Oasis Review Meet

The Oasis Review Committee meeting kicked off at 6:30 PM on 24th November with the President of the Students’ Union reminding the gathering that ORC was a forum for reviewing the fest and not for pointing fingers. The clubs then started describing the events organised and the issues faced by them, with FMaC raising the first issue about CRC not having cleared payment for a camera body. However, the Gen Sec intervened and postponed the discussion to later during the meet.

During Firewallz’ turn, Sponz pointed out that some outstation FashP participants were in possession of sponsor ID cards, while the ones for genuine sponsors had not been delivered. Poetry Club’s event, Rap Wars, had a lot of participants that qualified from country wide prelims cancelling at the last minute, making Poetry Club call more participants from Delhi. Ragamalika raised an issue with PCr regarding the cancellation of a number of participants on the grounds that PCr had run out of accommodation. Music Club and Dance Club had problems with sponsor demands not being conveyed to them in a timely fashion. After the credibility of judges with tie-ins to sponsors was questioned, DoT offered to bring judges for events next Oasis.

Many of the co-ordinators raised issues with DLE, or as the next StuCCAn from Sponz mistakenly called them, Jhankaar. Gurukul’s Free Jam was postponed from Day 1 to Day 3 due to the lack of Professional Sounds. While DLE claimed that they had ensured that all the clubs they were working with were kept in the loop, most concerned clubs denied this. Music Club pointed out that DLE and Stage Controls had asked them for their drum kit, which was used by Agam. DLE attributed the problem to the specifications of their kit not being cleared by the visiting sound engineers. The issue of substandard drum kits was also brought up by both ARBITS and Sounds later in the meet, as it caused problems to Tarang and Rocktaves. DLE also admitted to causing a financial loss to Rec’N’Acc because many requisitioned rooms went unused.

Another problem was the lack of time bands got for sound checks across events and shows, because of massive delays which finally resulted in Submarine in Space being relocated from the Audi to SR Grounds. DLE also received a lot of flak for the manner in which Professional Lights and Sounds worked. On many occasions the technicians vanished for a while, resulting in situations where the departments of Lights and Sounds had to work for events outside of their initial engagements. This issue was brought up again when Stage Controls described the problems faced by them. Lights was unhappy with the fact that they were shut out almost entirely from the fest, with Professional Lights taking charge of all events on Days 1 to 3. Sounds ended up working for Tarang, both halves of Stage Play, and Razzmatazz – events which were supposed to be handled by Professional Sounds. They also complained of required equipment not being commissioned, while commissioned equipment was largely useless.

After a prolonged discussion on all these issues, it was suggested that an ORC vote be held to transfer production work – including the suggesting of vendors – entirely to Stage Controls. This resulted in protests by a few in the meeting, who argued that it is the prerogative next StuCCA to take this decision. However, the vote did take place, on the grounds that the point of a review meet becomes moot if the lessons learnt from this Oasis are not implemented.

Controls faced multiple issues with the cab drivers they hired. Because of this, the StuCCA is considering blacklisting the responsible cab company for next oasis. Sponz boasted of a record 34.2 lakhs sponsorship. The HAS co-ordinator then pointed out that one of their performing artists cancelled due to non-payment of his advance. CRC denied the charge, saying that the artist could not make it as he had other commitments. However, it was pointed out that had the payment been made on time, the artist would have been contractually bound to come. The FMaC issue was touched upon again, with FMaC demanding to know why the CRC could not consider their payment as a special case when they had the StuCCA’s approval. However, nothing could be resolved as the matter diluted with cross questioning deviating from the point.

Following this, an ORC vote resulted in DVM ending its probation period and solidifying its place in the StuCCA. The UC vote saw DLE’s request for a seat in the StuCCA being denied. The last vote was about the responsibility of production, which was given to Stage Controls after a vote by the ORC in their favour. Amendment to the Oasis Charter regarding these changes will follow suit.