It's Always a Work In Progress

A friend of mine sent this to me today, a not-so-glowing review of my Trivia Night, by some guy named Matt T. from Yelp.com:

If you're mainly interested in going for the trivia though, you might want to think again. Compared to most other trivia nights held in the city, the pace is slow, and the questions don't cover nearly as wide a range of topics as other "general knowledge" games.

As the previous reviewer pointed out, the regulars are suspiciously good, even when considering that the answers are a bit predictable (two this week were repeats from last week). When these regulars get the host's expected "right" answer, even when it is wrong, that's pretty fishy; not to mention that this was a question about the weekly theme, so it's unlikely that they had just heard it before...

On one hand it's great that Professor Thom's is willing to reward loyal customers, but it sure is a shame that they have to do it by alienating potential new ones.

Where do I begin with how far off base this is? First off, I DO NOT REPEAT QUESTIONS. I am careful about the questions I ask and that I have not asked them before, especially in the recent past. If you don't believe me, I post the Q&A here every Wednesday morning, so go back and check the most recent weeks you were here and see if that really is true. You'll find it isn't.

The questions "don't cover nearly as wide a range of topics as other "general knowledge" games?" So, what subjects I am ignoring exactly? My questions cover a broad spectrum of topics, from current events, sports, history, geography, movies, music, medicine, awards, politics and literature, to name just a few. I don't get that criticism at all. Or that "the answers are a bit predictable." I try to mix hard and easy questions to my Trivia Night. I don't want it to turn into "Jeopardy" or an idiot test. I do my best to make it a good balance. Doesn't sound like this "Matt T." has been at many of my Trivia Nights at all.

And this guy takes a blast at my regular players, calling them "suspiciously good." That really offends me, and those who enjoy my Trivia Night and come out every week. He's almost implying that somehow I favor them, or maybe I "want" them to win. Let me assure you sir, that the regulars don't win every week. We've had folks who've been here the very first time and won. Many of my regulars enjoy trivia as much as I do, and maybe they have some smarts, did you ever think of that?

Don't ask me about how I am "alienating potential new customers." Granted we have people who come out on an irregular basis, and I'm sure we may have had folks who only did it once and it may not have been their cup of tea. That's fine. I try to bring good humor to the night, especially when teams give themselves risque names or like to poke fun at me with them. I actually enjoy that, and you have to have a thick skin when running a trivia contest. But it's all for fun, and that is what everyone should remember.

Now, about the pace. I have been criticized about that on occasion, and it has been something I have been working on. Running a Trivia Night, you have to give the folks time to answer questions (although we have the Q Train lightning round and that is the rapid fire round). I give the players a bit of extra time in the IQ Trivia round because those are the harder questions for more points. In this entire review, that was the only thing I found even a valid criticism.

Listen, I'm a big boy and I can take constructive criticism. I get the occasional email from someone who has been to my Trivia Night with ideas on how to improve it, and I welcome any and all suggestions at: jbq1462@hotmail.com. Tuesday Night Trivia is always a work in progress, and we are always looking for ways to make it a more enjoyable experience for everyone.

So, "Matt T.", if you want to reach me with any valid ways to improve my Trivia Night, you know where to find me, sir.