Home away from home
This is the official website of the Cambrian Indian Community, a CA based non-profit organization serving the needs of the Indian Community in Cambrian Park neighborhood of California.
It is here. The third annual CIC Discover India will be held on March 19th from 1:15 pm to 4:15 pm at the Vineland Public Library in San Jose, CA. This year promises new rounds, new teams and a ton of opportunities to make new friends. If you are interested in participating, send an email here. Or if you just want to watch folks participate and have fun, come on over.
November 12, 2016
The CIC Diwali Dhamaka 2016 Organizing Team
Dear friends and patrons of the Cambrian Indian Community,
Welcome to our biggest event of the year, CIC Diwali Dhamaka 2016 presented by LSJ Financial. Our team of coordinators, choreographers and volunteers have put together a great event for you. Organizing an event with over 400 people expected to be in attendance, poses unique challenges for a completely volunteer-driven organization. To make this event an enjoyable experience for everyone involved, we have put together a set of guidelines. We kindly request that you read this document in its entirety to help you know what to expect at the event. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Team RAG and we’ll ensure they are answered promptly.
Date: Saturday, Nov 12th, 2016
Time: 2:00pm - 5:30pm.Check-in closes at 1:50 pm. Participant/Choreographer check-in at 1:00PM
Venue: Orchard City Banquet Hall, Campbell Community Center, 1 W Campbell Ave, Campbell, CA 95008.
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/A2qf2qdih8K2
Look for signs to the Orchard City Banquet Hall to guide you to the correct parking area/spots.
Additional free parking is available at the below locations nearby:
2nd Street Parking Garage, on Civic Center Dr, between 2nd & 3rd St. (~8 min walk) - https://goo.gl/maps/UmUBqTx6gW52
Home Church @ Winchester & Latimer (~7 min walk) - https://goo.gl/maps/33t9dyRtWnQ2
If you haven’t received your tickets yet, please register yourself at the reception.
If you already have Khabar/tickets, please present your tickets at the reception.
Note: Registration closes at 1:50PM and tickets are necessary to get your snack boxes.
If you have signed up for childcare, you should have already received a separate email with details. If not, please reach out to us.
This is the planned event timing. (The sequence of events will be available in the Cambrian Khabar that will be distributed during registration on the day of the event (you would have already received it if you are a participant or volunteer):
2:00 - 3:15 pm: Child performances
Snack break
4:15 - 5:30 pm: Adult performances
Given the size of the audience, we will not be able to move chairs. Also, the aisle spaces are necessary for easy movement of people.
We are unable to reserve or hold specific seats for you in the auditorium. Let us be fair to people who take the effort to come early please.
We request you to kindly refrain from leaving your seat in the middle of the program. Also, please silence your phones. The participants (kids & adults alike) have put in a lot of effort into the program and this is the least we could do as a community to appreciate that.
In the rare situation when you have to step out, please note that you’ll be allowed to re-enter only during program transitions (for the same reasons as above)
Please keep small children seated with you at all times and do not let kids run around in the lobby area or inside the auditorium.
The first five rows of seating in front of the stage are reserved for participants, choreographers and photographers. Keeping this area clear for them will ensure a smooth and trouble free flow of events.
We are having a talented and dedicated team of volunteer photographers and videographers covering the event in many ways and angles possible. In addition, we have reserved one row of seats in the front for parents to come forward and take their own pictures/videos. Since seating is limited in this special row, we request parents to only come forward and occupy these seats for their child or spouse’s performance and to vacate the seat at the conclusion of the performance. Please do not stand up to take pictures while seated in the front row. If you need to, you may do so from the sides of the hall by the windows - in which case please position yourself there at the beginning of the program and move out of the area at its conclusion. Please be proactive and quick in moving in and out of this area so that all parents can have a chance to capture pictures/videos of their children. In addition, please refrain from moving in and out of this row during performances. We would like to keep all the aisles and walkways clear at all times.
