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61 - Bhangra Blowout 2022 Dancer Review
27th May 2022 • The Bhangra Podcast • Umer Qureshi
00:00:00 00:36:13

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Sup y'all, on this episode of The Bhangra Podcast we talk to one of the judges from Blowout and captain that attended Blowout about their experience at the competition this year and what other competitions can learn from their experience.

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Transcripts

Sid:

Cool welcome everybody to another

Sid:

episode of the Barnardo podcast.

Sid:

This is Sid I'm here with Fujin

Sid:

from Georgia tech and Uber.

Sid:

Uh, and we are here to talk about

Sid:

blowout this past year, which is 2022.

Sid:

Uh, sort of do just a quick recap.

Sid:

We have one of the judges and one of

Sid:

the team members.

Sid:

Uh, so I just, I just want to

Sid:

talk about what the goal of this

Sid:

podcast is today.

Sid:

And th the point of this podcast is

Sid:

not to blast, blow out, uh, people.

Sid:

Are doing the best they can.

Sid:

Uh, all of us, every single person

Sid:

out there is doing the best they can.

Sid:

It's not to blast anybody past the

Sid:

committee, but it's like none of that.

Sid:

This is to take an experience and let's

Sid:

learn from this experience, future

Sid:

blog committee, you know, feature, any

Sid:

committee, take some of these experiences

Sid:

at boudin at Ooma.

Sid:

We're going to talk about, and

Sid:

let's just get better, right.

Sid:

That, that that's the whole point,

Sid:

you know, and I just want to make that

Sid:

clear out the gate, uh, that this is the

Sid:

point of our, of us making this podcast.

Sid:

Uh, so we'll get into it.

Sid:

Um, and after blow, it was done,

Sid:

uh, uh, as, as I said before, Uber

Sid:

was a judge and.

Sid:

There were, he heard a lot of things from

Sid:

the team captains.

Sid:

I'm sure the other judges did too.

Sid:

The team captains, what seemed to went

Sid:

through quite a bit, uh, when it, when

Sid:

it came to, uh, just logistically working

Sid:

with the competition and just various

Sid:

things that happened through the weekend.

Sid:

So, uh, we got put into a group me,

Sid:

uh, and you know, bunch of different

Sid:

captains that we're not going to name

Sid:

a spoon was one of them though, uh, got

Sid:

on the group me and started just saying

Sid:

like what happened?

Sid:

Right.

Sid:

And so, you know, we're like, okay.

Sid:

So if anybody wants to come on and

Sid:

talk about this, we can talk about it

Sid:

because you know, something just needs

Sid:

to be said, as we, as, as, as I said

Sid:

before, we want the circuit to be, uh,

Sid:

you know, as good as it possibly can be.

Sid:

And you can't do that.

Sid:

If you don't learn from it, if you

Sid:

don't learn from experiences and

Sid:

things like this, I promise you if

Sid:

this was 2006, There would be

Sid:

like 45 posts on BTF of just people

Sid:

complaining and just like talking about

Sid:

their experience.

Sid:

Uh, but I guess the podcast is

Sid:

all we have today.

Sid:

So, so, so be it, this is where it's

Sid:

going to happen.

Sid:

Uh, so, uh, want to start, we're just

Sid:

going to go through a quick timeline

Sid:

of the, uh, of what it was like from a

Sid:

Buddhist perspective as a captain, and

Sid:

then his perspective as a judge.

Umer:

Yeah.

Umer:

So I got a call and was told that

Umer:

I got selected to judge blowout, um,

Umer:

March like March 11th, like about

Umer:

a month before the competition, um,

Umer:

give or take like a few days and

Sid:

quick.

Sid:

What was the date of the show?

Umer:

April

Poojan:

I it was April 2nd.

Sid:

Okay.

Umer:

2nd.

Umer:

Okay.

Sid:

All right.

Sid:

So you got, you got, you got told

Sid:

to March 11 and the shows April 2nd

Umer:

Yeah.

Umer:

I.

Sid:

boudin boudin.

Sid:

When did you find out who was judging?

Poojan:

we found out who was judged.

Poojan:

I think it was whenever they

Poojan:

posted on Instagram for the public.

Poojan:

That's when we found

Sid:

Okay, got

Poojan:

not like

Umer:

So here, actually, I have

Umer:

to pull up the email cause I don't

Umer:

want to misquote anything, but once

Umer:

I got the email, I was a little

Umer:

confused about the whole process.

Umer:

They, so they sent us the old rubric

Umer:

and it's, it's clear for me when

Umer:

I was looking at this, I was like,

Umer:

the circus changed a little bit in

Umer:

terms of like rubric formats and like the

Umer:

wording of things.

Umer:

So I wanted to make sure that the rubric

Umer:

was updated and kind of up to snuff

Umer:

with how everybody else kind of looks

Umer:

at rubric nowadays.

Umer:

Um, but the way they want it to

Umer:

make changes, it was really weird.

Umer:

So in order to prevent like biases

Umer:

amongst judges, they didn't tell

Umer:

us who the other judges were prior

Umer:

to the competition.

Umer:

And then also they wanted the

Umer:

rubric changes, suggestions to be

Umer:

anonymous, I guess.

Umer:

So they asked us all to apply to

Umer:

the email with the rubric changes,

Umer:

and then they would decide what

Umer:

the changes to the rubric were.

Umer:

And then they, again, like your

Umer:

wording of the email is very vague, but

Umer:

it, it implied that we will announce

Umer:

the changes to you, the judges, and

Umer:

then also to the dancers on the pre

Umer:

comp judges call and like all at once.

Umer:

So like, I'll find out like who the

Umer:

other judges are, who the other,

Umer:

and then what the rubric is all at

Umer:

the same time.

Umer:

Well, not cool.

Umer:

Um, I will say, and like, I, I do

Umer:

want to make sure this is clear.

