Originally posted at cnbc.com
Megan Fitzgerald has always been a trivia fan, but as the director of brand experience at Talea Beer Co. in Brooklyn she wasn’t convinced it would be a good fit for the female-founded brewery.
In February, she begged friends to come to Talea’s first trivia night, fearing only a few players would show up. Instead, more than 70 patrons joined in.
When people go out, “they want something that’s enriching and engaging and is more than just taking shots or slamming beers,” Fitzgerald said. “Trivia is easy and fun, good for big groups or couples, and you can find it usually just down the block.”
After a few weeks of partnering with the NYC Trivia League to host the Wednesday night games, Fitzgerald said Talea trivia nights were bringing in nearly double the revenue of other weeknights, barring special events. The venue has consistently pulled in nearly 20 trivia teams, increasing food and beverage sales throughout the two-hour game. Bar staff get more tips, too, she said.
Across the country, bars and restaurants are adding trivia events to their weekly or monthly schedules to bring in more guests and turn higher profits. New trivia brands have popped up in big cities and small towns, while some long-standing companies have clawed their way back to pre-pandemic numbers. However, the pace of recovery has been slow as the industry faces staffing struggles, according to trivia company leaders and restaurant owners.
While some bars craft their own trivia questions, others partner with trivia or entertainment companies, which charge a flat fee to provide questions, infrastructure and hosts. The basic idea is to bring in teams who are vying for prizes, to boost business or use extra space on what might be a typically slower night — and build a new base of regular customers.
“Trivia is advantageous for us because it’s profitable to have it during those slower times,” said Nick Marking of The Tap Yard in the outskirts of Milwaukee, which has pulled in about 30% more revenue during trivia nights at its five locations.
“The shows run you a certain amount, and then the prizes also, so you have to look at if it’s worth it to have trivia in the long run considering your profit margin is anywhere between 15% and 25% in the bar world,” Marking said.
NYC Trivia League, which hosts trivia at over 100 venues across New York City, recently surpassed its weekly event count from early 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. The league charges a flat fee for bars and is free for players.
Cullen Shaw, one of the league’s founders, said teams are larger than they were before Covid — averaging about 3.5 people — when many bars barely held on to their trivia nights. Shaw, who hosts trivia nights at The Gaf East on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, added that the league’s switch to a digital platform from pen and paper has allowed for more efficient games.
“We fill the place up, and I don’t think that would be the case if they just put on a basketball or hockey game and hoped a crowd would come in,” he said.
The growth of ‘eatertainment’
Shaw said the NYC Trivia League has recently brought in venues that never saw themselves as trivia bars, adding over a dozen to its lineup this year alone. Retention rates are up in 2023, and the league has become more selective with venues and hosts.
“I’m sure there’s a million trivia apps, but there’s just something about a group competition, there’s something about community when like-minded and competitive people get together in a space to play a silly game but everybody understands the rules,” Shaw said.
According to Mike Kostyo, a “trendologist” at Datassential, the rapid growth of trivia nights is part of a broader move toward “eatertainment,” a fusion of dining and interactive activities ranging from bar trivia to pickleball-dining concepts. Eatertainment has been beneficial for many bars and restaurants given it doesn’t significantly add to labor costs, Kostyo added.
“You’re having a lot more customers in your venue, so you need more back-of-house, front-of-house staff, but it’s not something where you need to hire somebody to manage that. It’s usually an outside vendor doing the trivia program,” Kostyo said.
According to a Datassential report from last year, 82% of Americans have been to at least one eatertainment venue, and over 50% of those diners said they were “very interested” in revisiting such an experience. Eighteen percent of respondents said they would visit eatertainment venues more often if they had regular trivia nights.
“On a trivia night, we are easily doubling our sales from the previous night,” said Will Arvidson, tasting room manager at Brooklyn Brewery, who said the space usually brings in about 150 people for its Thursday trivia event. “It’s sometimes difficult for us to sit people, but we find a way.”
Victoria Dawes and Kristina Cheng, who teamed up on a recent Thursday at Brooklyn Brewery, said they’ve been playing bar trivia for about a decade and agreed it’s more popular now than pre-pandemic. Both said they carve out time each week to bond with friends and show off their random knowledge.
