How to organize a table quiz

This post has tips for people who are going to run a table quiz, pub quiz or charity quiz-night.

See How to get ready for a table quiz if you are going to participate in a quiz yourself, and want some tips about preparing for the night.

---

I know, let's do a table-quiz!

"How about we run a quiz night?"
"You mean like a pub-quiz, but at our clubrooms?   Sounds like fun, I'll write the questions"
"And I'll be the MC on the night"
"Cool - and we can get Joe to do the, ahh, other stuff, he's good at arranging things, he'll know what to do."
"Great.   How about Tuesday-week?"
"That works for me.  Ok - see you then".

If you wants to know about all the "other stuff" you need to do to run a successful table quiz, then you've come to the right place.

A table or pub quiz can be great fun, or an excellent fund-raiser.  

But making this happen takes lot of panning, preparation and organisation.     It's not difficult - but you need to follow up all sorts of details so that everyone has an enjoyable time.  Read on to find out what's involved in running a quiz-night yourself - from understanding the goals, thru to selling tickets, banking the money and cleaning up afterwards.

Note:   Using a table-quiz preparation checklist may help to keep track of all the details of your quiz.

What happens at a table quiz?

Every table-quiz is different - some quizzes have a few rounds with lots of questions, others have lots of short rounds, some have special rounds or other activities in-between rounds.  

But overall the general pattern is something like this:

• You arrive.   Maybe you came wwith a table of friends, or you may need to meet other people who are looking for a team member.

• Registration:  You are assigned to a table, your entrance fee is collected and you are given a set of answer sheets.

• You choose a name for your team - it's a good idea to write this on all the answer sheets now, so you don't forget later on.

• There is a chance to mix-and-mingle with the other participants, and perhaps have some refreshments.

• The quiz starts: The MC welcomes everyone, gives any last minute announcements, and explains the rules.

• The quiz-master reads out each question in round 1, followed by a pause for you to discuss it with your team and write the answer down.

• At the end of round 1, your answer sheets are collected and, in the background, people start marking your answers.

• The quiz-master reads out each question in round 2.

• At the end of round 2, your answer sheets are collected.

• In the gap between rounds 2 and 3, the quiz-master will probably read out the answers to the round 1 questions, and the everyone's marks are written up onto a scoreboard.

This pattern, of "questions - more questions - answers - scores"  usually continues until half-way through the evening, when there is a refreshments break.

At the break, there may be food, drinks, time to go for a cigarette. And if the purpose of the quiz is fund-raising, there may also be a raffle.

After the break, questions - more questions - answers - scores continues until the last round is over.

The raffle is drawn and prizes are given out, or perhaps there will be some entertainment.

In the background, the markers are marking the answers to the last round, adding up all the scores, and working out which table has the highest score.

If more than one team has the winning score, there may be a tie-breaker round.

The final results are announced.

Prizes or certificates are given out.

There is a short speech, thanking the sponsors, and people who contributed to make the event a success.

At this point, you are free to leave - although sometimes people stay to socialize.

What is a table quiz?

A table quiz is an event in which teams of people, usually sitting around a table, work together to answer questions.

Often the questions are about trivial or general knowledge topics, so the event may be called a trivia quiz.

When a table-quiz is held in a hotel, pub (ie public house), tavern, etc, then it is often called a pub-quiz.

If a table-quiz is held in the evening, then it may be called a quiz night.

If it is in support of a non-profit cause, then it may be called a charity quiz.

Table quizzes may be purely social events, providing the main entertainment at a gathering. Or they maybe be held to raise funds or to attract people to a venue (eg a pub, church or community-centre) who don't usually go there.

Some people say that

"the pub quiz is a modern example of a pub game."  ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pub_quiz

Every quiz is different, but there are many common features:

• People answer questions, often workong together in teams, 

• Questions are organised in rounds
• After each round, the questions are marked and the score is calculated
• The teams with the highest score(s) are the winners.

See more  ....

How to prepare for a table-quiz

What to wear to a table quiz