Cheers is dedicated to delivering hospitality professionals the information, insights and data necessary to drive their beverage business by covering trends and innovations in operations, merchandising, service and training.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/504798
www.cheersonline.com 45 May 2015 • MARKETING MATTERS libra r y of reference book s a nd 12,000 -plu s prev i- ou sly u sed que st ions. What makes for a good trivia question? "The answer has to be irrevocably, unambiguously clear," Power says. "There can be no room for argument or discussion." For instance, a bad question would be: "Who of these baseball players was the best to ever play for the St. Louis Cardinals?" A good question would be: "Who of these St. Louis hitters had the highest career batting average?" The Harp, which uses its website, social media and flyers at nearby UMass bus stops to promote the trivia nights, has built a tradition of community service from the event. It's channeling money raised from trivia nights into local charities, funds and causes, such as the North Amherst Children's Library Fund. "We raise $7,500 to $10,000 each year this way," Power says. TO CATCH A CHEAT With most every customer now toting a smartphone, there would seem the possibility for rampant cheating. Googling an answer on mobile internet takes seconds. Apps like Shazam–which can identify music playing in the background—allow cheating even during media-spe- cific rounds like Name That Song. But while cheating with smartphones or other meth- ods is easy to do, it's looked down upon and often tightly regulated. "If someone sees a person with their phone out doing something suspicion, they'll tell the host, who is also keeping an eye out," Dicker says. "And it's a little bit harder to cheat during our quizzes, because there are so many more questions asked," he adds. "People aren't necessarily going to have time to cheat." Meeker of Big Boy Entertainment believes cheating is counterintuitive. "Much of the time they're Googling the wrong thing," she says, "or it's really obvious from their answer that they used Google. And if we catch you once, you're done." Cheating at trivia is not uncommon at The Harp. "It's rare that we go through a week without someone trying to do something," says Power. Accordingly, Power and his staff are on the lookout. "You can see the reflection of a cell phone underneath a table, especially smartphones, because of their larger screens," he says. "If they try to use an electronic device, they almost always get caught." If a team is under suspicion of shady activity, Power will require all of its members to put their cell phones in a Ziplock baggie. "It's only a couple of hours," he says. "They can do without their phones for that long." Cheaters get one second chance at The Harp, he adds. "After that, they're out, and they forfeit their entry fees into our charity pool. And there are usually 95 or so oth- er people in the pub hooting at them as they leave. It's a form of shaming that works very well." Test Your Knowledge Here are five sample questions and tidbits from pub-quiz service provider Brainstormer (no cheating!): 1. Which Indian-American actor and comedian first gained recogni- tion on the MTV sketch show Human Giant before gaining fame for his role as Tom Haverford in NBC's Parks and Recreation? 2. What fast food restaurant uses square hamburger patties instead of round ones? 3. Standing at 6 ft. 4 in., the tallest U.S. president elected to of- fice was Abraham Lincoln. Who was the shortest U.S. president elected to office? (Note: Wheelchairs don't count.) 4. Put these Florida sports franchises in order of when they first established as a team in Florida, starting with the earliest and ending with the most recent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Heat. (Note: You earn a total of four points for listing all teams in the correct sequence. You can earn partial credit for listing any of the teams it its correct place in the sequence.) 5. What European currency recently jumped in value by more than 40% against the euro after its national bank scrapped its currency cap with the euro? A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN Some bars will host in-house trivia event leagues, which provide a reliable source of weekday customers. Rather than start fresh each time, bars and pubs keep a running score over the course of a season or year. Rival teams return each week, hoping to gain ground or further distance themselves from the pack. The downside to this setup is that it risks dissuading teams from joining mid-season. That's why bars will typically allow new teams to enter competition with points equal to the lowest-scoring team in the league. Among bars that use trivia event vendors, larger leagues have formed that take place across multiple businesses. San Francisco-based pub-quiz service provider Brainstormer hosts three seasons of competition each year in the Greater Bay area. About 150 to 200 teams take part, playing at bars and pubs that use the vendor's product. The champions from each location then contend in the finals. The grand prize for the recent season was $500, with $1,500 in total prizes. Brainstormer is also experimenting with online quizzes. "We're trying to do something web- or mobile-based, as an add-on to bar trivia night," says owner Liam McAtasney. "The problem with doing it over the web is that people might cheat. So we're looking at options like holding it through a video feed, where you would use your phone as the buzzer. That removes the element of cheating."–KS Answers: 1. Aziz Ansari (Before going into show business, Ansari got a degree in actual business from NYU.) 2. Wendy's (This is the restaurant's "signature" rather than having a signature sandwich like the Big Mac or Whopper.) 3. James Madison (5 ft., 4 in. tall) 4. Miami Dolphins (1966, in the AFL), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1976), Miami Heat (1988), Jacksonville Jaguars (1995) 5. Swiss Franc (The move prompted Swiss tennis star, Roger Federer, to say, "Does it mean I've got to win now?")