“I feel like we had lost so much connection with each other, and trivia has been a particularly fun way to have very normal interactions again,” Dawes said.
The rise of eatertainment comes as inflation compels more Americans to scrutinize how they spend their money.
According to Datassential’s February Table Stakes Report, 39% of consumers said they’re pulling back on eating out, though Kostyo said cost-conscious people are looking to eatertainment venues for value when they do go out.
“A lot of consumers, they’re stuck at home all day and they don’t really socialize, so they’re looking for those opportunities from the food service industry to socialize with friends and family again,” Kostyo said.
“But that doesn’t mean that they’re back in droves,” he added.
Teams can win cash prizes — as much as $50 or $100 for first place at some bars — or shots, food or free merchandise. Those possible winnings could encourage more spending from players and potentially offset costs for budget-conscious trivia-goers.
Conrad Corretti, who says his trivia team usually places in the top five at Brooklyn Brewery and other venues, said he’s been more likely to cut back on spending on other weeknights so he can spend “more liberally” at bar trivia.
“You’re showing up with your group, and you don’t really have to interact with other people, so it’s been a good activity to hang out with people you don’t always see and have a good time,” he said.
Bumpy road to recovery
With so many new venues hosting trivia nights, Kostyo cautioned bars may “cannibalize each other” as more businesses try to plant their flag in the trivia space. He’s seen more niche topics at trivia nights pull in specific audiences.
To attract more consumers, some companies, like Geeks Who Drink, have recruited new quiz masters and brought on client managers to cultivate relationships with venues. Bryan Carr, marketing director for the trivia company, said the company launched a “twitch” quiz still running today, and it maintained its 15 plus-person writing team to keep creative content flowing.
Bringing back longtime venues and onboarding new ones has been a “slow-moving process,” but the company has continued growing its presence in cities including Denver, Chicago and Austin, Texas. It does full-service pub quizzes in around 650 venues, though that number was around 1,000 pre-pandemic.
“We try to provide venues with a great starter kit to make sure that their event gets going, and we know that it takes at times two to three months to really build up that consistent following,” Carr said. “They really can see a big difference from before they had trivia and then when they have it on these slower off-nights.”
On a trivia night, we are easily doubling our sales from the previous night. … It’s sometimes difficult for us to sit people, but we find a way.
Joshua Lieberthal, founder of California-based company King Trivia, which has venues in about 35 states, said he’s seen considerably more trivia nights today than before the pandemic. However, with tighter profit margins, many bars have been forced to do “vastly more” weekly events to stay afloat, which might explain why the company went from around 200 weekly venues in 2019 to about 325 now.
Still, about 30% to 40% of King Trivia’s pre-Covid clients went out of business, and the rebuilding process has been bumpy.
“It wasn’t like you just got back your old clients when things restarted — it was starting from scratch,” Lieberthal said. “Amazingly, we were more profitable pre-pandemic than we are today, even though we’re so much larger than we were before.”
Attendance and retention are back, more or less, to pre-pandemic levels due in part to the company’s expanded sales and customer services teams, he said. Though every week, Lieberthal said another client goes on hiatus or pushes back a launch date due to staffing troubles.
“Because everyone gets paid more, because it’s hard to staff, you need more people working behind the scenes to make it all happen,” Lieberthal said. “That’s an unfortunate reality that the breakeven point is much higher in this industry than it used to be, but thankfully so many venues want to run shows that it’s doable.”
For Wisconsin-based America’s Pub Quiz, founded in 2007 by Michael Landmann, everything from staffing to the cost of pencil boxes has slowed the company’s pace of growth compared to before the pandemic.
By 2020, the company had 205 venues in eight states. It’s now back to around 175 despite having to start from scratch and contend with higher costs of doing business.
The company created an online system that could handle dozens more teams, but Landmann noticed many venues were unable to keep up with increased demand. Others with ample staff couldn’t find a suitable trivia host.
Tyson Sevier, general manager at Omaha, Nebraska-based Varsity Sports Cafe, which has partnered with America’s Pub Quiz for a decade, said locations have often been short one or two employees on a busy trivia night. That’s a far cry, he acknowledged, from the “employee horror stories” he said he’s heard from other bar owners in the city.
Still, trivia nights at Varsity Sports Cafe pull in $2,000 to $3,000 more compared with other weeknights, he said.