Snacks will be provided during the snack break. Please hold on to your tickets!. Ushers will be present to guide you to the rear of the auditorium where food boxes will be distributed. The snack is vegetarian and dairy free. Please reach out to food volunteers (during the break) if you have specific questions about the ingredients. Chai for adults and lemonade/other cold beverage for kids will also be available at this time. A water station will be available inside the auditorium for the entire duration of the event (2:00 - 5:30 pm). Please follow the instructions posted on the auditorium walls to properly dispose of leftovers and food boxes.
Who to Approach for Help
Floor coordinators wearing a black sash with the words “Volunteer, Cambrian Indian Community” in green neon color will be present inside the auditorium. Please reach out to them at any time for any concerns or questions.
Event Sponsors
Our sponsors will be positioned in the lobby area. Please make it a point to visit them to know what products and services they offer. Without their generous sponsorship, the event would have been impossible to pull off.
Again, please do not let kids run around in the lobby area or inside the auditorium.
Restrooms and water fountains are available right outside the main hall in the lobby area. Please refrain from using the restrooms inside the hall - this will be used as a changing room for participants.
Snack Box Contents:
Vada pav
Upma
Chutney
Mysore pak (sweet)
We are kicking off the 2016 CIC Diwali Dhamaka with this blog post. Read on to learn more about our largest event of the year and how you can be a part of it.
Read MoreParticipant and Audience FAQ and game rules for CIC Discover India 2016.
Read MoreWish you all a wonderful 2016. Hope the year has been treating you well till date. As always, CIC is busy trying to put together an interesting slate of events for you to participate, meet new people, and most of all, have fun. To that effect, we are happy to announce our very first event of 2016, the second annual CIC Discover India. The first ever Discover India Quiz was held in 2015 and the response was very enthusiastic. Participants seemed to enjoy the event as much as I, the quizmaster had in putting the event together. So, it made sense to continue the tradition and organize one for 2016.
The community has a lot of new faces and this is an event designed to bring new people together and get them to meet some of the folks who have lived in the community for a long time. As many participants from last year would attest, this is the ideal icebreaker event. You can partner up with someone you know or use the opportunity to meet someone new. By the time the event comes to a close, rest assured, you would have made a lot of new friends.
Name of the Event: Discover India Quiz 2016
When: 2 pm - 5 pm, Sunday,February 21st, 2016.
Where: Vineland Public Library, 1450 Blossom Hill Road, San Jose, CA 95118
Sign up: Click here to fill the form.
Early Sign up deadline: Jan 31 (comes with some perks)
Late Sign up deadline: Feb 11
Walk ins: Only if we are short of teams. Strongly urge people to sign up early.
For F.A.Qs on signups and teams, see below.
What is Discover India?
Discover India is our very own quiz and trivia event. This is an opportunity for all the smart folks of Cambrian to match their wits against one another. Worry not, this is not a hardcore quiz. No prior preparation is required. It is a trivia event and has something for everyone. I wrote an FAQ for the event for last year and much of the spirit of it holds true. You can read that here. If you are unsure if this is an event for you, reach out to me and I will connect you with one of last year’s participants. You can talk to them and make your decision. There will be a lot more information I will provides we get closer to the event with regards to rounds, points, etc.
Last year, we had prizes and the wonderful community strongly urged me to do away with them because they wanted to just have fun. So to that effect, based on feedback from last year, there will be no competitive prizes.
There will be rounds of jeopardy style questions, a few rounds of audio and video questions from movies and stuff, dedicated cricket and sports rounds, 20 questions, dumb charades and more. Most importantly, all questions will be about India or Indians. So it will be an awesome opportunity to learn more about your country. I can assure you that you will walk away learning something new about India.
This is a team event. Each team will be composed of 3-5 adult members and up to 2 child members (9 or above). If you cant form a team in advance, worry not. We will get you into a team at the venue. The key is to sign up in advance. Families can participate together as teams or join hands with friends. We'll provide a detailed FAQ about the rounds and specifics, a week before the event.
How is Discover India 2016 different from the one last year?
This is one question I wanted to address for those who participated or heard about the event from last year.
What is this early sign up you are talking about?
To incentivize people to sign up early (and help me prepare appropriately), there will be some bonus perks. These perks will only be revealed after the Early signup deadline passes. Suffice to say, it will give these teams a slight edge going into the event. Is that reason enough?