Umer:

Like one thing that was really, I had

Umer:

a phone call with one of the directors

Umer:

and they were very, very honest and

Umer:

very open about, um, like, like they

Umer:

basically said, one of them was like,

Umer:

basically I was like, yo, this guy

Umer:

was a DRP liaison.

Umer:

The ligate last, when they one blow

Umer:

up, that was the first blog that

Umer:

I was a part of.

Umer:

And then two years later in I'm

Umer:

director, like, I am like, I understand

Umer:

that I did a lot of learning that

Umer:

I need to do and things like that.

Umer:

We want to make this the best

Umer:

show possible.

Umer:

And so they made a lot of changes.

Umer:

Like at least, like, they were

Umer:

very, at least from my perspective,

Umer:

from the judging perspective, they

Umer:

were fairly flexible with what they were,

Umer:

uh, willing to do.

Umer:

Um, they, after that conversation,

Umer:

they just like the conversation.

Umer:

I think like a week later they're

Umer:

like, okay, we'll just like, make

Umer:

a group chat.

Umer:

We'll just like, let you all talk and

Umer:

then figure it out.

Umer:

Unfortunately, because of the

Umer:

timing we weren't able to get like.

Umer:

Judges with the director's

Umer:

call set up in time before the

Umer:

prejudges team call.

Umer:

So all the changes that were made

Umer:

were just like suggestions

Umer:

on WhatsApp.

Umer:

And it was kind of like, it was

Umer:

really like back and forth, back and

Umer:

forth, put like very asynchronous and

Umer:

things like that.

Umer:

So it was really unwell.

Umer:

Like it was really unorganized

Umer:

and like, yeah.

Umer:

So, so yeah.

Umer:

And then I think, the rubric was

Umer:

announced like on that call, like

Umer:

sometime like late March, I feel like

Umer:

the last week of March or something

Umer:

like 10 days before the competition and

Umer:

felt really bad.

Umer:

uh, it was also kind of out of our hands,

Umer:

like the changes need to see me, but

Umer:

also like, they, they, they gave us

Umer:

a call three weeks for the competition.

Umer:

Like there's not much else I could

Umer:

do in that sense, but, um, yeah,

Umer:

so that's, that's kind of just like

Umer:

some basic stuff.

Sid:

So I think, uh, you know, to not,

Sid:

to, to try to put it as, as nicely,

Sid:

but not lightly as possible is, is this

Sid:

is not ideal from a team's perspective

Sid:

to not know what the rubric or the judges

Sid:

who the judges are.

Sid:

Uh, more than two weeks away

Sid:

from the show.

Sid:

It's a Buddha.

Sid:

And I don't know when you got the

Sid:

rubric and you don't need to go through

Sid:

your email rummaging for it, but just

Sid:

knowing that you got into the show four

Sid:

weeks prior to you still didn't have.

Sid:

You know, uh, that's obviously

Sid:

that you didn't get you for four weeks

Sid:

away is way too.

Sid:

Like I would have been hollering,

Sid:

hooting and hollering the

Sid:

community and be like, where's

Sid:

the rubric at?

Sid:

Who are the judges?

Sid:

Um, and, and I looked at the

Sid:

Instagram while you guys were talking

Sid:

and March 23rd.

Sid:

So two weeks before the show,

Sid:

they announced who the judges were.

Sid:

Um, secondly, social first from a

Sid:

team's perspective, that's not ideal.

Sid:

I don't know how to prepare my team

Sid:

for whatever the rubric is and who

Sid:

the judges are.

Sid:

Uh, no matter what anybody says, um,

Sid:

the rubric dictates a lot about, you

Sid:

know, what is going to happen at

Sid:

the show period.

Sid:

I don't care who the judges are, but if,

Sid:

and if the judges aren't following

Sid:

the rubric, that's also a problem, but

Sid:

the rubric should be dictating what

Sid:

the bias of the competition is.

Sid:

And then at the same time, the judges

Sid:

are all human.

Sid:

They are their natural

Sid:

personalities.

Sid:

Uh, I mean, people do do their

Sid:

research about who should have

Sid:

specific judges.

Sid:

And how to tailor a specific moments

Sid:

of specific things.

Sid:

And I, I could talk, I could rant

Sid:

into a whole rant about that catering

Sid:

specific, you know, even if you're, even

Sid:

if you're trying to cater to a folk

Sid:

judge, and you're a, a, a modern team,

Sid:

just knowing that you have a folk

Sid:

judge on the panel changes the way

Sid:

that you prepare for that judge.

Sid:

It just, that's just how it is.

Sid:

So not knowing those things just

Sid:

isn't good from a competitive

Sid:

perspective, uh, from the judges,

Sid:

from the judges side, uh, not

Sid:

knowing who my fellow judges

Sid:

are, you know, that's that, that,

Sid:

that long away just sounds like

Sid:

something archaic at this point.

Sid:

It sounds like something that

Sid:

used to happen in 2008 where you,

Sid:

where they just used to show up.

Sid:

Probably didn't even know what the

Sid:

rubric was never talked to the teams

Sid:

before, um, Bush.

Sid:

And it just also doesn't sound like

Sid:

they had, do they have a cold call

Sid:

with the judges and the teams at all

Sid:

before the show?

Sid:

Or did that happen?

Poojan:

They did.

Poojan:

And yeah.

Poojan:

Like, I think a couple of days

Poojan:

after the rubric was revealed, but

Poojan:

yeah, I'm already,

Sid:

that happened.

Poojan:

already, we're coming into

Poojan:

the comp plate.

Poojan:

And then there was like one rule on the

Poojan:

rubric where it's like, you know, we

Poojan:

need to have seven minutes of dancing

Poojan:

and it wasn't in the red packet

Poojan:

or communicated earlier.

Poojan:

And that was like a big place where

Poojan:

we were like, oh, you know, I think

Poojan:

a lot of teams are sort of in that

Poojan:

boat where they were like, yo, um, kinda,

Sid:

put it in the packet and

Sid:

now it's yeah.