“We have more and more people calling that want to play, so I think that there’s definitely an interest such that only a couple of bars had trivia years ago and now it seems like every bar has it,” Sevier said. “You have to do it now to be competitive.”
You are sitting at a bar trying to take part in a friendly trivia night and you end up with a question that just has you baffled. You have no idea what the answer is and because of this you are going to end up losing yet again. What can you do next time to ensure you are the trivia night champion when it is all said and done?
Believe it or not, there strategies that you can follow to help you win at trivia. These are all tried and true tactics that are going to give you a leg up over your competitors. When you participate in any trivia night that is hosted by Trivia Nation, you have be prepared to bring your best game. This means doing everything from preparation, having the right teammates, having the proper attitude, and so on. Mashing all of these things together is going to give you a real chance to leave that trivia night as champion. Let’s take a closer look at 10 tips to help you win at trivia night.
Preparation
You need to do some preparation beforehand if you want to be a true trivia night champion. The best way to do this is to think about the typical questions that may be asked. If you are in the Jacksonville, FL area for a trivia night, maybe know some facts about the city, sports teams, and so on.
Have a Positive Attitude
You are never going to win anything if you do not have a winning attitude! Go into every trivia night with an attitude where you think and you assume that you are going to leave there as the winner.
Be Open-Minded
Those that get trivia night questions correct the majority of the time are going to be the most open-minded. These are the people that can think outside of the box and really use their brain to figure out whatever question is going to be thrown their way.
Utilize Your Smart Friends
It does not hurt to have a little help from some friends when you are in the middle of a trivia night battle. Have some friends with you that have a lot of trivia knowledge so you can form a winning team.
Let Your Team Members Talk
When you try and dominate a trivia game, you are going to more than likely block out someone who may have the correct answer. You want to let your team members talk and have their voices heard so that they can get the answer to you if they know it.
Follow Your Gut
You want to follow your own gut instinct. When you do this, you are going to be basically following what you think the answer is initially. Typically when you start to question your gut is when you get in trouble and can make major mistakes.
Be Timely at the Start
If you show up to trivia night late, you are not going to have much of a chance at winning anything. This could result in you being on a bad team, missing questions, and so on.
Fuel Your Body
You need to do more than drink at a trivia night. Fuel your body with some quality pub food so that you can have the energy needed to think things through and respond when questions are asked.
Focus on the Fun Factor
You need to have fun when you are taking part in a trivia night. Do not take things too seriously where it really can ruin the whole experience. Focus on the fun factor to get the most of the night out.
Win in a Humble Manner
When you win at trivia night, you do not need to go gloating to everyone around you. Win and remain humble. There are plenty of people around you that could beat you next week!
Trivia night is a lot of fun no matter where you take part in it. Those hosted by Trivia Nation make for great nights out where the competitive juices can get flowing and the laughter goes from start to finish. The next time you want to try and win at a trivia night think about these 10 tips and how you can apply them to your game.
Your general idea and goal was probably to make a bar experience that was unique and attractive to guests in your area. You wanted your business to have a chance to succeed, a chance to grow. When you are a bar owner you are always looking for ways to make your establishment set itself apart from the rest in the area. One of the ways to do this is via what is known as a trivia night.
You may have heard about these trivia nights in the past. We are not talking about your bartender reading off of a piece of paper and just throwing out questions to people though. We are talking about a trivia night experience. A professionally hosted event or events that take place at your bar where your guests can take part, play for prizes, be entertained, and genuinely have a tremendous time. Companies like Trivia Nation in the Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa areas have been paving the way with these professionally-run trivia nights for years now and continue to make their mark on the bar scene. Let’s take a look at why your bar needs to host a trivia night.
Become a Destination, Not a Drinking Hole
You want your bar to be a destination, not just a drinking hole. This means a place where people come to be lively, be entertained and have a great night out. These types of drinking hole establishments are not going to have the growth you are looking for. Trivia nights are going to work to make your bar a true destination. They’ll make your bar a place where nights are planned around, not the place people go after their night ends.
Give Your Guests a Little Variety
There are a million bars across the state of Florida, and the rest of the country in general. You want your guests to have some variety in their lives when they walk into your bar. This means giving them an experience that is different and stands apart from the rest. Trivia nights are going to deliver on this variety in a few different ways. They’ll make your bar an event, they’ll make your bar different and they’ll make it that much more attractive to visit.