Do I have to prepare?
No, no, and no. Just sign up, meet new and old friends and have a lot of fun.
If you want to warm up here are some audio quizzes I(Prabhu) did a while back.
Links:
Indian TV ads Quiz - Part 1, Part 2
Trivia: The image on the blog post link and on the top of this page is my rough rendering of the Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar temple which turned 1000 in 2010. No kidding! Know more about your country. Sign up for Discover India today. You lose nothing but you gain a lot.
Straight from the lions mouth (or keyboard)- how did the CIC Diwali 2015 event come to be. A humbling experience in friendship and community building.
Read MoreHere they are- the CIC Diwali2015 event day guidelines. Do take a few minutes to read them so you have a pleasurable experience on the 7th.
Read MoreIntroducing our Gold Sponsor for CIC Diwali 2015- Trinethra Indian Supermarkets.
Read MorePresenting one of our Gold Sponsors for CIC Diwali 2015 - LSJFinancial.
Read MoreIt gives me immense pleasure in presenting to you, the Grand Sponsor for the CIC Diwali 2015, BB Travel Experts. We are incredibly thankful for BBTES for being our Grand Sponsor for this year. As the Grand Sponsor, they get the naming rights for the event. So you will henceforth see me addressing the event as "CIC Diwali 2015 presented by BB Travel Experts" Before I talk about BBTES, let me write briefly about how this sponsorship came about.
Earlier this year, on behalf of CIC, I conducted an event, Discover India. This quiz and trivia event on all things India was the first of its kind for the community. I was looking for a partner who aligned closely with the theme of the event, namely, India and exploring the wonderful things about our home. Thanks to Nekzad, I was introduced to the wonderful Bomi Patel of BB Travel Experts. Over the next few days, Bomi and I realized that we have much to offer each other. The Cambrian Indian Community needs a travel partner who understands its needs and Bomi wanted to offer his services to the local community.
When we decided to open up sponsorships for Diwali 2015,I reached out to some of our past sponsors, BBTES included. I sent an introductory email and about 15 minutes later, Bomi responded saying he wanted to be the Grand Sponsor. This gesture speaks volumes of how much he values our community and our partnership.
Before I tell you all about what BBTES offers, here is my request. Consider them for your next trip to India or anywhere else for that matter or when your family is making a trip here. Bomi and BBTES need the support of a vibrant community like ours and we need partners like him to invest in our activities and community. A partnership happens when there is mutual benefit. Just as we are thrilled to have BBTES sponsor our event, we sincerely hope he that the community will thrill with our response by allowing them to take care of our travel needs.
About BB Travel Experts:
BB Travel Experts (BBTES) is full service travel agency with airlines ticketing with live agents, Cruise, Hotels, Car Rental, Tour and Travels.
With over 14 years of total experience in the industry, BBTES is fully accredited travel agency by IATAN and CLIA, Industry regulators of Airlines and Cruise industries respectively. BBTES is also registered as Seller of Travel with California Department of Justice.
BBTES is your Ultimate point of contact for all your travel needs. Including last minute or emergency travel. BBTES also offers ticketing from India to USA and Canada, payable in INR or US$ and also offers Travel Insurance which include Medical and Dental services while in USA and Canada at a low price of travel insurance.
This is what I wrote about them 6 months ago.
We are excited to open up the CIC Diwali 2015 event for participant sign ups. This is an incredibly popular affair and we expect sign ups to get all taken up in a day or two. So please consider signing up asap.
Here is the link to the form for signing up for events:
http://goo.gl/forms/6K3sdbZHNd
Look forward to seeing your entries soon.
CIC Diwali 2015 needs you. That about sums this post. Here is why.
CIC Diwali 2015 is off the races and we need your help to make it a grand event. If you think you have the chops to help coordinate specific activities during the event- please sign up today.
For those new to CIC Diwali, this is our biggest event of the year. We had close to 400 people last year and the event always sells out well in advance. It is a really big deal.
Who are we looking for now?
1. Coordinators for various activities. Most tasks will have 1-2 coordinators and a team of volunteers that the coordinators will have to assemble. We will help to identify volunteers, of course. ee FAQs below for coordinator roles available.
