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We're bringing our pub quiz back on Thursday, and I'd just like to run it by you to see if I've missed anything obvious.
We have questions for all people, and across all genres. We've got a few multimedia rounds, including video clips and music. What else would you like to see in a pub quiz. What prizes would you prefer?
Your input is most welcome
Free chips and a jackpot question at the end (raffle ticket) that rolls over week by week. Keeps people that cannot win until the end to see if they get lucky! I also like the quizzes where a sheet of guess the year or name the face etc questions is given out at the beginning to work through during the quiz.
For me it is imperative that everyone taking part feels they have a chance of winning something. If the same people win every week people soon lose interest and you get the professional quizzers taking over, drinking half a shandy all night and walking away with prizes every week. One of the best things about our Sunday quiz is that anyone can win, no matter where you finish.
We start with a jackpot of £50 and have 100 envelopes, 99 with blank pieces of paper inside and 1 with a Winners note. Every week, the quiz winners have first pick and if the winning envelope isn't drawn, the team that finishes second have a go and so on. If the prize isn't won, the jackpot goes up £10 for the next week and the envelopes aren't replenished so gradually the jackpot goes up, the number of envelopes goes down and the chances of winning get better every week.
The previous quiz we used to do had 4 cash prizes every week. The winners would pick 1 of 4 envelopes and inside was a piece of paper with either 1,2 3 or 4 on it. They would then win the appropriate prize which could be 4th prize. Dice would be thrown for the other 3 prizes. If for example a 6 came up, the team finishing 6th would have next pick and so on. A team finishing last could effectively walk away with the top prize all on the throw of a dice.
It keeps everyone intrested no matter what their level of knowledge is.
Thanks for the tips guys... salty chips sounds like an idea.. get the beverage consumption up :p:p:D
Roger, I like the jackpot idea - I'll be nicking that one I think..
Hi ptg
I write and run a few quizzes each year, but not for pubs - in fact tend to steer away from taking part in them. In my view, the skill in setting questions is to balance it over all of the target audience, which sadly, no longer really seems to happen - maybe the reason is that there is now a stigma to actually having some knowledge!
As the great Rodger says, everyone needs to feel like they have a chance at winning, but all too often music rounds tend to be chart music over the last few years (you don't even get, how do you spell Batehofen?:p), TV rounds are dominated by soaps and reality tosh and the history round tends to be, in effect, the last 15 years of soaps (yes, i once had how many times has Pat Butcher been married) and chart music - and the Geography, where is Walford?
Music rounds also seem to have twice as many questions - i took part in a quiz some years back, where every other round was music and yes, chart stuff. My other bugbear, the great guess questions - how many people live in Stoke-on Trent on a Thurdsay?
Sorry for whinging and helping not at all, but it has made me feel better.;)
Come down south a bit and try ours out then, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised.
I can't give too much away, but over the coming weeks, the video round features clips from 2011, and 1967 this week. The music round will involve music from all ages, there's a bit of chopping (sic) or something in there, along with some 40s and 50s stuff. The problem with this place from what i've heard on the old quiz, it was only any good if you studied the classics at some stage in your life, so to combat the questions on classic literature, we've added some modern bits in. You're worrying me now :s
You can never get it exactly right. When i read the questions, as i have written them, i can make them harder or easier - depending on the previous round's scores:whistle:
I used to take my turn at writing and presenting a weekly pub quiz in my local. The hardest thing is to pitch questions at the right level so they are a bit of a challenge but not so obscure that people get bored. If people taking part would be familar with the question but have to rack their brains for the answer, or if they 'get it' when you give them the answer then that's part of the entertainment. I sued to throw in the odd question just for entertainment value.
Apart from a spread of topics, people like different formats, such as a round they have to listen to or a hand out of pictures or on a theme e.g. name the football team from the clue (sandwich meat past its sell by date ... = Oldham) or name the pop artist ( a container for Big Ears' Mate .... = Noddy Holder).
The typical prize, given the gaffer is getting extra business if, are free beer vouchers that are valid for 7 days (assuming the quiz is free to enter).
It can be a time consuming process. The higher the stakes the more competitive people become, sometimes at the expense of simple enjoyment. Remind people at the start that it's just for fun and your answers are the only ones that score the points.