Attract Larger Groups of Individuals
The more people that you get into your bar the more chance you are going to have to grow your business. On top of that, the length of time they stay in your bar is also going to matter in a big way to your bottom line. You want to attract large groups of individuals over extended periods of time to try and increase sales and your brand appeal as being a destination bar in Jacksonville, FL. Trivia nights are going to get groups to visit your bar together and when you have an event like trivia night going, they are going to be that much less likely to leave.
Make Your Bar Unique
Every bar should be able to stand on its own two feet for some unique reason. This could be due to the decor of the bar, the televisions that the bar has, the events it holds, and so on. It can be hard to make a name for yourself in the bar scene of in large cities like Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa. When you have a leg up on the competition though with professionally run events such as trivia night, you are going to be truly setting your bar apart from others in the area. Trivia night can make your bar stand out in a crowd and give people a reason to pick you over others in the area.
Trivia night is something that can really help you grow your bar and make it that much more successful. Professionally ran trivia night events in the Jacksonville, FL area, such as those organized and run by Trivia Nation, are going to help you as a bar owner attract groups of individuals to your establishment. They’ll have a reason to choose your bar and will stay there for extended periods of time to have a great night out and take part in some fun and entertaining trivia. Give your guests a reason to visit your bar over the competition with a trivia night.
There are many different options that you can run with. You can sit in and watch a movie on television or go to a movie theater. You could go out and get some food with friends. One of the best options though is to attend a trivia show.
Trivia shows are becoming all the rage across the state of Florida and abroad thanks to our team at Trivia Nation. We work diligently to make trivia shows true destinations 7-days a week, no matter where you are located. So what makes these trivia shows so special? How do they stand above the other options for entertainment on a typical weeknight or weekend night?
A Unique Experience
Trivia shows are true unique experiences. What this means is that what you’ll get at a trivia show put on by Trivia Nation you simply cannot get anywhere else. There are many bars that are going to offer trivia nights, but they really aren’t going to be much in terms of true entertainment. These trivia nights are going to just be a bartender reading off of a piece of paper some questions for people to answer. There really is no show, no flash, no entertainment value.
What a trivia show put on by Trivia Nation in Florida and Georgia is all about a true entertainment experience. This means putting on a show that includes some comedy, lots of laughs, and some quality professionally organized trivia. The end result is a unique experience.
It’s No Fun Sitting At Home
Another reason to go out to a trivia show is simply that it is no fun just sitting at home. Trivia Nation puts on shows across the state of Florida and Georgia pretty much every night of the week. You can find a trivia show in your area simply by searching on their website and finding when the show will take place. Why sit at home when you have access to these shows at some great bars?
Get Out With Some Friends
It is a lot of fun when you have a fun and entertaining show to take part in with some friends. Trivia shows are all about teams and having a good time in a social environment. When you have a group of friends out with you at a trivia show, it is going to bring everyone that much closer together. Once the trivia show gets going, the drinks are flowing, and the food is plentiful, you’ll all have smiles on your faces and be happy you are there together.
Challenge Your Mind
Trivia shows are all about entertainment, but they are also going to get your brain working. You want to challenge your mind when you go out for a night so that you can keep yourself on-point and have some fun in the process. Taking part in a bit of a competitive trivia show can be a fun thing. You don’t have to be afraid of challenging your mind and seeing what you know for trivia compared to your friends and others.
Check Out a New Bar
It never does any harm to check out a new bar in your area. Trivia Nation has trivia shows around Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando and Miami. This means that there are always going to be new bars that you can check out that are going to be hosting these trivia shows. Check out the listing of what is available and use a trivia show as a reason to see where you can go next for a night out.
Trivia shows are unique in terms of the entertainment that they provide. They deliver a competitive environment while allowing you to team up with friends, have a lot of laughs, and enjoy everything that the trivia has to offer. When you are looking for a fun activity to do and get out for a night, go check out a trivia show. There are probably several taking place right in your city on this very night.
When you are planning out a company outing, you have to think about so many different types of people, different personalities that are going to be there, and so on. All of these personalities and egos are going to be thrown together in one location and are going to be expected to get along in a social environment. This is far different than talking to each other in cubicles or offices. When you are planning a company outing, you need events that are going to bring people together and unite them over a common cause.
