Posts Tagged ‘Rules’
How to Maintain the Integrity of Live Trivia Events
Tuesday, June 28th, 2011
Think about your favorite trivia-themed TV game show. What does it look like? Whether it’s a classic show like “JEOPORDY!” or a more contemporary one like VH1’s “The World Series of Pop Culture,” the basic structure is the same: a select number of contestants, an obedient studio audience, well-thought trivia questions, and a lot of money up for grabs. In a word, these game shows maintain a high degree of integrity, to ensure that the gameplay is fair, well-balanced and beyond reproach.
With live trivia events, however, this is not the case. Whereas the television studio is a controlled environment, trivia events in live settings – be they pub quiz nights, corporate team building activities or brand engagements for experiential marketing – are essentially out in the wild. While challenging, it is still important for the quizmaster to keep the game as honest as possible, regardless of the prize.
Below are crucial steps to impose at live trivia parties, to ensure that the integrity of the event is maintained throughout:
Enforce the “No Cheating” Rule – Perhaps the most obvious difference between television and live trivia, contestants on “Family Double Dare” aren’t liable to Google the answer on their Smartphone. The quizmaster, event hosts, bar staff and participants themselves must be constantly vigilant of cheaters, in order to keep the game honest.
No Shouting Out the Answers – This is more of an issue with public events rather than private ones, but it’s never good to have someone yell out the answers to questions as they are asked. At bar trivia nights, the guy who shouts answers out is usually A) just walking into the bar halfway through the quiz and doesn’t know the rules; B) drunk out of his mind; or C) a plain old jerk. Either way, shouters ruin trivia nights, and need to be kept in check.
Maintain Accurate Scorekeeping – Not all of the trouble keeping live trivia events clean comes from the audience. The quizmaster/scorekeeper needs to be on the ball, and make sure that A) all of the answer sheets are collected and scored; B) the scores have been added correctly; and C) the scores have been properly transcribed to the score sheet or laptop.
No Hyper-Specialized Rounds – Remember that famous episode of Cheers where Cliff goes on “JEOPARDY?” TV’s favorite mailman was given such softball categories as “Stamps,” “Beer” and even “Bar Trivia.” Though it’s not easy to predict for public events, to keep things fair trivia should cover broad categories; if a group of postmen came into pub quiz on the same night there was a “Stamps” round, that would be highly suspect. This is easily remedied at private trivia events, where the questions are all customized.
No Special Treatment for the Quizmaster’s Friends – Here’s one that every pub quizhost across the globe should learn well. No matter the situation, if the host’s friends are playing trivia and coming up to socialize during the game, everyone will take notice. It is INCREDIBLY important, therefore, to avoid even the perception that the host has got the fix in for his/her team to win. Hosts should be conscious of this whenever friends are playing, so as not to unnecessarily upset the other teams.
Do you host or attend trivia nights? What are some other ways you can think of to help maintain the integrity of live trivia events? Please let us know by leaving your responses in the space below!
How to Identify Cheaters at Trivia Night
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
Cheating and trivia night are thought to go hand in hand, especially in today’s smartphone world. Go to any pub quiz, and you’re bound to find it: people Googling the answers, using music recognition apps like Shazam on ipod rounds, texting friends not in the bar, and likely a host of other ways to beat the system.
Not only is cheating at trivia night unfair to everyone else trying to partake in good, clean fun, but it’s also stealing when the culprits actually take home the prize. No matter where you are or how much is at stake, cheaters will always find a way to worm their way into the pub quiz night, and ruin things for everyone else. Everyone despises cheaters, including quizmasters – especially when it’s a free trivia night. I mean, really- cheating at a free event? Come on!
Having hosted over 300 bar trivia nights in New York City, I’ve seen my fair share of cheaters, and caught many in the act. Although there is no surefire way to stop cheaters at trivia night, here are some tips I’ve discovered to help identify those who simply can’t overcome the urge to whip out their mobile devices, and look up the answers:
Employ Audience Eyes & Ears – When starting the event, the first rule to announce is obviously “no cheating.” Rather than just leave it at that, though, ask people to keep an eye out for cheaters, and to call them out if spotted; some well-timed peer pressure (and possibly humiliation) from the next table may be all that’s needed for a would-be cheater to cut it out.
