Meadows Club, Illinois, United States

4Bryan F 5:00 PM Sep 16, 2018

Great event space & staff!
Attended a large fund raiser that was themed. Beautiful space, large stage for band & awards, speeches etc. The food was excellent with carving stations. Staff was very friendly & worked the event very hard.

2S T 5:00 PM Dec 31, 2015

New Year 2016 Event - With Neha Dhupia - Good food & location but poor event management.
New Year 2016 Eve event with Neha Dhupia as Chief Guest: Overall the event logistics was well managed with well laid out tables and food. However the event entertainment was not up to mark and Neha Dhupia's presence was nominal with no entertainment aspect. Event Venue - Good The Meadows Club is a prominent location where events are conducted throughout the year and they seem to have mastered the art of managing indian and pakistani events. Security was professionally managed with good crowd control & discipline. Location was well decorated with tables numbered and laid out as per ticket categorization/pricing. There was lounge area outside the main event area that enabled families with infants and others with quiet area to rest. Food There were about 5-6 food counters that provided a wide range of choices ranging from regular north-indian standard dishes to indo-chinese. There was a Gujarati counter that included authetic Gujarati dishes, right across were Italian and Mexican food options. This was great for families with kids that could choose from these options. Quality of the food was decent. Bar Bar was well stocked and bar-tenders were quiet prompt with service. There was occassional queue but that was due to the guests ambivalece about what they want to drink. Bar-tenders were patient enough to explain them the choices and help them with the drinks. Anyone who wanted to drink was able to get the drink and get tipsy. Stage, Dance-floor, screens The location is well designed with a nice elevated stage, and adjacent dance-floor with good lighting. Though there were two large screens that projected the event for folks seating in far back, quality of the screens was below average. for folks seated in far tables this was a let-down. Above aspects were specific to the location and were satisfactory, however the main event and chief guest as described below were a let down: Event Start Time The event was scheduled to start at 8 AM, dinner started shortly thereafter, there was background music but main event did not start till 10 PM. This meant two hours of ambling, this may be good for late comers but wasted time for folks who showed up on time. Dance Performers There was a group of young performers who should be appreciated for their energy and enthusiasm level. Their performance would have been enjoyable if it was a regular event in a temple auditorium or high school theater. However expectations for a new year eve performance are much higher and the group did not seem ready for prime time performance yet. In the beggining there were a group a singers who did a decent job of engaging the audience, though their vocal skills were modest they did a good job of engaging the crowds and were high-fiving and encouraging young kids. However soon thereafter the event performers asked the crowd to clear up the dancing area and went on to perform a medley of songs and dance sequence including latest hits from Salman Khan with his signature dance moves and muscle flexing, song & dance medley also included old Amitabh hits on which the main dance performer did decent steps. The event performers were sincere in their intentions but unfortunately they failed to connect with the audience and realize that the new year eve is one of the rare ocassions where familes, teens, and all want to dance and enjoy the evening. There are plenty of other bollywood and dance events where folks get to appreciate dance performers. The dance performers were so keen to display their talent that they couldn't appreciate this disconnect. One way they could have mitigated this is by doing their performance on the main stage and letting audience use the dance floor. Neha Dhupia Perhaps a big let down of the evening was the Neha Dhupia part of the event. She appeared on the stage at 11 PM. She seemed genuine is her brief speech to connect with with the Chicago audience and described her meeting the Chicago Bulls basket ball players. However soon after she started a contest where four guys had pose as potential husbands and try to impress her, this contest started with an dance move contest but soon deteriorated to a push up contest, on any other ocassion this may have been funny but 20 minutes before new year this was an extremely misplaced event. She did a modest dance step with the rest of performers but was extremely poor quality due to the fact that either she did not prepare for the event or she had very limited dance skills. She went off the stage a few minutes before the midnight. One may wonder if she realized that she was marketed heavily on every poster and event ticket. If yes then as a proffessional she should have given the bare minimum of her effort to this event. It almost felt like a bait & switch where she was used as a prop to promote the event and the other performers who by themselves would not have been able to attract much audience. Belly Dancers There were two Belly dancers whoo showed on stage for less than 3 minutes. This reflected the event organizer's poor planning or execution. If their performance was so short then perhaps it should not have been planned in teh first place. New Year Countdown Neha Dhupia left a few minutes before the new year, event dance performers took the stage again and kept performing till new year. They cudn't connect to the audience and realize what may have energized the audience, there were bunch of people trying to keep themselves busy on their phones. DJ At midnight the dance floor was opened and the crowds took over. This was the time that the DJ skills were on display, he was a young energetic guy who did a decent job of engaging the audience, he mixed old new, desi, english songs to keep everyone engaged. He went on till 1.30 AM at which time the event organizers asked him to stop (as scheduled) and close the event. CONCLUSION Overall the event started with good food and ended with good music and dance and was enjoyed by many but the main dance event and the Neha Dhupia's appearance were let downs. I guess the lesson learned is to stay away from this event management company and Neha Dhupia from any future events.