Umer:

dad was, um, Yeah.

Umer:

that was one thing that, um, that did

Umer:

like to be fairly honest, that did

Umer:

play a factor into judging.

Umer:

we just kind of like when it came

Umer:

to like time limit, like we just put

Umer:

the same time of it.

Umer:

They had in the other rubric.

Umer:

Like, I didn't really care about

Umer:

it too much, but I'm like, they're

Umer:

like, you may notice watching the videos.

Umer:

Uh, there were a lot of really long

Umer:

shares and they also started dancing

Umer:

during the share so that it was like

Umer:

active dancing, like during the share

Umer:

so that it counted towards the end.

Umer:

And, um, I know I'll be specifically

Umer:

called out.

Umer:

I think maybe I think actually GT

Umer:

specifically, they said like, Hey,

Umer:

like that share was like really long.

Umer:

And like, I didn't really like,

Umer:

love it so much.

Umer:

And then we only found out after

Umer:

the fact, like during the judges

Umer:

meeting, after the competition, it's

Umer:

like, oh Yeah, we had to, because

Umer:

that's seven minute thing where

Umer:

it was like, ah, no, that's whack.

Umer:

Yeah.

Sid:

Yeah.

Sid:

I mean, again, just, you know, not to

Sid:

distill what's the toast, the takeaway

Sid:

it's just like, give your teams enough

Sid:

time to prepare, you know, to, to

Sid:

know your judge's only two weeks away

Sid:

is, is not right.

Sid:

It's just not right.

Sid:

Uh, and number two, that not

Sid:

having a rubric.

Sid:

Uh, more than a month away is

Sid:

just not right.

Sid:

And from the judges side of

Sid:

things, you know,

Sid:

uh, we need to be, to talk about

Sid:

it, especially if you want us on

Sid:

the same page, we need to be able

Sid:

to talk about it.

Sid:

Right.

Sid:

Just saying, just saying that, okay,

Sid:

you guys just make your suggestions

Sid:

and we'll decide what, what we take.

Sid:

Well, even if I make a suggestion, the

Sid:

written word is not the spoken word.

Sid:

Right.

Sid:

And we need to talk about the

Sid:

written word so that the written

Sid:

word means the same thing to all of us.

Sid:

And then we, then we communicate that

Sid:

to the teams, which is why I need to

Sid:

have the judges meeting with the

Sid:

teams more than a month and a half

Sid:

away from the show.

Sid:

So the combination of all these things

Sid:

is why, like, you know, again, you

Sid:

could have given me that if I was

Sid:

an Uber and whoever else's shoes, you

Sid:

could have given me the rubric,

Sid:

but I would have been like, okay,

Sid:

what exactly does this mean?

Sid:

If you were telling me like, like if

Sid:

I, and especially if I, if I read it

Sid:

and I, if I don't know what exactly

Sid:

what it means, I'm going to ask

Sid:

you what it means.

Sid:

And I'm going to ask everybody else

Sid:

what it means.

Sid:

So that we're on the same page, because

Sid:

the last thing we all need is boudin

Sid:

to come into a judge's meeting.

Sid:

And I say one thing, because I

Sid:

interpreted the rubric one way

Sid:

and then Umar says another thing.

Sid:

Cause he interpreted the rubric

Sid:

another way.

Sid:

That's, that's just what you don't want.

Sid:

And that's what we should be able to

Sid:

tie as the judges, we should be to

Sid:

talk it through with each other,

Sid:

whatever conclusions we come to.

Sid:

That's great.

Sid:

And then we can write it the way we

Sid:

want it, write it.

Sid:

And we're all on the same page.

Sid:

So take away, get your judges lined up

Sid:

and done, you know, as early as humanly

Sid:

possible, like as early as humanly

Sid:

possible, I get asked to judge NDC

Sid:

in like November and the show's not till

Sid:

mid-March right.

Sid:

So, um, so show, so for actual show

Sid:

day, um, I could, I could read one

Sid:

of these quotes.

Sid:

It's just, again, in this group, me,

Sid:

I was, I was reading this stuff and I

Sid:

was just like, dang.

Sid:

Teams went through some stuff.

Sid:

And again, I told Pooja before we

Sid:

started recording, this is not the

Sid:

worst experience that someone has

Sid:

ever had on the partner circuit.

Sid:

There's no chance it's not even close.

Sid:

Like there are worse Bombardier

Sid:

experiences, but this is, but

Sid:

this isn't good.

Sid:

Uh, and, and for blowout again,

Sid:

we got it.

Sid:

We got to figure this out.

Sid:

Cause you guys are the longest and the

Sid:

most oldest show, the collegiate

Sid:

championship, you guys need to

Sid:

be here forever.

Sid:

And you know, we want you

Sid:

to be better.

Sid:

So, um, Fujin, if you want to talk

Sid:

about, um, you know, it like show

Sid:

day, uh, mixer show day, like when you

Sid:

were in DC kind at least walk us

Sid:

through some of the issues that you guys

Sid:

are running into.

Poojan:

Yeah.

Poojan:

Um, I think one of the things, uh, that

Poojan:

was like unique, I remember was

Poojan:

talking about this too, when he saw it

Poojan:

in the group chat was like liaisons

Poojan:

were like given a very specific rule.

Poojan:

It was a very good intention, but

Poojan:

like, they were just told to like, yo,

Poojan:

do not leave teams unattended under

Poojan:

any circumstance.

Poojan:

Right.

Poojan:

And like, Well-meaning rule.

Poojan:

And then apparently some of the liaisons

Poojan:

on other teams were taking it a little

Poojan:

too seriously.

Poojan:

And like some of the other teams are

Poojan:

saying like, yo, the liaisons were

Poojan:

like following us into the bathrooms

Poojan:

where the bathrooms are like next door

Poojan:

to our practice space or whatever.

