CIC Diwali Dhamaka 2016 - Event Day Guidelines

CIC Diwali Dhamaka 2016

Presented by LSJ Financial

Event Day Guidelines

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.

Event Date, Time, Location and Parking Details

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

Registration and Food Tokens

• 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.

Event Schedule

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

Seating

• 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.

Participant Seating

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.

Event Photography/ Videography

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.

Food & Water

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.

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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.

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Appendix

Snack Box Contents:

• Vada pav

• Upma

• Chutney

• Mysore pak (sweet)

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CIC Discover India Quiz 2016

Wish 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. 

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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.

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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. 

• This year’s event will be a little shorter in duration (I will have more questions than time permits as always but we will try to finish quicker).
• We will have significantly better video systems (this).
• We will have much better audio (the CIC has its own Ion Block Rocker that can easily fill a room with good sound)
• Audience Prizes !
• Interactive rounds. I am trying to take the best from last year and do more of it. I am also trying a lot of cool new ideas this year that will hopefully excite participants.
• Questions do not test your trivia skills. Questions are designed to make you connect the dots and work together as a team. 
• Designed to bring families, friends and newcomers together. It is our best icebreaker event. Make the most of it.

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. 

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If you want to warm up here are some audio quizzes I(Prabhu) did a while back. 

Links:

Hindi Movie Dialogues Quiz

Republic Day Patriotic Quiz

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.

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