Manage by Walking Around – While it’s tempting for the trivia host to remain at his/her post for the duration of the event, it’s important to walk around every now and then and just check out the teams up-close. Doing so allows you to catch possible cheaters stealthily looking up the answers under the table, as well as sends the message that the “no cheating” rule is indeed being enforced.
Look for Score Leaps – After the first or second round of trivia, it’s usually pretty clear which handful of teams are going to be breaking away from the pack and competing for the prize. However, when a team which was doing poorly suddenly picks up steam out of nowhere – especially on rounds where “good” teams struggled – alarms should go off. Flag this team, and make a special point to visit their table- chances are, they’re cheating.
Nobody Gets Everything Right – While it’s theoretically possible to get every trivia question right, this never happens in the real world. At my live trivia parties, where the rounds are ten questions each, I am instantly suspicious of teams who get ten of ten – and doubly so if it happens more than once.
Post Disinformation – This is an extreme move – actually, more like entrapment – designed to flush out cheaters. Before the trivia night, post some “sample questions & answers” on your trivia Website or blog (if you have one), or tweet out a question/answer via your trivia Twitter feed. Here’s the thing, though- include incorrect answers. During your event, casually mention that you’ve posted some questions from the event for people to share tomorrow with friends, coworkers etc., and be sure to read out the planted questions. While scoring sheets, any teams which puts down the planted incorrect answers is obviously a bunch of lame, cheating scoundrels, and should be called out. This move clearly takes some extra effort, and should only be used when your trivia night is suffering from a particularly bad cheating epidemic – but believe me, it works (FYI, Joaquin Phoenix’s birth name was NOT Leif Ericson – and yes, someone once fell for that).
Cheating has been, and always will be, a challenge for those who want to enjoy a clean, good-natured live trivia party, as well as those who host them. However, constant vigilance here by the quizmaster and the participants themselves will help identify the perpetrators, and keep the event as fair as possible.
Do you have any suggestions for identifying cheaters at pub quiz night? If so, please share below! We’d love to hear your ideas!
5 Trivia Event Rules, and Why They Matter
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
Every game has rules, and live trivia events are no exception. In order to ensure that an event is run both fairly and efficiently, there are several crucial rules which much be effectively communicated to the group, and enforced by the host.
Below are the most important rules employed in a live trivia event, and why they matter:
1) No Cheating – Perhaps the most obvious, as well as the most important. Although this wasn’t such a huge deal in the days before smartphones, nowadays everyone has access to virtually any question’s answer in their pocket. Googling the answer takes away from the spirit of the trivia event. I find that this isn’t really a problem in corporate entertainment or employee team building events as it is in pub quiz nights, but it’s still worth mentioning to participants right off the bat.
2) Time Limits – Firm limits must be imposed on the time teams have to write down their answers and submit scoresheets. I’ll be writing exclusively on this topic in an upcoming post, but I can’t reiterate how important it is for the flow of the event – as well as in fairness to all participants - for all answer sheets to be submitted in a timely manner.
3) Contesting Answers – While not advertised, teams should be able to contest their answer, PROVIDED they have credible reason to believe it to be correct. This is only fair, as occasionally there may be more than one correct answer to a question; however, it’s tricky for teams to prove this, since the host should have explicitly outlawed Googling during the event (see above). For this reason, the host should bring a smartphone of their own to confirm contested answers.
4) Team Names – To make the event as personalized and impactful as possible, the first act the groups take as teams should be deciding a team name. This is also an important icebreaker from a team building standpoint, as participants will have to quickly generate ideas, collaborate, negotiate and ultimately decide on what to call themselves, as a team.
5) No Sabotaging Other Teams – You’d be surprised; event the most buttoned-up employees of the most staid companies can bring out some vicious trash talking once the competition begins, and this can at times include deliberately saying the wrong answer at a “loud whisper,” in the hopes of other teams hearing and submitting. Strangely enough, this happens more often in private corporate events than in an open pub quiz; I assume it’s because the level of competition is higher among folks who know each other, but for whatever reason, it happens. Make sure it doesn’t, or it takes away from the good-natured core of the event.
What other rules are important for live trivia events?
TrivWorks founder David Jacobson blogs daily on a wide range of topics relevant to corporate event entertainment, team building and live trivia. 