2. Choreographers for various performances. There are kid and adult performances that will happen for Diwali. We are looking for choreographers (1-2) per performance. At this time, just let us know if you want to choreograph something and the target group- adult or kid. The kids in performances will have a separate sign-up process. So for now, we are just signing up choreographers.
3. Photographers and Videographers to cover the event. Ideally we are looking for 3 photographers and 1 videographer.
FAQs
What does a coordinator role mean?
Coordinators work independently with their teams to run specific activities and components of the event. For the most part, coordinators will have to identify their teams and what needs to be done, well in advance. Here at CIC, we take big pride in planning and our attention to detail. If that is your strength, we would love to have you be a coordinator. A coordinator leads by example. Everyone is a leader and everyone is a worker bee here.
What are the coordinator roles available?
Does coordinator role mean I spend a lot of time on the event?
No. We break the tasks down to a fairly granular level. Once you get the details figured out with your team, everything else will really happen in October. This is not a huge time commitment. But it is a commitment to the community to make sure the task at hand is executed well.
Can I pick a specific coordinator role?
Once we have a list of folks interested in coordinating specific activities, we will work with you in identifying what will work best for you and CIC. For many, this will be their ideal role. For a few, there might not be because some roles are always more desired than others but every job eventually needs to get done. If you have a specific skillset or experience doing one of these roles, please let us know.
I have been a coordinator before. Can I sign up again?
Sure. Why not? You know what it takes and that helps a lot. You might get the same role or a different role which will be decided based on the sign-ups.
I am new to the community. I dont know many people. How can I coordinate?
You are exactly the person we want. Someone new to the community brings a lot of fresh ideas to the mix and that makes a huge difference. No one wants to see the same things year over year. We will help you build your committee and make new friends.
Will we have a lot of meetings?
We will probably meet once every few weeks until the early October after which we will meet once a week- usually no more than 45 min-1 hr. Some committees might meet more often while others might not meet until late October.
What it is in it for me?
Working behind and in front of the scenes for CIC Diwali is the best way to make friends in the community. If you are new to the area, this is a great way to make a ton of friends. Every one of us has fabulous memories of participating, volunteering and coordinating small and large tasks for Diwali. We have made a ton of friends along the way. This is the BEST way to become an integral part of this growing CIC family.
I want to know more before I sign up.
Definitely. Reach out to any of your friends in the community who has participated/volunteered in the past years. The CIC Board has members who have done this for a decade now. Reach out by email or on Facebook. We will be glad to answer your questions.
Where do I sign up?
Email cambrianindiancommunity@gmail.com with the Subject: Coordinator/Choreographer/Photographer for Diwali 2015 and let us know what you can and would like to help out on. If you have experience in that role, that would help a lot.
What are you waiting for?
Last Friday, a few of us got together to formally kick off the preparation for CIC Diwali 2015. In the coming months, the activity will pick up pace culminating in the largest event of the year on Nov 7th at the Seven Trees Community Center from 2 pm to 6 pm. This blog and our website launched last Diwali and we have been using it to communicate as often as possible. This year, we will have frequent behind the scenes looks at how such a large event comes together, purely by volunteer efforts. Stay tuned to this blog for frequent updates on the road to Cambrian Diwali 2015.
Cambrian Diwali 2014
2014 was a big year for our community since the number of families exploded and the size of our Diwali event literally doubled. We had to scale rapidly and learned a bunch of things in the process. Participants from last year were also kind enough to share their feedback and we want to make sure we are addressing as many concerns from last year as possible, while retaining the best parts. For those not familiar with how Cambrian Diwali works and to everyone else who is curious, here is a brief timeline of how things will unfold.
Feb-Mar 2015: Visit multiple possible venues and finalize venue. This year, we have been fortunate to book the main hall at the Seven Trees Community Center for our Diwali celebration. This was possible due to the tireless efforts of Latha, Sonal and Krithika.
May 2015: Planning kicks off. We will look at how we want to do things different from last year. Some broad ideas and themes will emerge in terms of what needs to change. For example, this years event is scheduled in the afternoon. We will not have dinner as part of our event. This will help us address a lot of feedback from last year. We also started looking at other broad issues as total event time, parking, childcare, and more.
