The Review Meet for APOGEE 2019 began with SU President Satyansh Rai’s declaration that they were ‘not here to play any blame games’. With the faint strains of the IPL bugle playing at some eatery nearby providing the background track to the proceedings, the meet began with the customary roll call.
A Slow Start
CrAC said that they had incurred a loss during the fest, and suggested that the person in charge of tenders be changed. DLE and HAS were reminded that they needed go to the local schools to invite students for their prof shows, with the CoStAAns having had to do that this year. Satyansh also called the MRC’s conduct ‘unprofessional’ for having requisitioned a budget for 25 media outlets when only eight were on campus during the fest.
Inaug and the Music Club
The tragedy of the Inauguration haunted much of the meet. The debate began with Music Club ‘clearing the air’ about the ‘rumours floating around’. They relayed their side of the story, with an apology for speaking to the VC after being told not to. This brought up a topic of contention which continued to plague the rest of the debate: Music Club choosing to play their final song resulted in the VC asking for the Throne Ceremony to be cut short.
The Music Club brought up the point that the VC might have also been reacting to the distasteful language and matter present in the write-ups themselves. The CoStAA and SU reiterated that the reason for the VC’s anger was the delay in Inaug, and not the write-ups. This session concluded with a directive to the next CoStAA that due to unprofessional conduct on the part of Music Club, the next APOGEE would be opened by Gurukul instead. The matter was tabled, and it would be Sounds that revived the debate over two hours later.
A Temporary Respite
The Mechanical Association claimed that PCr had double-registered all teams for the Full Throttle Grand Prix, lowering participation. PCr fired back that they had not been able to get in touch with the Assoc. Satyansh said that the CoStAA had been especially supportive of this event and directed that it be conducted properly next time.
The meet continued with the Instrumentation Forum bringing up the issue of low prize money leading to low incentivization for their participants. The Bio Assoc doled out a magnificently worded congratulatory speech to all involved parties, praised PEP for their ‘beautiful, beautiful talks’, and apologized multiple times to the assembly for any inconvenience they may have caused during the fest, but ultimately turned out to have nothing of value to contribute to the meet.
There was an issue raised with merchandising during Nirmaan’s delivery, where Akash said that placing merchandising in the hands of sponsors gave them the upper hand in negotiations, which had led to delays, transport problems, the vendors demanding full payments in advance, monetary losses, and other issues. It was announced that tenders would be floated next time and a vendor would be chosen based on price and quality, and sponsorships were not to come in the middle of the process.
A Passing Matter
AudiForce asked for clarification about the meaning of AAA passes during events, since the claim that AAA passes cleared people for backstage access contrasted with the CoStAA’s directive that no one would be allowed in events without the proper QR code. It was announced that CRC would be making and distributing passes next time instead of PCr. AudiForce asked that the name of the event be included on the passes from next time, which was agreed upon.
A Sound Argument
Sounds began with a complaint about Toastmasters’ participants demanding collar mics. They also mentioned that their mics had been damaged and asked SU to reimburse them. They then moved to revive the Music Club’s treatment in the Inaug debacle, which they saw as unfair since the delay was not the fault of any of the performing clubs or any part of Stage Controls. Sounds denounced the penalization of the Music Club ‘through no fault of theirs’ as akin to ‘tyranny’ and announced that Sounds would refuse to work for APOGEE next year. After a very pregnant pause, the meet moved on.
Thanks and Congratulations
The final leg of the meet was dominated by success stories, applause, and congratulations going round and round in circles. Backstage asked the CoStAA to ensure that write-ups arrive well before runthrough next year to allow for timely vetting of the content. DVM was directed to have the fest mobile application ready at least ten days before the commencement of the fest.
PEP began with a comprehensive list of their involvements, speakers, and collaborations this APOGEE. With a hearty sprinkling of thanks and congratulations to various other CoStAAns, PEP concluded with ‘I think we made APOGEE great again.’
The Department of Sponsorships (Sponz) took the stage next, and announced a slew of sponsorship deals and amounts. Sponz acknowledged the contributions of various clubs in getting sponsorships, which resulted in a ping-pong of compliments and congratulations between CoStAA. At the end, Satyansh announced that APOGEE 2019 was in a profit of over 1 lakh, breaking the long-running trend of APOGEE running at a loss. This was received with tremendous applause.
Voting
Aakash then congratulated Satyansh on his efforts in the fest. Satyansh, having said previously that the fest was great ‘to the surprise of the GBM and SU’, thanked all department and club members. This was followed by the voting for departments with regard to probation. The ARC had 66 members voting, while the Union Council meet that took place afterwards had 14. Voting was conducted in both instances. Sponz and DExA were both voted out of probation, meeting the simple majority in ARC and two-thirds majority in the UC. PEP being in their first year of probation was voted to continue for another year.