One of the best things that you can do for your company outing is to plan a trivia night event. These professional events, such as those run by Trivia Nation, are going to deliver an event at your company outing that is going to really accomplish several different things. The trivia night event is going to work to bring people together, help break the ice between professional peers, and give your company outing something to remember it by.
Bringing Professionals Together
We always hear about team building exercises and such in professional environments. Teams of professionals will go off-site for days at a time to try and work together in a variety of tasks. This is all with the goal of trying to build team-spirit and get people to work together for a common goal. A company outing may not seem like the perfect place for this type of team building exercise, but when you have the right event it really can work.
Trivia night is all about bringing people together in an entertaining environment. They can bring professionals together by allowing them to work towards figuring out questions, competing in a friendly and enjoyable environment, all while enjoying each other’s company. This is what trivia night is all about – fun, entertainment, and bringing people together.
Breaking the Ice at the Company Outing
It can be very difficult to break the ice at any company outing. People are very prone to talk about nothing more than work and that’s it. This can make the outing become very boring very quickly. You need to be able to branch out beyond the typical work environment and talk about things other than that. This allows people to build true relationships outside of the workplace. Trivia night is a great way to allow the ice to be broken to get people talking about something other than work.
When you have people working together at a company outing they are going to be working to try and figure out the trivia night questions. They’ll have to be quick on their feet and respond in ways that may not be the most professional. This allows the human side of people to come out, their true self, and this is where a company outing can really become a good time.
Make Your Employees Feel Comfortable
Comfort should be the ultimate goal of any company outing. The whole idea of planning and running the outing is to give your employees a day out of the office. It is a chance to say thank you to them for all of the hard work that they have put in and it is a chance for them to all spend some time together outside of work. You want your employees to feel comfortable so that they can get the most out of this experience as possible. With a trivia night event, it is not hard at all to allow your employees to gain this level of comfort. These events are fun, exciting and are going to allow people to take down their walls and have a comfortable and relaxing experience at the outing.
Trivia night truly is the perfect match for any company outing. A trivia night in the Jacksonville, FL area is going to allow you and your employees to kick back, relax, and take part in a fun and entertaining game that will bring people together. This will help with team building, help break the ice between employees, and allow them to be comfortable enough at the outing where they will truly remember it in a positive way.
We surveyed all of our 75+ hosts to see what was the most irritating part about hosting our events. These were the results, what do YOU think??
Steven: “Song requests that no one has heard of. Me: This song isn’t going to suck, is it? Player: No, this song is SOOO awesome! Then, guess what? It’s the worst song ever.”
Kassandra: “Complaining that the questions are too hard every week. And the people who complain that the questions are too easy. Basically anyone who complains about the questions ALL the time. LOL. How about when servers blatantly look up answers and then tell their teams.”
Bailey: “When my teams send me shots of Tully, secretively, that just randomly appear… JUST KIDDING, I love it! Cheers!”
Ashley: “Turns in an answer then pulls out a phone to google it and not understanding why it matters because they “already turned it in!” Tries to ask me a question WHILE I’m on the mic or asks me to repeat the question for a fourth time because they weren’t paying attention.”
John: “Reaching in the box for supplies right when I just sat it down.”
Craig: “Getting overexcited and in my face with their phone after I read the answer that they incorrectly answered and showing me a Wiki entry or some random non authoritative site.”
Lee: “Contesting their scores after half time when I’m reading the first question of the second half. Or, how about ridiculously folded up answers?”
Bailey: “When my teams send me shots of Tully, secretively, that just randomly appear… JUST KIDDING, I love it! Cheers!”
Heather: “Hmm drunk guys shouting the answer out after I said “please don’t call out the answer”. Asking me if their answer is right every time they turn it in looking for my approval.
Asking to change their answer after they have turned in their “wrong answer”.. like No lol.. Trying to look at the computer to see where they are but acting like they aren’t. LOL.”
Jillian: “Def the shouting out the answers! Soooo annoying! I have one team that every time someone has a higher score than them, they yell out Cheater!!!”
Grace: “Every single time they turn in their answer, they stare at me until I tell them the right answer, even though I’m about to announce it over the mic. Sometimes bartenders help and other teams notice… 
”
Sam: “Asking if it is right as they turn it in!”