We will identify the core teams needed to drive the various components of the event and then solicit volunteers and coordinators for as many activities as possible. One of the key goals for this year is to have as many new people participate in event organization as possible.
June 2015: Once the coordinators are identified, we will put some structure around the performances and then solicit sign ups for choreographers, volunteers and participants. Parents please note- event participation is very popular in the community and slots will fill up rapidly. We will communicate in advance to get folks prepared.
July/Aug 2015: Summer time. Nothing major will happen unless choreographers can pull their crew together. Sponsorships will have to be locked in.
Sept 2015: We will start planning the flow of the event with slots, timing and such. Event magazine (Cambrian Khabar effort will start) We will have meetings periodically with coordinators. Coordinators will choose the cadence of their meetings with their teams.
We will also open the event ticketing. The CIC Diwali event tends to get sold out within a day or two. We will give ample advance notice before we open up ticketing. But be aware that tickets will sell out fast.
Oct 2015: Rubber meets the road. Everything comes together. Much more on this later.
We will add details as we move along.
If you are interested in helping out in any way possible - let one of us know. We will formally open things up soon but you can always let us know you are interested.
Exciting times ahead!
Wow.
What a fun day! I am just blown away by the fabulous response from this community, nay family for the Discover India 2015 event. It was a sheer joy to see everyone huddle together and come up with answers for everything I could throw at them. The camaraderie was remarkable. And that alone was worth the effort. Before I go on and on, a whole lot of thanks are in order.
- To BB Travel Experts and Bomi Patel for being a wonderful sponsor of the event. We hope to work with BBTES for future events and also work with them on our travel needs.
- To the brain trust at CIC for guiding me through this event. For all the time I am spotted at CIC events, this was my first real shot at organizing one for the community. And I learnt a lot along the way. To that I am thankful to Latha, Sonal, Krithika, Anjana, Sachin, and Manish. So much more to learn from you before Diwali.
- To Rosy Singh for helping out with the snacks and for helping teams with answers when they needed them. Thank you so much. Look forward to seeing you participate next year.
- To Praneetha for taking fantastic pictures that tell the whole story. The images captured not just the event but the emotion- the rapt attentiveness to the question, the bonhomie, the joys, the disappointments, the works. Loved the pictures.
- To Chandana for rushing home and bringing the all important speaker. I promise the sound will be better managed next time. maybe with a better laptop and much better recording.
- To Venki, Shriram and many more who helped me get the place set up in the first place before the event.
- To Amit N, Amit D, Latha, Santhosh, Venkata, and Eshwari for helping clean up the hall afterwards.
- To Team Panditji who bore not just the best name but took the effort to dress up for the occasion. My Nehru cap off to you.
- To Sanketh for keeping score during the game. You kept everyone honest. Good job.
- To my wonderful wife and son who gave me the time to work on this by taking on everything I was supposed to be doing instead of this. And for helping me manage the event.
- And to all of you participants and audience. Young and old, you rock. It was not a short event. It was 4 hours long. And you stayed enthusiastic all that time. It was so much fun putting questions together and then seeing them get knocked out of the park.
- My congrats to not just the winners but every one of you who participated and made this an event to remember. For some of you it took a lot to overcome your hesitation and jump in. And that was so awesome.
The CIC has a lot more planned for the rest of the year. Dive in, organize and participate. It is a whole lot of fun.
Until the next trivia event, keep guessing.
CIC Discover India 2015
Read MoreThis post is about the exclusive sponsor of our Discover India 2015 event, BB Travel Experts, a full service travel agency based in San Jose and serving the needs of the Cambrian Indian Community.
When we decided to do this event, we were very keen on a sponsor/partner who served our community and also resonated with the theme of the event which is all about discovering India. Thanks to a dedicated community member, Nekzad, we got to engage with Bomi Patel of BB Travel Experts. The experience of working with Bomi has been fantastic and if his agency offers a service that is reflective of that, I think we have an excellent partner in our neighborhood. We all have friends and families visiting us from India. We also take trips- by road, air or sometimes by sea. Having a trusted local travel agent helps in that regard.
