that come always give pleasantly suprising performances. Ricky and I had a very tough time choosing the top 2. The committee truly cares about the teams and puts them first. I can see how much they care and I truly respect it. I think I had like 4 liaisons lol, and they were all so sweet and helpful. Show started and ended on time. Granted it is a school-run competition so the organizers will rotate and always be somewhat new, but this was the 10th year of R2B2 I think, and I can see it going on for many more! Congrats on a great show.

Hope there is better weather next year! Yuck!!! Lol

Thank you for having me