Tuesday is quiz night
The quiz is the busiest weeknight you have. Regular teams ring or message on Facebook to say they are coming, and someone writes their name on a list by the till, if they remember. On the night, a new team of eight turns up and there is nowhere to seat them because a regular team of four has spread over two tables. Two teams claim the same corner.
The quizmaster collects entry money in a pint glass, hands out answer sheets and marks them at the bar between rounds, adding up scores on a notepad while the room waits. A disputed answer in round five sends everyone back through the sheets. At the end, the leader board is read out and forgotten, and nobody knows who won three weeks ago when the jackpot rolled over.
Why quiz night admin never improves
The quiz grew from something informal, and the admin grew with it without anyone designing it. Bookings come in through the phone, Facebook messages, Instagram, and a word at the bar, each to a different person. The quizmaster may be a member of staff or a freelance host who brings their own system, or none.
Scoring is the bottleneck. The quiz only feels good if it moves, and paper marking is what slows it down. Meanwhile the one thing that would bring more teams back, telling last week's teams about next week's theme or jackpot, needs a list of contacts nobody keeps.
What a messy quiz night costs
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Bookings in several places | Double-booked tables and turned-away teams |
| No idea of numbers | Too few staff on the bar, or too many |
| Slow paper scoring | Long gaps between rounds and a flat atmosphere |
| Entry money in a glass | No clear record for jackpots or charity nights |
| No team contacts | No easy way to fill a quiet quiz |
A quiz night lives or dies by its regulars. Every team that gets turned away, or sits through a slow night, is a team that might try the quiz down the road next week.
A quiz night that runs itself
- A booking page, linked from your website and social pages, lets teams book for a particular quiz with a team name, captain's contact and number of players. Phone and bar bookings are added by staff in the same place.
- Before the quiz, a table plan is suggested from team sizes, and staff can move teams around on a tablet.
- Entry fees can be paid in advance by card through Stripe or recorded at the bar, so the jackpot or charity total is always known.
- The quizmaster has a scoring screen on a tablet. Scores are entered per team per round as sheets are marked, and the running leader board can be shown on the pub's TV between rounds.
- Disputed answers can be changed and the totals update instantly.
- Teams, scores and winners are stored, so jackpot rollovers, season tables and past winners are always to hand, and teams who opt in get a message about the next quiz.
If your quizmaster already uses a quiz platform they like, we connect the bookings and team list to it rather than replacing their system.
Tuesday night afterwards
By Tuesday afternoon you know twelve teams are booked, with sizes, and the table plan is set. Staff rota is adjusted for a full house. The quizmaster enters scores on a tablet between rounds, and the leader board appears on the big screen while people are at the bar. At the end, the winners are recorded and the jackpot for next week is on the booking page by morning.
- Every booking in one list, whoever took it
- Tables planned before teams arrive
- Fast scoring and a live leader board
- A team list to bring people back next week
Does your quiz night run like this?
- Teams book by phone, message and word of mouth to different people.
- Teams have been turned away because tables were double-booked.
- Scores are added up on paper while the room waits.
- Entry money is collected in a glass with no record.
- You have no list of quiz teams to contact.