Poojan:

And you know, just like some of the

Poojan:

liaisons are a lot more stickler about

Poojan:

it than our team had to deal with.

Poojan:

Our team was like a little annoying,

Poojan:

but apparently other teams had

Poojan:

to take a lot of.

Poojan:

I a lot worse than we did.

Umer:

I said, so I was talking to one

Umer:

of the board members and they swore they

Umer:

specific, they told me that some of the.

Umer:

Some person in leadership

Umer:

specifically told the teams, like, you

Umer:

need to follow them into the bathroom.

Umer:

You need to like follow them

Umer:

everywhere they go.

Umer:

Like, as like, again, probably

Umer:

well-intentioned, but I'm not really

Umer:

sure where that idea came into mind.

Umer:

So like that, that wasn't something

Umer:

like the liaisons all just like

Umer:

collectively decided to do.

Umer:

And like, that was something they

Umer:

were told to do.

Sid:

I was like, someone on board

Sid:

had a really bad experience with

Sid:

like a team or a dancer at some

Sid:

show sometime along the way.

Sid:

And they were like, don't leave

Sid:

the teams ever.

Sid:

I can't imagine what, like honest,

Sid:

I can't imagine what that experience

Sid:

is that they're telling them to

Sid:

like go into the bathroom with them.

Sid:

What I don't even know what unintended

Sid:

means, to be honest with you.

Sid:

Um, because we're all here, you know,

Sid:

all competition committees, we are

Sid:

there to dance.

Sid:

We're not here for anything else.

Sid:

All we are doing all day is preparing

Sid:

for your show and trying to put on the

Sid:

best show possible for your audience.

Sid:

So there is nothing else that we are

Sid:

doing than that.

Sid:

And, you know, bio, we will handle our

Sid:

team and because every I've been a

Sid:

captain for so long, I have plenty of

Sid:

idiots, my team, but we'll handle that.

Sid:

You don't need to worry about that,

Sid:

who follow them into the bathroom.

Umer:

To kind of go off of that.

Umer:

And this is a a anecdote that one

Umer:

of the teams told me um, so one of

Umer:

the teams was trying to get ready for

Umer:

the competition.

Umer:

And they were told they were wanting

Umer:

to warm up before the comp comp.

Umer:

But like, I think because of COVID

Umer:

restrictions, they weren't allowed to

Umer:

be like side stage a warming up, which

Umer:

understandable, like there's only

Umer:

a certain amount of people you're

Umer:

allowed, like backstay side stage.

Umer:

So to say that he can't do that.

Umer:

Um, so they want, they were just

Umer:

going to like, okay, let's just warm

Umer:

up, out front, out in front in the,

Umer:

like the lobby ish area, but okay.

Umer:

Um, So

Umer:

what happened next was they were,

Umer:

they asked as it's like, Hey, yo, can

Umer:

you like, let us know like three,

Umer:

four teens ahead of time so that

Umer:

we can go warm up and they're like,

Umer:

no, whatever, et cetera, et cetera.

Umer:

So a little bit further along, um,

Umer:

it, it's not like one or two teams

Umer:

before the, before.

Umer:

And the captain is very insistent.

Umer:

Like, listen, I'm like walking out

Umer:

the door right now with my team.

Umer:

Like, we're going to go warm up because

Umer:

we're about to go compete liaison.

Umer:

So like you have not been called

Umer:

side stage of knock.

Umer:

I've not been called backstage.

Umer:

You must watch the performances

Umer:

and sit and stay in your seats.

Umer:

Um, it got to the point where the

Umer:

liaison wa S took the props from the

Umer:

team, barricaded themselves between

Umer:

the team and the doors leading

Umer:

out into the lobby and say,

Umer:

you cannot leave.

Umer:

And so this just team, unfortunately

Umer:

I have to dance.

Umer:

Which sucks.

Umer:

And, uh, talking to a board member

Umer:

asking like about that was like,

Umer:

what the heck was that about?

Umer:

And apparently they were specifically

Umer:

told, barricade yourself in front of

Umer:

the door to not let anybody, any team

Umer:

leave the auditorium because you have to

Umer:

watch all, they were insistent upon the

Umer:

teams watching all the performances.

Umer:

Um, but Yeah.

Umer:

that was, again, all that.

Umer:

I'll be honest.

Umer:

I'm not really sure where the intention

Umer:

was or where, what the idea behind

Umer:

that was, but.

Umer:

Takeaway from that story.

Umer:

If you are, if you're a team

Umer:

one, you do, don't do not make the

Umer:

dancers, watch all performances.

Umer:

If they don't want to, like, if they

Umer:

get psyched out, let them do what

Umer:

they want to do to provide some space.

Umer:

Even if it is just like a lobby out

Umer:

front or like, I don't know, some,

Umer:

some kind of like stairwells something

Umer:

where they can just kind of like

Umer:

hop in place or do something to kind

Umer:

of warm up, provide some kind of space

Umer:

to warm up right before they go,

Umer:

like, like 2, 3, 4 performance ahead of

Umer:

time because dancing cold is the worst.

Umer:

Yeah.

Sid:

I, I have, I'm not going to name

Sid:

names, but there are other teams

Sid:

that have competing as that when told,

Sid:

um, you know, to be forced to watch the

Sid:

show, they said, we will not like we do

Sid:

not watch the show.

Sid:

Like they do not watch anything.

Sid:

Like this, this team does not

Sid:

watch anybody.

Sid:

And I remember the committee being

Sid:

saying, well, you have to here.

Sid:

And the, the, the coach of the team

Sid:

was like, we will not watch the show.

Sid:

Like I promise.

Sid:

She said to her, I promise you.

Sid:

You tell me what time we need to

Sid:

be side stage.

Sid:

We will be side stage.

Sid:

You will have no problem.

Sid:

We will dance.

Sid:

We will perform.

Sid:

Everything will be good.

Sid:

We can get ready of the hotel.