BB Travel Experts (BBTES) is full service travel agency with airlines ticketing with live agents, Cruise, Hotels, Car Rental, Tour and Travels.
With over 14 years of total experience in the industry, BBTES is fully accredited travel agency by IATAN and CLIA, Industry regulators of Airlines and Cruise industries respectively. BBTES is also registered as Seller of Travel with California Department of Justice.
BBTES is your Ultimate point of contact for all your travel needs. Including last minute or emergency travel.
Currently BBTES is offering very low fares for November - December 2015. If you are planning to travel during the holiday season, it is time to plan your trip at current lower fares ranging from $825 onwards, depending on dates and airlines.
BBTES also offers ticketing from India to USA and Canada, payable in INR or US$ and also offers Travel Insurance which include Medical and Dental services while in USA and Canada at a low price of travel insurance.
If you are planning a trip in the near future and are looking for a good travel agent, give BBTES a call at 408-264-4395 or email them here. Tell them you that you are a part of the Cambrian Indian Community.
We are excited to announce the very first event of this year, Discover India 2015, sponsored by the wonderful folks at BB Travel Experts. There is a lot to talk about this event. In this post, we will go over the broad outline of the event and describe what it is all about. We will communicate the specifics, rules and such, a week before the event. For now, we request that you please add the event to your calendar. There is a calendar invite setup in the Upcoming Events page. Here is the participant signup sheet.
Name of the Event: Discover India 2015
When: 1 pm - 5 pm, Sunday, March 8th, 2015.
Where: Vineland Public Library, 1450 Blossom Hill Road, San Jose, CA 95118
Sign up: Click here to sign up
What is Discover India?
Discover India is our very own quiz and trivia event. This is the first of what we hope will become an annual affair. This is an opportunity for all the smart folks of Cambrian to match their wits against one another. Worry not, this is not a hardcore quiz. It is a trivia event and has something for everyone. There will be prizes for the winning team and runner up. Sign up here.
There will be rounds of jeopardy style questions, a few rounds of audio and video questions from movies and stuff, dedicated cricket question rounds in keeping with the World Cup, pictionary, 20 questions, dumb charades and more. Most importantly, all questions will be about India or Indians. So it will be an awesome opportunity to learn more about your country. I can assure you that you will walk away learning something new about India.
This is a team event. Each team will be composed of 3-5 members. Anyone who is interested can be part of a team. If you cant form a team in advance, worry not. We will get you into a team at the venue. Families can participate together as teams or join hands with friends. We'll provide a detailed FAQ about the mechanics of the event a week before the event.
If you want to warm up here are some audio quizzes I(Prabhu) did recently.
Links:
Who is our generous sponsor for the event?
We are excited to announce that BB Travel Experts (BBTES) will be the exclusive sponsor for the event. BB Travel Experts is a full service travel agency offering airline, cruise, train, rental car and hotel reservations. Often times we have friends and family traveling on vacations within and outside the US. BB Travel Experts offer a full suite of services to support all your needs. You can reach them in the following ways:
Website: http://www.bbtes.com
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/bbtes
Phone: 408-264-4395 / 408-390-0750
CIC - The spirit of community
Recently, we put out a request calling for inputs on events for 2015. We had a bunch of people ask us in private, what we were looking for. Here is a simple primer on CIC events and how you can be a part of it.
What is a CIC Event?
The Cambrian Indian Community organizes a set of events throughout the year for the local community. Some of these are regulars like Diwali and Mehendi night. Others are flexible- we have them for a few years and then based on interest and availability of a crew, skip them in favor of others.
How can I participate?
There are multiple ways you can participate in a CIC Event. Here are a few simple ones.
1. I like to just attend and enjoy.
Here, you would look out for dates on our events, sign up in the designated manner and show up to enjoy the event and the company of friends in the community. This is a great way to get to know whats going on in the community and some of the folks behind the events. This is also a great introduction and a ringside view of what CIC is all about.