Lora: “When they lean over and ask another table for answers or the servers.”
Devon: “Complaints about the winning team cheating… When they clearly are not cheating…”
Cody: “The team who puts ‘5’ on every answer no matter how many times you explain the point wagering system, even when ‘5’ isn’t an option in Rounds 4, 5, & 6.”
Bradley: “People calling out the answer right before you provide the correct answer. Then when they disagree they are shouting that my answer is wrong..Until a google search proves it right, lol.”
Amy: “Looking up the dang answer the second the team they turn theirs in, or standing and staring at me as they bring up answers to try to get it before it’s announced on the mic!!!”
Ally: “Complaints about point discrepancies, even though they’re wrong and we’re right. Be right if you’re gonna whine about it!”
Nikki: “Offering to get paid to stop the show by patrons trying to get shit faced who are not playing. Or the overtly drunk players who cause scenes, yelling out answers or asking as they turn the answer in if it is right….”
Jeremy: “Your question/answer is wrong and here’s an itemized list why…..”
Matthew: “Complaining about the music, but, never having any suggestions or requests.”
Ryan: “My personal favorite… patrons bitching about the music and not even playing trivia! Got to love it.”
Brad: “Being convinced that teams are cheating even as the answers that they “looked up” are turned in with incorrect answers.”
Kristen: “Players who get too drunk and then stop listening to the questions..”
Tim: “Makes their team name something you really can’t say out loud.”
Bryan: “Using the highest point value every time..”
Marcus: “Requesting songs that take forever to find and then they end up being explicit.”
These are just a few of the things that we love about our players…
By investing in a well-structured franchise with low overhead costs, you are buying into a low-risk, high-reward system that is already designed to operate as efficiently as possible.
1. High Chance of Success
Buying a franchise is a great way for an entrepreneur to run their own business, and to start off fully equipped with all the prepared and provided tools for success. Buying a franchise is much safer than starting your own company from scratch, and is a much safer way to become your own boss. You will position yourself in the favor of success if you choose wisely and invest in a franchise that has a proven track record.
2. Brand Awareness & Marketing
Consumers are more likely to engage with brands that they are familiar with — this builds the trust factor and cultivates the relationship between the brand and the consumers. When you buy a franchise from a reputable brand, the franchisor has already set the tone for the corporate brand reputation. Your duty as a franchisee is to maintain an already established brand, rather than having to start from scratch and build up your own reputation.
3. Easier Financing Process
Since investing in a successful franchise model is a low-risk high-reward investment, lenders are much more comfortable loaning money for the purpose of franchising. It is much more difficult to obtain financing for your own entrepreneurial endeavors than for an entrepreneurial endeavor that consists of purchasing an already-successful franchise.
4. Training Is Provided!
When you buy a franchise, you can skip the tedious and very costly trial-and-error processes of starting your own company. The best franchisors provide a complete training program that shows you the ropes well before you launch your franchise — this makes sure that you are able to manage your franchise efficiently and without the typical new business beginner errors.
5. Built-In Support System
By investing in a franchise, you are buying into an entire support system — you become a part of the team. When you invest with a reputable brand, the franchisor will always have your back and be ready to provide support as needed. You will also be able to communicate and collaborate with other franchisees as well. You will have a whole network of like-minded individuals with the same goals and core values!
Looking to take the franchising leap (and to hit the ground running)? You might be interested in Trivia Nation, our premier trivia hosting company. Our players are cool, outgoing people who want to have fun — and so are our franchisees!
Lure in the customers on slow nights with some friendly competition that’ll keep them coming back for more. By creating a friendly atmosphere with weekly restaurant and bar game nights, you can create camaraderie amongst your customers, and suddenly your game nights develop into so much more. This friendly and upbeat culture turns everyone’s “regular Tuesday night” into “thriving Tuesday nights” at your location!
1. Drinking Games
Liven things up by putting together a fan favorite for competition — a Beer Pong or Flip Cup tournament, with prizes! Host a tournament once a week (on a slow night), or have an ongoing tournament that culminates in a major championship at the end of every month.
2. Live Trivia
What better way to amp up the vibe on a slow night than with some lively, well organized trivia. Trivia Nation shows are very interactive, involve cash prizes, and frequent theme nights that get customers excited and ready to eat, drink, and show off their trivia skills with friends and family.
