Timeline

Timeline of a Trivia Hosting Shift

Trivia Mafia employees are paid for 2.8 hours of work; however, most hosts are actually working a slightly shorter shift.

A Trivia Mafia game should run at least 1.5 hours, but no longer than 2 hours. Too long, the players will get antsy. Too short, the customer site is losing patrons. An hour and forty-five minutes from reading rules to announcing winners is just right! But we recognize that individual sites will have different vibes and expectations, so hosts have some flexibility within that window.

We ask hosts to arrive onsite about 20-30 minutes before the game begins

Phases of the Event

We'll go over each phase on its own in subsequent sections here, but the basic breakdown goes like this:

Pre-Game
First Half
Intermission
Second Half
Post-Game

Nuances

Make sure to read each question twice. After the first time through, say something like, “That question again,” and read it again. In the app, reveal the question before you read it the second time.

End each question by saying, “That is question X of round Y.”

Round 1 is always General Knowledge, so you can dive right in to the first question after the rules. Give about 1 minute between each question, and about 2-3 minutes between each round.

During Round 1, you’ll want to make sure to point out that Round 4 is an Image Round, and they have until the end of the first half to complete it! It is already revealed in the app, but you’ll still want to read the title and description. (If you’re on pen and paper, it’s at a unique URL provided in the Host Email, at triviamafia.com/XXX with the last three characters changing for each block of questions during the week.)
For subsequent rounds, read the name of the round and the full description (starting with Round 2). There may be an example; players can see the description in the app but not examples! That’s the only time they’re allowed to shout out answers, which can be fun.
Be sure to remind teams about completing Round 4 between questions. You can do it after every question 5, or before every question 4, whatever works for you - just as long as they get several reminders.
Once you get through the last question of Round 3, let them know that it’s the end of the first half! Give them about 2-3 minutes to finish submitting all their answers for the first FOUR rounds, and tell them you’ll be locking the rounds for grading (i.e. “you have three minutes, which on my clock means we’ll lock it up at 7:48”). Then at that time, announce that you are locking the rounds (or ask them to bring up their answer sheets). This is the Intermission, so it’s a great time to nudge people to order another drink/food item.
After you finish scoring (and hand back the sheets, if needed), read the answers to Rounds 1 thru 4. You can truncate the questions on this reread.
- For example, the question, "In Australia and the United Kingdom, they call something that you might find at a construction site or a music festival a 'thunder box.' In the U.S., it is most commonly known as what?" becomes, "In Australia and the UK, they call it a thunder box - but it's known in the US as a Port-a-Potty!"
Update the Leaderboard in the app, and ask teams if they have any quibbles, concerns, or corrections that need to be addressed. Give them a minute or two to review the credit they were given! Then congratulate the team that is currently in first place, and roll on into Round 5.

The halfway point is a good time to count how many teams are playing and estimate the average team size (which you need to know for the Host Feedback). If there are teams that joined in the app but didn't submit more than one round of answers, you shouldn't count them.

Before you start Round 5, be sure to mention the Mega Round. Some hosts do the full explanation at the top of the second half, some just tease it and do a full explanation around Round 7. Just make sure you do dedicate time to explaining it clearly, and give several reminders!

SAMPLE SCRIPT:

Don’t forget to give yourself extra points by assigning a Mega Round. You can choose Round 5, 6, 7, or 8 to be your Mega Round. Here’s how that works: Pick the round you feel the best about, the one where you know you got the most correct answers. Then go to the Mega Round section in the app, select that round number, and assign 5 points to the answer you’re most confident about. Your next best answer, give 4 points. And so on, down to 1 point for the answer you’re least confident about. That’s 15 points total if you ace your Mega Round. Let me know if you are confused! If you don’t assign a Mega Round, you can’t win, because Math.

Round 6 is a Lightning Round. This just means you read it faster. Instead of reading one question every minute or two, introduce the round name and description, and then read all five questions in a row. Reveal them in the app, then repeat all five questions (they’re usually single words or short phrases) and give the teams a slightly longer break (maybe 4 minutes) to work on it before moving on to Round 7. Some hosts like to hide these questions after that break, to increase the difficulty, but that’s dealer’s choice (and not necessary).
The Sound Round happens at Round 7. Don’t forget to tell people the theme of the Sound Round before you play the songs. Follow along with the song-snippets, and tell people which number they’re listening to (i.e. “That was #1, here it comes again... That was #2, here comes #3...”). The sound round is one continuous mp3 with breaks built in, so you can just hit “play” and let it run to the end, or you can manually pause to make the breaks longer. Each clip plays twice.
- Some locations CAN’T run the Sound Round. It’s possible that the tech setup doesn’t allow it, but in many cases, it’s because the venue doesn’t have the licensing for it. If copyrighted music is used for an event that the customer is paying for in their space, typically they need to have BMI/ASCAP/SESAC licensing for it. If Trivia Mafia plays music as an explicit part of the game, then they can be fined by those litigious organizations working to protect musicians licensing rights. If the ICOE says No Sound Round, please don’t ever play the sound round, even if you think you could make it work technically.
- Those locations have a second image round instead. This automatically appears as Round 7 in the app when Sound Round is toggled off at the point when you were setting up the game, or as a second unique URL for locations using paper (just like Round 4). We recommend introducing it after Round 6, and revealing the images one at a time with just 20-30 seconds between each.
At least twice during the night, lead a round of applause for the bartenders and servers, and remind everyone to tip them generously for all their hard work. Get to know the staff personally (they’re your greatest allies during a trivia night) and introduce them to the players over the microphone. They love that.
Near the end of the night, remind everyone to visit TriviaMafia.com, where they can sign up for the email newsletter “The Morning Rounds.” That has fun facts from our Editorial team, five free questions, and info on our schedule each day, and hints on the rounds at the very bottom. (It’s also a good idea for you, the host, to sign up to receive the newsletter, because it’s so good.) Winning teams can also see their pictures appear on the landing page for the location.

After the Party is the After Party

Fill out the “Host Feedback” form within 24 hours of your event: hosts.triviamafia.com
Click "Regular Night"
Password: FeedMe

This link and reminder is also included in every Question email that goes out on the day you host.

This is where you upload those team photos, and lets us know how many people played, what their scores were, and any other notes you have about the event. We may provide these stats to our customers, and it is the best way for us to know if you need support (marketing the event, getting better sound gear, navigating player issues, shifting the editorial content, etc etc.)

Do not forget or neglect your Host Feedback duty! It is required, and will affect your job prospects if you habitually forget.

Host Feedback is recapped and reviewed every week on Tuesdays by the Admin Staff (all of Editorial, Sales, Host Manager, Brand Engagement, Systems + Chuck and Brenna).
If you need to share something personal or sensitive that you'd rather not have read by a dozen people, after you complete the feedback with the basics, just email or message the Host Manager/key person.