Sid:

We'll hang out at the hotel.

Sid:

We'll get warmed with hotel.

Sid:

I'll drive everybody here at whatever

Sid:

time you say some 55, we'll be here.

Sid:

7 55.

Sid:

And the, in the, the golden

Sid:

know what to do.

Sid:

And that's, we're all

Sid:

competitors here.

Sid:

We need, we all need to be in

Sid:

our own flow.

Sid:

Right?

Sid:

We all need, we all have our own

Sid:

ways of warming up.

Sid:

And especially like, this is,

Sid:

this is way too high intensity.

Sid:

To allow dancers to only like five

Sid:

minutes to warm up.

Sid:

So yeah, that's, that's not good.

Sid:

Don't do that to dancers that,

Sid:

that ruins the show experience.

Umer:

Oh, so one thing I did want to

Umer:

ask specifically, so we were told by some

Umer:

of the other, other teams that they

Umer:

were specifically asked, like, Hey,

Umer:

we need a full video of your routine.

Umer:

Three to four weeks ahead of time.

Umer:

And any day it was late, it was

Umer:

a $20 late fee.

Umer:

Um, why, what, like, what was,

Umer:

what was, what was that all about?

Poojan:

So I believe in the red packet,

Poojan:

they were saying that that was in

Poojan:

the event that the comp went virtual

Poojan:

and you know, I get it in that case,

Poojan:

you need a video, not really sure why

Poojan:

you need a video one month in advance.

Poojan:

Um, A lot can change to your

Poojan:

set in one month, as we all know.

Poojan:

Um, I think our team really just ended

Poojan:

up, like, we just took one of our old

Poojan:

performances and just submitted it.

Poojan:

Like, we're not going to rush it,

Poojan:

make a new video for this deadline.

Poojan:

And we just prayed today.

Poojan:

It didn't go virtual.

Poojan:

And thankfully it didn't, but it's

Poojan:

like a good idea, but it's like, you

Poojan:

know, why, why do we need to do that?

Poojan:

Like a month in advance?

Poojan:

So I'm not really sure the

Poojan:

timing wise, but.

Sid:

And Putin.

Sid:

Can you speak to the, um, there's one

Sid:

piece of all of this that, uh, that we

Sid:

haven't touched upon yet is the pictures,

Sid:

the requirement of pictures or

Sid:

something, getting here, getting you

Sid:

to spend on that.

Poojan:

I think first of all, um,

Poojan:

like kind of related to the pictures,

Poojan:

just like in general, scheduling

Poojan:

on Saturday, like tech time itself.

Poojan:

Ended pretty late.

Poojan:

Like I think our team got out of like

Poojan:

the stage rehearsal, tech time part.

Poojan:

I think we were done with that

Poojan:

at like 3:30 PM, which is like,

Umer:

what, what was your,

Poojan:

I was seventh.

Poojan:

So second to last and the order and

Poojan:

like, it would make sense, like

Poojan:

if it's like a 16 team fusion bug

Poojan:

or a comp, like maybe it would make

Poojan:

sense, but like we have eight teams,

Poojan:

two exhibitions.

Poojan:

At that point is just like, you know,

Poojan:

like, do we really need to drag it

Poojan:

out of the song?

Poojan:

Like, could we not just push everything

Poojan:

up a little bit?

Poojan:

You know, that it was like the first

Poojan:

weird thing, like tech time ran super

Poojan:

late for eighteens to ex exhibitions.

Poojan:

But after that, it was like, it was

Poojan:

like at 6:00 PM, they were telling

Poojan:

us like, Hey, we have this like

Poojan:

teen pictures going on and then we're

Poojan:

going to be, it's going to be like a

Poojan:

mini team, social where you go and

Poojan:

like talk to other teams and then.

Umer:

So they bait.

Umer:

So basically what they were telling

Umer:

you to do was that at six, 10, they

Umer:

wanted you fully ready, bugs, tied,

Umer:

everything ready to go so that you

Umer:

could take this photo at six, 10.

Umer:

And then go and sit in the audience for

Umer:

the entire show for,

Poojan:

yeah,

Umer:

was it, did they give

Umer:

you a reason why the picture

Umer:

was necessary?

Poojan:

no, I mean, it's always like,

Poojan:

oh, we need to take team pictures.

Poojan:

I don't remember the last time our

Poojan:

team has made a team picture that these

Poojan:

concert choir, like, I'll be honest.

Poojan:

I don't remember.

Poojan:

And when we do make it, I don't

Poojan:

even know where they get posted.

Poojan:

So, you know, like, Yeah.

Umer:

that's fair.

Umer:

Like, where, where are these?

Umer:

Where are these T pictures?

Umer:

You're

Poojan:

I guess in my one Facebook

Poojan:

group, like hidden away, like

Poojan:

nobody's going to see it anyways.

Poojan:

Like, but yeah, it was originally,

Poojan:

everybody needs to be ready, all

Poojan:

the plugs done.

Poojan:

And we're like, like, logistically,

Poojan:

that's not going to work out.

Poojan:

Like, this is my first year learning

Poojan:

how to time anyway.

Poojan:

So, you know, I'm a little rusty still

Poojan:

learning the road.

Poojan:

And, you know, it was just like,

Poojan:

we were going back and forth.

Umer:

Yeah, I like, four.

Umer:

So for any T for any comps out there,

Umer:

Um, maybe not who haven't danced, who

Umer:

have a desk bunker competitively,

Umer:

or haven't been to a, for many

Umer:

competitions.

Umer:

It takes about 15 minutes to.

Umer:

Like if you're good, like if you're like

Umer:

really solid and like, got that shit

Umer:

smack, like pat down, like yeah.

Umer:

It's just about 15 minutes of type bug.

Umer:

Um, it can be, and realistically, now

Umer:

you're going to have retired like 2, 3, 4

Umer:

bugs, like depending on how many bugs

Umer:

are the tie, like it takes a long time.

