Despite the proliferation of live hosted trivia in recent years (at least here in the U.S.; it’s been a U.K. mainstay for decades), many people are often surprised to learn that they have many options when it comes to recruiting a trivia provider for their private or corporate quiz event. So allow us to offer this public service: Some advice on what to look for.
Seven Things to Look for When Hiring a Trivia Host for Your Corporate Event
1. Hire an Actual Trivia Company
Let’s start with the most important, and the obvious…which turns out isn’t so obvious. Demand the experts. Since “corporate trivia events” is a concept that is still alien to many, even people who are looking to hire in this field often don’t know that there are companies who do only trivia. Thus they might end up recruiting some other event company that just happens to include trivia in its multifarious bag of tricks– team-building generalists, scavenger hunt companies, comedy troupes, etc. These companies’ trivia formats might offer a good time, but you simply won’t get the experience that a true quiz-focused company can give you, both in terms of fun and professionalism. Every other tip we offer below could theoretically be subsumed under this one: Demand the experts.
2. Ask to See Sample Questions
Any trivia provider worth its question marks will be willing to show you samples of their questions and puzzles, so make sure to ask for this. It’ll give you an idea if the company really knows what makes for a quality quiz event–do they produce clever, engaging, original questions (at the Big Quiz Thing, we call many of those “figureoutable”), or do they think an obscure, dry query is good enough (“What’s the weight of the Sun?” is my favorite bad example. The correct answer is “Who cares?”)? Even worse, they might simply “borrow” questions from someplace else (e.g., a Trivial Pursuit deck); believe it or not, I have seen it done, so ask from whence these queries come. The amount of energy a company puts into designing and creating its content is indicative of how much energy it’ll put into making your event a success.
3. Require Multimedia Content
Many trivia events consist of a guy with a microphone asking verbal questions. Again, that can be fun (especially if the questions are decent), but that isn’t a show, and c’mon, wouldn’t your crowd rather play a real quiz show? Quality trivia providers (the Big Quiz Thing among them) incorporate visual puzzles and audio clues for a fully engaging game-show experience (and they’re experienced at working with a venue to make sure things go smoothly from a tech perspective). And again, demand Look for originality like See the BQT’s YouTube page for some examples of our hosted multimedia games, which are a cut above plain old “Who is this a picture of?” visual questions. View examples of multimedia content we use at our hosted trivia events on the BQT YouTube page.4. Make Sure You’re Hiring a Professional Quizmaster
No one individual is more integral to the success of a quiz event than the host, so ask about who will be running your event. Confirm that they have experience in leading not just corporate events, but corporate quiz events–engaging the players, steering the format, presenting the material properly. Some trivia providers employ stand-up comedians or local celebrities as their hosts; again, those people might provide an enjoyable experience, but they’re not professional quizmasters. (Think of it this way: We would strongly advise you against paying a professional quizmaster to give an interpretive dance performance.) Dovetailing with the point about multimedia, look for a company that provides an actual performance, not a dry exercise. After all, if that’s a boring guy reading questions is enough, why not give a microphone to the funny guy in accounting, google “great trivia questions,” and do it yourself? (Pro tip: Don’t do that.)5. Inquire About Custom Quiz Content
The most popular add-on to our standard quiz-show package is customized material–questions specifically about the client company, its staff, its history, its industry. Close to half of our clients request this, especially at noncorporate family/friend events, where we’ve done entire quizzes about the life and times and the likes and dislikes of a guest of honor. Perhaps you’re not interested–like many of our clients, you just want general knowledge, pop culture, etc.–but consider it and inquire about it, since offering this option demonstrates a company’s personalized touch and
6. Read Client Testimonials
A reminder–since this is good advice for hiring anyone for anything, so you surely know this already–but make sure your quiz company has a proven track record of working with and delighting companies like yours. Look at their client list, read their laudatory quotes, maybe even send out a few emails or phone calls. Beware the company whose website doesn’t list any former clients, since their “corporate” experience probably doesn’t extend beyond the founder’s girlfriend’s birthday party. (Though we’ve done that too.)
