Run of Show

A Trivia Mafia event should last 1.5 to 2 hours. Too long, the players will get antsy. Too short, the customer site is losing patrons. Two hours from intro to pack-out, just right.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE (for 8pm start)

7:40pm Arrive and set up sound, then set up the game in the app site, jotting down the game code. Place your order with the staff, if desired. 

7:50pm Make an announcement inviting everyone to play the FREE trivia game starting in just ten minutes. Share the app mobile site address and the game code. Begin passing out app cards, or answer sheets + pens.

8:00pm Introduce yourself. Go over the rules. Let people know they can still join at any point. Introduce Image Round (Round 4), which is already revealed in the app; make sure teams know how to find the slideshow online if you’re using answer sheets. Begin Round 1.

8:13pm Begin Round 2. Announce prizes and thank the staff. Remind players about working on Round 4. Repeat the rules if you had any late joiners. 

8:23pm Begin Round 3. Remind players they need to finish Round 4 by the time Round 3 is done.

8:38pm Give a 2-minute warning before locking the rounds. Lock rounds/collect sheets and grade the first half. Let players know they have about ten minutes to refresh their drinks, stretch their legs, etc!

8:55pm Read first half answers. Update the leaderboard. Announce first half leader, then give a minute for any corrections or clarifications from teams.

9:01pm Remind everyone of the rules. Invite latecomers to join. Begin Round 5. If using an Image Round for Round 8, you can introduce it and reveal it now (or wait until after Round 7).

9:12pm Explain the Mega Round. Begin Round 6 (Lightning Round).

9:18pm Begin Round 7. Shout out the staff.

9:30pm Mega Round explanation/reminder. Begin Round 8; if a Sound Round, play through MP3. If using a second Image Round and it hasn’t been revealed yet, introduce and reveal all images now, allowing at least five minutes for teams to work on it.

9:35pm Give a warning before locking rounds, and remind people again about the Mega Round. Lock rounds/collect sheets. Correct the answers; hand back sheets.

9:45pm Read answers and then update leaderboard. Announce winners after players have a minute to review and address any disputes about scoring. Take photos and hand out prizes.

10:00pm Fill out Host Feedback, settle any balance on your tab and tip the staff. Pat self on back for another successful and fun trivia event!

Nitty Gritty

The Rules

1. Use your noodle, not your Google.
2. Please don't shout out answers. 
3. Teams should be eight people or fewer. 

Notes on the Rules:

We ask people to use the internet to enter their answers, not to look them up! The game is much more fun when it's a conversation between teammates, and the results are more satisfying when they came from folks' own heads. Emphasize the value in being honest, and remind them that Googling is cheating, and cheaters get indigestion, bad karma, etc.

Shouting in a bar or taproom can sometimes be part of a fun atmosphere, but when it's trivia answers, it frequently comes from people who are not, in fact, playing. You can use the line, "I don't yell at you when you're at work, so please don't yell at me." Or you can tell them that they're giving away free points, and if they know so much, why aren't they playing? You'll find more options for managing hecklers in the What If section, but it's always valuable to remind people to behave up front. 

As to team size - in general, use your best judgement. We have set eight as the limit for regular trivia (and six players per team for theme trivia); for every person over the limit, the team is docked one point. The point comes off of the final score (after you lock Round 8). Some sites' owner/managers will encourage large teams, and since the prize value is the same no matter how many players, you can follow the guidance of the staff at the site.
You'll also want to be judicious about children - unless it's "Bluey" trivia, humans who can get discount meals (i.e. 11 and under) probably shouldn't count against team totals. However, when a group of adults is pointing to the ninth person at the end and saying, "Oh, they're not really playing," you should still count that person because of how it appears to other teams. 

If you have a big team, make sure that you are telling them that they'll lose a point as soon as you notice their size! (It might be good to even

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.

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.

• 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. Then update the Leaderboard in the app, and ask teams if they have any quibbles or corrections that need to be addressed. Make sure they have at least a couple minutes to review the credit they were given! Then announce the team that is currently in first place, and roll on into Round 5.

• 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).

• Before you start Round 7, be sure to explain the Mega Round.

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.

• 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.)

• The Sound Round happens at Round 8. 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 8 in the app in the “No Sound” blocks, or as a second unique URL for locations using paper (just like Round 4).