Umer:

And so, and that's just like one

Umer:

piece then you gotta, you gotta

Umer:

tie the formula and you gotta do

Umer:

all this, all that pinning everything.

Umer:

It takes a long time to get one like

Umer:

one dancer ready.

Umer:

So realistically, if your team is out

Umer:

at three 30 and you tell them, okay, You

Umer:

have three hours, right after you just

Umer:

danced to eat lunch, go back and forth

Umer:

from the hotel, come back, tile,

Umer:

the bugs and six it's not feasible.

Umer:

And also it's just a picture.

Umer:

It's not that deep, like first and

Umer:

foremost, like it's like, is your comp

Umer:

going to make or break its social

Umer:

media presence?

Umer:

APAC team is not there.

Umer:

You have the video, you can like get

Umer:

pictures side stage on stage.

Umer:

Things like that.

Umer:

This is probably looks way cooler

Umer:

than like a post, like, you know,

Umer:

but, um, point being competitions,

Umer:

fuck your pictures.

Umer:

I it's like, it's not that big deep.

Umer:

And if you really need it, just

Umer:

like get them side stage and be

Umer:

like peachy, like cheese them right

Umer:

before they get on.

Umer:

Like, if that's what you really

Umer:

need, but.

Umer:

work with the teams, like please like

Umer:

just like listen to teams outlet, listen

Umer:

to what they want.

Sid:

Yeah.

Sid:

Also, I'll say this, uh, I, I'm

Sid:

not gonna say screw your pictures.

Sid:

Cause if you really want your pictures,

Sid:

then I think that you need to build in

Sid:

enough time for the teams to get ready,

Sid:

to be able to take their pictures and

Sid:

then be ready to deal with the deal

Sid:

with whichever team is going to be like,

Sid:

listen, we're going last in the show.

Sid:

We're not going to be ready at

Sid:

five o'clock or whatever it is.

Sid:

Right.

Sid:

Uh, you gotta be ready to just

Sid:

deal with that.

Umer:

Um, one thing, one thing that was

Umer:

brought up that was definitely

Umer:

even like the play probably a really

Umer:

big part in judging deliberations.

Umer:

Was the backdrop.

Umer:

Uh, what exactly were you told when

Umer:

exactly were you told about all

Umer:

these details about the backdrop and.

Poojan:

If I remember backdrop

Poojan:

was like, every calm does this,

Poojan:

where it's like, they have this like,

Poojan:

$15,000 screen.

Poojan:

And I'm just like, why can you just

Poojan:

move it a little bit further back?

Poojan:

And then we'd be chilling,

Poojan:

but whatever.

Poojan:

I mean, like, but you know, they

Poojan:

told us, I believe with the CAD, they

Poojan:

have like captain's meeting after mixer

Poojan:

where they usually give us a schedule

Poojan:

and stuff, but I think it was then

Poojan:

where they're like, yo, you know, really

Poojan:

make sure that your team doesn't touch

Poojan:

the backdrop or make sure they really

Poojan:

don't do that.

Poojan:

They really emphasize it there

Poojan:

with saying, okay, Um, yeah, that's

Poojan:

not like the first comedy to do so

Poojan:

they get Nashville.

Poojan:

Our team went there and they had similar

Poojan:

rules there, but it was like at

Poojan:

the cabins meeting on Friday, they

Poojan:

told us about it.

Poojan:

And you know, so some teams, I don't

Poojan:

think my team had much of an issue

Poojan:

with it, how the teams obviously

Poojan:

did, but yeah.

Umer:

Um, so one thing that we were,

Umer:

um, like some of the teams told us

Umer:

was that, uh, the clarity and about

Umer:

what was going to happen to them as

Umer:

a team, if they had the backdrop

Umer:

was very unclear.

Umer:

Um, at first they were just kind of

Umer:

saying like, kind of what you told me,

Umer:

what you just said was like, just don't

Umer:

hit it, please, please, please.

Umer:

Don't hate.

Umer:

It's very expensive.

Umer:

And then at one point, uh, one

Umer:

team was burning.

Umer:

During their tech time and by

Umer:

somebody on, on leadership saying

Umer:

like, like screaming at them for like

Umer:

four minutes, say like, do not

Umer:

talk to backdrop, we're going to

Umer:

find you $30,000.

Umer:

And I think that like $30,000 number

Umer:

kind of spread to like everybody

Umer:

else, because every single book, every

Umer:

single team that came in was just

Umer:

like, Hey, so I know we hit this

Umer:

backdrop judges, can you like help

Umer:

us get out of this?

Umer:

Fine.

Umer:

I was like, I don't know what

Umer:

to tell you.

Umer:

I'm so sorry.

Umer:

Um, that's like, that's like

Umer:

super stressful.

Umer:

I get it.

Umer:

Like, it's a very expensive thing,

Umer:

things like that.

Umer:

But like, I don't know.

Umer:

Um, they also didn't really tell us what

Umer:

was going on with the backdrop in

Umer:

terms of judging.

Umer:

Like they just kind of told us

Umer:

like, Hey, just letting you know,

Umer:

this is back big backdrop thing.

Umer:

Uh, we need you to take off points.

Umer:

Um, and we kind of decided at the

Umer:

judges meeting after talking to them that

Umer:

we'll just take off three, but that's

Umer:

one thing also, you mentioned that

Umer:

after the team.

Umer:

As a mixer, what there was some

Umer:

issues with getting your schedules

Poojan:

Yeah.

Poojan:

Um,

Umer:

apparently like they y'all

Umer:

only got your, your schedules,

Umer:

like 2:00 AM after y'all complaints

Umer:

saying like, hi, I'd be all.

Umer:

Don't want to show up at 6:00 AM.

Umer:

Can you just give us our

Poojan:

Yeah.

Poojan:

Unlocked, unlocked a hidden

Umer:

Yeah.

Umer:

If you want to, if yeah, Yeah.