2. I like to participate but not organize.
Some parents prefer this approach for their kids who get to participate in CIC events like Raamnavami (music and dance), Diwali (Arts and cultural), Easter Egg Hunt, and so on. Parents themselves participate in some of the events but that is the extent of participation. This approach offers way to know a few folks who are part of the same participating team, very well. This is a good way to see how CIC events come together from a 5000 ft view.
3. I like to volunteer, coordinate and maybe, organize an event.
This is the real deal. I say this because this is the shortest path approach to making a ton of friends in the community. Every CIC event is put together with a ridiculous amount of attention to detail and care for every attendee. It is an experience onto itself to be a volunteer, a coordinator or an event organizer. All it takes is enthusiasm to be a part of building and executing an event to perfection. It is a ton of fun and you make friends for life along the way. You can volunteer to help on event day or help coordinate one specific part of the event or well, organize it.
4. I am an ideas person.
Your ideas as very important to us. There is more about this in the following paragraphs. If you have a suggestion for an event, please speak up anytime.
I have ideas but I am not sure what to do with them.
Every great event starts with the germ of an idea. Once you have an idea, speak up. Tell us about it on Facebook or by messaging one of the CIC board members or emailing us. Let us know if you just want to give us the idea or help make it a reality. Remember, we are all started as rookies at some point of time or the other. There are experts in every aspect of event management within CIC who can work with you in flushing the idea out and figuring out a way to make it happen.
One thing to remember- as much as we can help execute the event, sometimes, you, the inventor has the original and the purest form of the vision. You might be the best person to do it. But let that not deter you from sharing your ideas. If you cant make it happen due to whatever reason, we can figure out ways around that.
What constitutes an idea? Give me an example.
Ideas can be one liners like - I want to have an event for Holi.
Ideas can be a few sentences - I would like to do something for Holi. It could be an event with folks in Indian attire at the local park. We can play with colors and have a snack afterwards.
Or, if you are the detail oriented type, a one pager with everything you have in your head, poured out. You could also record it if you hate typing and email it to us. Or let us know you want to talk and one of us will sit down with you to work through it.
You tell us what and we can work together in everything else. Really!
I want to organize but don't have experience putting an event together.
Most if not, all of us had never done events for a community before. There is always a first time to everything. So don't let lack of experience deter you from pitching an idea or wanting to make it happen.
Still hesitant. I have a job. Kids to take care of. I think it will be a time sink.
We understand completely. Guess what, we are all on the same boat. And that is exactly why, we want you to talk to us. Let us discuss and figure out something where your idea gets the right forum. And we can make it happen. Together as a team. You do not have to do all the heavy lifting. The sheer thrill of seeing your vision come true is well worth the effort of atleast pitching it to us. You never know :)
What do I get out of it?
For starters, you make a lot of friends. You earn a lot of goodwill. And all of that is worth a lot. From talking to folks who have done this- many have gotten the opportunity to learn so much about event organization, time management, people management, and hands-on experience doing things like decorations and what not. The amount of learning here in terms of life skills is a lot. You will be a better person for going through one such experience.
Mmmmm..
No more excuses. Jump in. There is a ton of fun to be had and a lot of friends to be made. Let the community participate in your wonderful ideas. Kindly include us in your grand visions.
The CIC Board met on December 5th, 2014 for their quarterly sync up. This event was open to all members of the Cambrian Indian Community. The meeting minutes are captured here.
The agenda's biggest topic that took over 2 hours of discussion was all about Diwali 2014. Rukmini, as the organizer shared her thoughts on what went right and what could be done better. We then took individual feedback from everyone who attended the meeting. There were good points raised which will be addressed when we start planning for Diwali 2015 early next year. The one thing we did want to share here is the data we got from all your feedback responses (43 in all). As big believers in the power of data, we thoroughly appreciate what you told us in the feedback form. And here are the big takeaways.
1. The One about the Event Pricing
Going into the event, we were worried about the $20 entry fee. To make the event happen at the scale we wanted to, and to accommodate all the people in a reasonably spacious auditorium, we needed to charge $20 at a minimum. Any lesser and we would have not broken even. All our worries went away by a majority of you telling us that you felt the event was a steal or rightly priced. Thank you. We operate on a shoe string budget with absolutely no fat and it helps that you understand.