3. Cornhole Championship
This is an excellent option if you have an outdoor area and if you are lucky enough to be in a location with warm weather. What better way to spend happy hour than with a drink in one hand and a cornhole bean bag in the other — may the best player win!
4. Darts
Darts are an easy and fun way to amp up the vibes at your location. Make it more enticing by awarding prizes on certain nights of the week (such as a free appetizer if you hit the bullseye 3 times within one minute!). Get creative with the prizes, or even relabel the targets with “prizes” instead of points.
5. Invest in Table Games
Table games are a tried and true way of bringing in customers who are looking for more than just a sit-down dining experience. Installing table games such as air hockey, foosball, ping pong, or pool can often bring in customers who are looking for an engaging and fun night with friends.
You know that guy who knows everything, argues with the host about facts, the one that is bitter they lost, claiming every winning team is cheating, you know.. that guy… No better way to kill our night other than being “That Guy” or “That Team”.
First off, no one has fun when you’re being that guy. You are the only one enjoying your dramatic demonstration of arguing wikipedia skills. You were wrong, it’s okay. You don’t need to go post on our wall, email, or text your second cousin twice removed in Oklahoma an angry text of your trivia companies “incompetence”. We mess up from time to time, if you wanted a computer there’s an app for that! Of course we would enjoy your company, weekly, but without the commentary.
Two, we don’t need every tidbit. You know that guy who lingers too long at the host’s stand, telling the host everything that happened in the same decade that the Wizard of Oz came out. Most of the time the guy isn’t even playing our game, “It wouldn’t be fair because I would win..” he says. .. So instead of preaching about the origin of Ronald Reagan’s middle name, go get a beer or at least bring the host one as you drunkenly preach about Bill Cosby’s rights.
Three, it’s all for fun. Just relax, your child’s life is not on the line. You will not need to hire Liam Neeson to find your ex wife and daughter for forgetting Patrick Swayze’s character name is Ghost. Sam Wheat, it’s Sam Wheat. The world will still continue to circulate on it’s titled 23.5 degree axis, we at Trivia Nation promise!
So put the phone away, come with a great attitude, keep in mind that sometimes we may mess up or get something wrong. When we do get a shot, relax and keep killing it! Anything, but just don’t be that guy!
*FYI – The word ‘man’ was originally gender neutral, meaning more or less the same as the modern day word “person”. It wasn’t until about a thousand years ago that the word ‘man’ started to refer to a male and it wasn’t until the late 20th century that it was almost exclusively used to refer to males. So, call us old school, but, ladies and gents please don’t be offended. Guy could be whoever; man, woman, transformer, wookie, seahorse, ect., the annoying player is all the same to us!
It is a great way to get a group of friends together, go out somewhere, and just enjoy the company of one another. There are ways that you can work to win as a team at trivia night. There are far too many teams at trivia night who work in silos and end up losing as a result. Putting in some work can help you function as a unit and come out with a victory.
Keep an Open Mind
The first thing that you want to do is to keep an open mind. This means being open to everyone’s opinion and allowing every single person to have a voice. You never want to just ignore people when it comes to trivia. Even someone who is terrible at trivia may have the answer to a question that you have absolutely no idea as to what the answer is. Having this level of awareness is going to allow you be able to take advantage of the knowledge of each and every person.
Don’t Discount the Random Guess
You never want to discount the random guess. How many times at an Orlando trivia night have you had an idea of what the answer is, but never said it as you thought it was too random to ever be right? This happens far more often than you think. When a team member has a random guess and you have nothing better to go with, give it a shot. You never know when that answer is going to be correct and you’ll get points out of it as a result.
Name a Leader
Every team does need a leader in some capacity. This is going to be the person that spearheads everything and makes the final decision as to what answer to submit for the team. When you have no leader, you may end up with no direction and not getting answers in on time or accurately. A leader should be one that can hear everyone out, but also make a decision that is in the best interest of the team.
Winning at an Orlando trivia night is not going to be an easy task. The events that we put on at Trivia Nation are second-to-none. You are guaranteed to have a lot of fun, a lot of laughs, and really be entertained. To come out victorious though, you need a team willing to work together.