Umer:

Go for It

Poojan:

but yeah, originally for tech

Poojan:

time there, like, it was really weird

Poojan:

cause they're like, Hey, all teams need

Poojan:

to be at like the practice center.

Poojan:

Like there's like a one building

Poojan:

right next to the venue where all the

Poojan:

dressing rooms were.

Poojan:

It was literally right across

Poojan:

the street, but they're like, all

Poojan:

teams need to be there at 9:30 AM.

Poojan:

And we're just like, especially the teams

Poojan:

later at tech time are like, why are

Poojan:

we showing up nine 30 just to like

Poojan:

sit in the dressing room for like four

Poojan:

hours, three hours?

Poojan:

Like, you know, we all told them that.

Poojan:

I think I was the first one.

Poojan:

I was like, I leave the rules a little.

Poojan:

I think you should give it a little

Poojan:

bit more leniency for the later teams.

Poojan:

But.

Poojan:

That was like the first weird rule

Poojan:

that they said at the meeting.

Poojan:

And like, we were all just sort of

Poojan:

like, yeah, we hear you, right.

Poojan:

Like we all got to be there at

Poojan:

nine 30, even if we're like eighth

Poojan:

in show order.

Poojan:

And then, you know, eventually

Poojan:

they changed that.

Poojan:

And then they sat on the schedule

Poojan:

really late because of that.

Poojan:

I don't know if it was like as

Poojan:

late as 2:00 AM, but it was pretty

Poojan:

late, you know?

Umer:

Um, I did want to go over

Umer:

some weirdness with the rules

Umer:

for judging too.

Umer:

So like I said, the wheat, the

Umer:

whole thing, but eventually they

Umer:

kind of backed down and said like,

Umer:

okay, it's fine.

Umer:

It's okay.

Umer:

We can just, uh, like whatever,

Umer:

however you want to adjust

Umer:

the rubric and things like that.

Umer:

Um, It was very panel, at least

Umer:

from my perspective that they were very

Umer:

caught up in like how blow has been

Umer:

done in the past, what the rules

Umer:

were in the past.

Umer:

And therefore, like, that is what this

Umer:

is going to be like, it's been done this

Umer:

way for a long time.

Umer:

So therefore we're going to continue

Umer:

to do it this way.

Umer:

Um, said I don't, I think, I don't

Umer:

know if, like, I know you've judged

Umer:

bloat a few times in the past, and I

Umer:

don't know how you even remotely dealt

Umer:

with like a lot of this stuff, because

Umer:

like there's like these very, like,

Umer:

very complicated rules about like

Umer:

swapping teams in placings and

Umer:

things like that.

Umer:

They wanted.

Umer:

All right.

Umer:

So let's start with, they're

Umer:

very weirdly.

Umer:

Like we want you all to do paper judging

Umer:

and they will all, you want, write

Umer:

it, write it down.

Umer:

I said, It got to a point where like,

Umer:

they were so adamant about paper judging.

Umer:

I was like, I'll just drop out

Umer:

right now, man.

Umer:

Like, I, like, I haven't booked

Umer:

my ticket yet.

Umer:

Like, it's fine.

Umer:

Like I will, I will just drop out.

Umer:

They came back to me the next

Umer:

day and were like, okay, fine.

Umer:

You can like, you can judge with

Umer:

your computer.

Umer:

Um, and it was like weird things like

Umer:

that just constantly throughout where

Umer:

they were just like, we need you to

Umer:

follow exactly what this rule book says.

Umer:

And because apparently this

Umer:

is always the way it was done, which

Umer:

I was like false.

Umer:

I know sitting there for judges

Umer:

with paper laws like that, like

Umer:

there's no way he's ever done that.

Umer:

And there's no way on Kush

Umer:

was doing that.

Umer:

There was no way uncle, she

Umer:

was falling any of these rules.

Umer:

He's just gonna like yell at you

Umer:

and tell you, shut the fuck up.

Sid:

I, I will say that I will

Sid:

say this just, just to back up a

Sid:

second, there were no rules for us.

Sid:

It was, how should we, how should

Sid:

we structure the rubric?

Sid:

You guys tell us based on what,

Sid:

you know, what we want the rubric

Sid:

to look like, and then you guys write

Sid:

it out and make, make the points.

Sid:

So they give us the freedom to do that.

Sid:

And, uh, you know, we, we also had

Sid:

the freedom to decide what the

Sid:

movement and swaps were looked like.

Sid:

We, we, we all decided you can't

Sid:

move more than one placing.

Sid:

I think, I mean, I've never been

Sid:

a part of a, of a panel where I could

Sid:

move someone from like one to four or

Sid:

something ridiculous like that.

Sid:

Um, uh, You know, they gave it,

Sid:

there was nothing, there was never a

Sid:

moment where I've.

Sid:

I mean, like there were, there were

Sid:

problems with all with other blowouts

Sid:

and that's fine.

Sid:

Um, nothing like this though.

Sid:

Nothing like with this whole, you

Sid:

have to write it right on hand.

Sid:

You have to, you know, do

Sid:

this or do that.

Sid:

Like, it was very much, you guys

Sid:

are, the judges were trusted.

Sid:

You know, we were bringing you here

Sid:

for a reason.

Sid:

Tell us what we need to do.

Sid:

So you guys can judge this

Umer:

Yeah.

Umer:

And I think end of the day, like,

Umer:

again, I want to give like blood

Umer:

credit end of the day, like they

Umer:

did acquiesce to like me bitching.

Umer:

Um, but like, it, it was, it was annoying

Umer:

because they're like, no, like,

Umer:

like this whole swapping things.

Umer:

But again, a lot of rules of judging

Umer:

a lot of things like that that were

Umer:

really annoying and like, listen,

Umer:

take away comps.

Umer:

You are bringing on teams.

Umer:

You, I mean, say you bring on

Umer:

judges, they dance for a long time.

