Code of Conduct

Be Respectful

Always be fair and courteous to fellow Trivia Mafia employees, customers, players, and the staff of businesses associated with Trivia Mafia. You may get heckled, but keep to the high road when you respond. While some teasing and joking is fun to toss in as a host, we never want to mock or disparage players who don’t know answers — we want to generate an inclusive atmosphere! It’s cool to be kind.

Also, keep in mind that you are more likely to resolve work-related complaints by speaking directly with the Powers That Be than by posting complaints to a social media outlet or general Slack channel. If you decide to post complaints or criticism, avoid using statements, photographs, video or audio that reasonably could be viewed as malicious, obscene, threatening or intimidating, that disparage Trivia Mafia customers, employees, players, or suppliers, or that might constitute harassment or bullying. It could make you liable for defamation, and could jeopardize your employment. It could also be lame.

Expect Respect

We advocate for all our staff, for situations minor and major. Just as players are on the honor system, we trust our employees to act in good faith and do what they can in the moment.

The most common issues arise in making a call during a game related to scoring — if a player feels that they were unfairly denied a point, or that our content was faulty, the host on the scene has to handle that. We back up their decisions, but will always try to hear out a player to ensure that we can get the full context and help determine any coaching or other takeaways (maybe a question should be rewritten, for example). 

If a host is insulted or harassed while at work, Trivia Mafia will work with our business partner to change the environment. We will never ask you to return to hosting at a site where you feel unsafe! When it comes from a player, we'll advocate for that player to no longer be allowed to patronize the business on trivia nights. When it comes from staff at the site, we'll request that they no longer be scheduled on nights when there is trivia. We will talk to our customer contacts about how to create a safe and respectful space. If they cannot accommodate that, then we may end our partnership. The wellbeing of our employees is more important.

Personal Appearance

Trivia Mafia recognizes that mode of dress and standards of personal appearance are a matter of individual taste, but they must not hinder the employee’s abilities to perform their duties. You may be in a bar/taproom, but you’re still at work; clothes should be clean, hygiene should be healthy. If setting up a PA is part of the equation, your clothing should allow for sufficient movement to do that. If you're physically unable to perform actions like lifting a PA, we will work to determine if there the customer staff can assist, or if you'd be better suited at a different site. 

We also ask that any text on clothing be free of swear words and generally considered appropriate for the audience — i.e. if you are hosting at a family-friendly restaurant at 6pm, your ensemble should likewise be family-friendly. We have no issues with tattoos, piercings, hair color, dreadlocks, etc, but we do take into account any customer feedback when a venue finds a host appearance to be a mismatch with the vibe of their business. This falls under the category of reading the room; think of your personal presentation to be a little like the music on your playlist, and adjust accordingly.