2. The One about the Event Duration
It is always a challenge trying to architect an event to keep people from a diverse age group interested and engaged all the time. To that effect, props to Rukmini and her huge team of choreographers, coordinators and parent helpers for helping pull off a show that ended fairly close to the planned time. We will try to keep the same amount of time in mind while programming next year.
3. The One about the Food
The feedback on food has two components to it. One was the subjective text entry where people echoed their thoughts on the taste and then there was the objective choice on the food pricing. The food taste itself seems to be well received. On the matter of food pricing, we hear you loud and clear. You liked the food but found the quantity to be insufficient or not worth the $7. This will be a big priority for us to address in 2015. We are thinking along multiple lines to understand how best to get good quality food catered at the right price and with the right quantity. We will communicate the steps we take in this regard closer to the event next year.
4. The One about the Event itself
This was the one that makes us want to do so much more. As a community, you have responded extremely positively to the overall event which gives us a huge shot in the arm. Diwali at Cambrian has grown to be a massive affair that required hundreds of hours of planning and meetings and thousands of emails not to mention the practice and execution. And there is no greater reward than this graphic. We would obviously want everyone to think it to be great and will work towards it next year.
5. Now, for the finer details
In the fields where people were asked to enter their thoughts on the event, we heard some recurring themes. They are:
It is incredible to see so many of you take the time to share your thoughts on the event. Many of you were volunteers. Some of you were first timers. And some are veterans at this. All of your opinions matter a lot as we grow as a community and stage events at this scale. Some of this feedback will go into not just next Diwali but also all our Cambrian events throughout the year.
If you had your thoughts to share on the matter, drop your comments here, or in Facebook or send us an email.
Thank you once again for attending the event and hope to not just see you next year, but have you volunteer and participate in making Diwali 2015 a grand success.
This article originally appeared in Vol.1 of Cambrian Khabar that was distributed during our 2014 Diwali event. You can get your copy of Cambrian Khabar Vol.1 here. It is being reproduced here for the benefit of those who did not get a chance to see Cambrian Khabar and also to give some perspective from the Organizer's standpoint. Keep in mind, this was written before the event.
Diwali 2014 Organizer - Rukmini Vemulakonda
Diwali is a one of the Indian festivals celebrated by Cambrian Indian Community (CIC). It is our largest event of the year and is celebrated the Indian way - with lots of friends and family, music and food.
The 2013 Diwali celebration was a tremendous success with over 180 members participating for the event. There was lots of entertainment, fun and food including a promise to increase the count to support the growing Cambrian Indian community. Our CIC members Latha Santhosh, Sonal Sabu, Anjana Ganjigunte and Krithika Santhanam took on the task to search for an appropriate venue for 2014 Diwali from mid-January. The team checked out multiple venues before finalizing the 2014 Diwali venue as the Church of Chimes on February 10, 2014.
The next task was to seek out and request for the Diwali core team members to make the event run smoothly for our expected count of nearly 400 people. The Diwali core team has over 40 CIC members (adults and kids) who have worked tirelessly for the past few months to ensure that our event is covered in all areas - sponsorship, parking, entertainment for kids and adults, welcoming our new community members, providing childcare and organizing dinner.
Our next major accomplishment after the venue and core team selection was to secure a group of wonderful and energetic group of choreographers, teachers and directors for our performance. We had our talented members who came forward to teach/direct performances for kids and adults. Today’s Diwali event has 54 kids and 21 adults participating in various programs who will be showcasing their talent in the performances. The sheer effort of these participants speaks to the nature of our community and how it can and has come together to put up a show of this magnitude.
On behalf of the organizing committee, we sincerely hope all of you enjoy the event. We request all attendees to please provide your feedback as part of the survey that will be sent via email(same email address as the event invoice) tonight. This will help the Diwali team improve not just future Diwali events but all the programs that the CIC puts together throughout the year.
Thanks for being a part of the CIC Diwali 2014. It has been a pleasure making this event happen with a fantastic team of community members and sponsors who opened their wallets generously to support our activities.
- Rukmini Vemulakonda, Event Organizer, CIC Diwali 2014. Proud resident of Cambrian since 2012
