We Are Partnering with Ekta.App!
What is Ekta?
Ekta is a web app started by Sarang Joshi and Arjun Aggarwal that is essentially a common application for teams to apply to competitions. Rather than having to fill out dozens of google forms with the same information over and over again, you can compile all the information under one account and apply to competitions with a click of a button. You can read about it directly from them here.
Who Uses Ekta?
The Bhangra circuit is actually the only circuit left in North America that does not use Etka; the Raas, Fusion, and A-Capella circuits all already exclusively use this for all their competitions. You may have already come across Ekta if your team has applied to any competitions that also have a Fusion, Raas, or A-Capella lineup.
Why is the Bhangra Circuit the Only Circuit Not Using Ekta?
One of the beauties of the Bhangra circuit is its diversity. It allows for competitions with all different identities, viewpoints, and structures all to exist. One of the downsides however, is that there is no overarching organization to promote circuit wide initiatives like Ekta, which makes the Bhangra circuit incompatible with Ekta’s model.
Wait Why?
Ekta costs money to run. There are server costs, hosting costs fees, etc that need to be paid for any website to function, Ekta is no different. Ekta is also just run by two people with actual jobs. They do not have the time to set up a contract with each individual competition and ensure payments for all of them, so they outsource that to the partner organizations ie DDN, RAS, ASA. The partner orgs front the costs to pay for the competitions at the beginning of the season and those partner orgs then charge each competition accordingly. Unfortunately, because Bhangra has no analogous organization, we have not had circuit wide adoption of Ekta. That’s where we are stepping in.
The Bhangra Podcast is Fronting the Costs
Due to the generous support from our Patreon members, we have been able to save up enough funds to front the costs for the Bhangra circuit. This will enable all teams and competitions to make accounts and start using Ekta. Now we can finally have a centralized place to find all competitions and apply to them rather than constantly refreshing instagram and scouring the internet for new competitions.
As a Team, What Do I Get Out of It?
- Save time. You won’t have to upload the same information over and over again for every different competition you want to apply to
- Find more competitions. All the upcoming competitions and all the details required to apply to those competitions will be easily accessible through the centralized platform.
As a Competition, What Do I Get Out of It?
- Easier discoverability. Since all the teams are going to be on the same platform, all teams will be able to see every competition they can apply for at a glance
- More information from applicants. Since all the teams have input all their information, they’ll be able to quickly send you everything you could need for your competition.
- In the future, we will also be providing a database of judges from all across the circuit to help you find qualified judges for your competitions as well as a way for judges to easily apply for your competitions
Does This Cost Anything?
Completely free for teams to use. Competitions pay a nominal fee that simply covers the previously mentioned server costs
What Are Your Future Plans with Ekta?
We have a number of things planned to help Ekta specifically address needs for the Bhangra circuit including:
- A centralized and easily editable judging database
- A page to track stats for teams and individual dancers
- A central location to post links to various performances
- and much more
How Do I Join Ekta?
You can sign up right now to make your own account as a dancer, team, and competition for free at https://ekta.app. We also put together a step-by-step guide to help you get started.
Feel free to email [email protected] or DM @thebhangrapod on Instagram if you have any further questions!
I Love This Idea, How Can I Help?
If you have any coding experience and want to help out with the number of different initiatives, email [email protected] for more information.
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