Umer:

They know what they're doing.

Umer:

They've prob especially for

Umer:

blowup, like they've judged before this

Umer:

isn't the first time they know

Umer:

what they're doing.

Umer:

Let them judge the way they

Umer:

want to judge.

Umer:

Obviously like maybe just have a person

Umer:

in a room to just kind of like, make

Umer:

sure notion Nanigans and are happening.

Umer:

But like, other than that, like let

Umer:

them do their job.

Umer:

Like that's what you brought them in for.

Umer:

Also pay for their hotel and their pay

Umer:

for their hotel and pay for the travel.

Umer:

Like that's like bare minimum.

Sid:

Did did, did block

Umer:

They, at first they didn't,

Umer:

and then we're just like, you're

Umer:

paying for this.

Umer:

Right.

Umer:

And they're just like, oh, we didn't

Umer:

think about that.

Umer:

Let me go back.

Umer:

And then like, okay.

Umer:

Yeah.

Umer:

we'll pay for it.

Umer:

But like, that was like a thing that

Umer:

was like, that was my first thing.

Umer:

I was like, ah, this is this isn't

Umer:

if there are any issues, but yeah,

Sid:

Uh, and you know, I think that,

Sid:

uh, it's just, uh, w we said everything.

Sid:

I mean, in, in, in the BTF, uh,

Sid:

Facebook group, it's whoever proves

Sid:

that anymore.

Sid:

There's a whole list.

Sid:

There's a whole thread of it's

Sid:

in the files of like how to run

Sid:

a competition, read that through

Sid:

multiple people have, have

Sid:

contributed to that.

Sid:

And I'm sure, you know, more, I

Sid:

encourage anybody listening to this.

Sid:

If you go read that contributed to

Sid:

contribute to that yourself as well.

Sid:

Uh, talking to add in adding something

Sid:

that you think that would help

Sid:

a competition be better and they

Sid:

competitions, there's your,

Sid:

there's your manual almost right.

Sid:

Of just what to do and how to do it.

Sid:

Uh, and just follow that and you're

Sid:

gonna throw a grip.

Sid:

You're gonna throw at least a show

Sid:

that teams want to come back to.

Sid:

Uh, and I, it doesn't sound

Sid:

like based on this group, me, that,

Sid:

that we, you know, we read through

Sid:

these messages, no one seemed to

Sid:

want to, you know, come back except

Sid:

for the fact that it's a collegiate

Sid:

championship.

Sid:

And, you know, I don't think

Sid:

blood is doing a rebranding or

Sid:

anything like that.

Sid:

It's just get it together

Sid:

for next year.

Sid:

Just write some standard operating

Sid:

procedures, reach out to, you know,

Sid:

old blog, uh, you know, chairs, you

Sid:

know, 20 16, 20 17 in my opinion

Sid:

were great.

Sid:

I can't speak for anything after that.

Sid:

Um, but if you want to reach out

Sid:

to them, reach out to them, uh, read

Sid:

that, read that thing and BTF, and

Sid:

you'll know, you'll know what to do.

Sid:

You will know what to do, and

Sid:

if you still have.

Sid:

I don't know, just reach out, reach out

Sid:

to other, other old, older folks on the

Sid:

circuit, people in your area to help

Sid:

you like, just get some mentorship.

Sid:

What we want you to have a great

Sid:

show to all the judges, want you to

Sid:

a great show that teams want you to

Sid:

have a great show.

Sid:

Everybody wants to show to be sold out.

Sid:

Everybody wants all the teams

Sid:

do really well.

Sid:

Like everybody wants the best.

Sid:

Right.

Sid:

But if it's just going to be this

Sid:

like, well, you have to do this,

Sid:

you can't do that.

Sid:

It's just not going to, you're not

Sid:

going to get the ball rolling in the

Sid:

right direction.

Sid:

So that's the end of my rant.

Umer:

Thank you.

Umer:

Bogin for coming on just here,

Poojan:

it.

Poojan:

And I just

Poojan:

think that, you know, at the end of

Poojan:

the day it was our team's first year

Poojan:

at blah this year, and then it was

Poojan:

still a great time.

Poojan:

I mean, think it's our first year.

Poojan:

So we're always going to look back

Poojan:

on it a little bit fondly, but.

Poojan:

And I think in general, you know,

Poojan:

any other team, my position is up.

Poojan:

They can have better first time

Poojan:

or Bette better.

Poojan:

15 time.

Poojan:

Doesn't matter.

Poojan:

Like we should all just strive for a

Poojan:

better experience as a whole.

Umer:

Yeah.

Umer:

Yeah, absolutely.

Umer:

Absolutely.

Sid:

Thank you for listening to

Sid:

another episode of the Bunger podcast.

Sid:

Uh, subscribe to us wherever you listen

Sid:

to podcasts, apple podcasts, Stitcher,

Sid:

Spotify, wherever it is it'll make, whom

Sid:

are happy, other than they'll make

Sid:

them more happy as if you give it a

Sid:

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Sid:

uh, wherever you can like, and

Sid:

comment on us.

Sid:

We don't know where you

Umer:

cute.

Sid:

in like comment

Sid:

podcasts on YouTube.

Sid:

I'm sorry.

Sid:

On YouTube.

Sid:

Going into like button on YouTube

Sid:

for Uber and make a super happy.

Sid:

Also join the discord.

Sid:

Uber is always dropping stuff

Sid:

early in the discord drop a means of

Sid:

the discord, drop an extra videos

Sid:

in discord.

Sid:

If you joined the discard you

Sid:

see at first and, and there's also

Sid:

some pretty juicy conversations that

Sid:

ended up happening and it just discord,

Sid:

uh, it seems to be where a lot of the

Sid:

chatter is in the Bunger community,

Sid:

uh, from a community perspective.

Sid:

One-on-one is ramp perspective.

Sid:

So do join the discord.

Sid:

And with that, that's all we

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