Kanvar said:
great seeing everyone and competing. congrats to all the teams that placed. shout out to the sfu elite guys we kicked it with and ricky from abc.
on a side note about the organization:
one word: HORRIBLE. first of all buses from hotel to the venue for the show were running late and teams that were 4 and 6 (not positive if it was 3 also cus we were getting ready) weren't at the competition and teams that were still getting ready, my team included, were asked to go earlier in the lineup cus the bus was late. second at the end of the show there was some issue with the bus (rumor was it got into an accident, but i also heard their was a miscommunication about booking a bus for the venue back to the hotel) and my teams, sfu elite, majaajna, babc, abc, columbia were all stuck at the venue with little to no word from the organizers on the situation of transportation back to the hotel. we were waiting outside in vaardiyan for about an hour and a half. third, they ended up getting taxis for everyone saying they were paid for, little did we expect that when we got to the hotel we were expected to pay 40 dollar cab fares. when i tried to call the organizer, raman chadha, he was no where to be found. i had to call some volunteer who was very helpful on the phone, but i was still stuck outside with ricky from abc for about 30min with a cabby yelling at us about who was gonna pay the cab fares. when sir raman chadha finally arrived it took about another 10 minutes and a bunch of disorder for them to pay the cab fares. fourth, we were told buses running to the after party would be shuttling all night, yet when i called to ask where the bus was when we finally got ready, none of the organizers were picking up their phones as they were more concerned with going to the after party than looking after the welfare of the teams.
i'm sure other teams can validate the debacle that took place after the show ended and other numerous ones during the show.
all in all one of the worst competitions i've ever been to, let alone competed in. way too long, too many teams, ks makhan technical difficulties were atrocious and frankly i felt bad for the guy.
Yes, Kanvar...you're completely right here.
I'm normally not one to complain (because I can't stand whining myself)...but this was atrocious (at least in cuBhangra's point of view)...
1) No team liaisons...we all know how important it is to have them...and most of the volunteers weren't aware of what was going on...in fact, we're pretty sure we came across one volunteer who didn't know that the show had started! Shout out to Trisha Gill (volunteer) for being really nice and understanding~
2) Buses--> Never on time (aka...LATER than all we late teams)...however the bus drivers were nice. I'm pretty sure there was just one bus shuttling back and forth...for around FIFTEEN teams...the venue was 20 mins away from the hotel...
3) Mixer--> I guess it was average. Food wasn't bad, imo...but once again...it was around 35 mins away from the hotel...was this venue really necessary?
4) Stage line-up--> WHO KNEW?! no one knew...Idk about other teams, but our team was never made aware of the order of the show (aka giddah first, intermission, etc.)...which led to further problems which I'll address in a bit. In fact, we spoke to them continuously about this point and even gave them suggestions on how to structure the show...
5) Tech rehearsal--> Running late as most comps do...so that wasn't a big deal. But we were all promised free breakfast and lunch...we ended up finding the snack room after some time. As we got on stage, we had 15 mins, but we couldn't hear our captain's instructions because they were testing their mics! Also (I'm sure other teams will agree), would it have been so hard to make a CLEAR quarter marker for all the teams? Lastly, we were all promised free subway...BUT the subway was gonna be delivered to the venue at 1pm...so all the teams who had finished their tech earlier didn't get to eat...and as for our team, we weren't gonna waste 1 hr of our competition day waiting for food and shuttling back and forth from the hotel and venue to pick up food. Here's where a team liaison would have been ideal. We, along with a bunch of other teams, ended up at the Subway near the hotel.
6) Competition time--> Oh boy..........I'll speak on behalf of our team. Initially we were told to be ready by 5 pm and catch the bus to the venue at that time. This was fine...if we weren't finished, we were just gonna finish up at the venue. However, we end up finding out while we're getting ready by multiple organizational sources (and we reconfirmed with them multiple times) that we had at least until 5:45 to get on the 5:45 bus. So we're in the lobby basically ready to go at 5:40...the bus comes late and departs at 6:10. We find out IN THE BUS, that the show has started and the structure of the show has changed! Please keep in mind that Columbia was the 4th bhangra team to perform. First of all, why would they tell us to get on the 5:45 bus and start the show without us? Second, why are none of the organizers panicking about where WE are!? Our team ends up finishing getting ready IN THE BUS...it was hilarious...we started stretching, people were passing us bobby pins/safety pins, we were screaming for advil, etc...Thanks to the teams that helped out and let us off the bus quickly. As we reach the venue, we got off the bus and were told to go on stage in five minutes...we would've raised hell but had no time to do so...but we ended up getting around 15-20 mins of time (thanks to volunteer Trisha who also thought it was unfair of how badly we were being treated). After we perform we realize that the dressing rooms were sparse and overcrowded. Also, being unfamiliar with the venue, we had no idea where to go!
7) Show--> WAY TOO LONG. Emcees weren't as bad as everyone makes them out to be...KS Makhan tech difficulties were very embarrassing for both the organizers and Makhan. Our team had to guess when to go back stage (another reason why a team liaison would have been useful). Last, how did that dude end up on stage SO easily!? Also, why did it take so long for the tech people to get him off stage? I give lots of respect to J.A.T.T. for handling the situation very well and continuing on with their performance.
8 ) After show--> Told there were going to be buses...but that didn't happen. I think most teams ended up spending around $30 per cab back to the hotel (where the bus was just chillin'). Sorry to all teams if we seemed obnoxious about getting cabs (we're spoiled new yorkers and love our yellow cabs hahahaha). As for the after party, our team decided not to go for a few reasons. First, our team had an early morning flight to catch. Second, we were told that it was only free until 11:30 or sumthing like that...which meant we had less than 30 mins to eat, get ready, and be at the club and we figured we just didnt want to deal with all that. Plus, we were tired as all hell. So we chilled and celebrated our teammate's Bday at the hotel.
Overall--> I don't want to say that the organizers did not put their best effort, since we came across a few who were doing their jobs to the best of their abilities and according to what they were told. However, as a unit, this whole weekend was just too chaotic to want to deal with ever again. I also don't wanna say that that SoCal is not a legitimate competition, because that isn't entirely true either. Perhaps there were circumstances that we weren't aware of which led to this disorganization. However, what hurt the most was that some teams, including ourselves, flew ALL the way out to LA and were treated in such a manner (there I go with the whining...sorry). To an extent, the disorganization of the competition got to our heads and made our performance suffer, which was a downer as well (esp since we felt the crowd was "dead"...aka no during-show feedback at all)...
In any case, congrats to all the teams! esp to those who placed! We had lots of fun and met really nice people this weekend and hope to see you all at a comp soon! We just wish we could have enjoyed the Cali sun for just a bit longer...
These are just my two cents...please feel free to disagree or add on. And by no means do I mean to offend anyone with this post...
