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:

STAGE: We need a stage or a raised platform to watch the performances and enjoy the event fully. Yes, we know. Circumstances forced us to not have one this year. Now we know how big a difference it makes. We will have one next year, period.
AUDIO: We had some challenges with the audio setup at the venue and it showed. We are already working on a bunch of ideas to fix this for next year.
MEET and GREET: This year, the 3-4 pm slot was for members of the community to meet and greet. Some of you felt that this was not sufficient. Increasing this means a longer event which might not go with other feedback on the event duration. When we start programming for next year, we will do our best to address this.

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.

Diwali 2014 Feedback: What you told us