Trivia night

A trivia night can take many forms, from being a fund raiser to being an annual competitive tradition!

Here's a few general suggestions:

• Split the group into tables - these tables make up the teams.  Tables can come up with their own names or alternatively give each table a number.  Ideally the name or number should be prominently displayed
  
  
• Plan for around 5-8 "rounds" of questions, grouped into categories (eg General Knowledge, Sports, History, Local knowledge, TV, Biblical, etc).  See below for more information on how you can get a bit creative. 
  
  
• The MC should read out the questions and each table writes down their answers on a piece of paper.  If possible, have pre-prepared papers on each table with table name / round number /   question number / etc.  Have one piece of paper per round
  
  
• After each round, tables swap answers and mark each others questions (honesty system applies!).  Once marked, they should bring them up the front to someone who keeps a running total. 
  
  
• Have a break between each round to allow for socializing.  If it's a fund raiser, you can conduct other activities between rounds (see below)

Creative ideas for questions

• Music - burn a CD with 5/10 second snippets of songs.  Play them one by one with a 30 second break in between each one.  The teams have to guess the song (artist and title)
  
  
• Movies - burn a DVD with 20 second snippets of movies.  Play them one by one with a 30 second break in between.  The teams have to guess the movie. 
  
  
• Famous faces - hand out an A4 sheet of paper with 16 photos of famous people - people have to guess who they are.  Use google images to find the photos (just be wary copyright restrictions may apply)
  
  

In between rounds

• Conduct a Silent Auction (have a display table with some goods donated by businesses, with a sheet of paper where people can "bid" for the goods). 
  
  
• Organize someone to speak promoting a cause (if fund raising)
  
  
• Play another game to give away a prize (such as True or False or Sit Down If).  If you are fund raising, one option is to get people to donate a coin to play or enter the games
  
  
• Get a representative of each table to come up the front and play a game (such as Karaoke, Charades, etc).  Winner gets points for their team. 
  

Other recommendations

• Don't underestimate the importance of a good MC.  Ideally it's best to find someone charismatic and funny - a good MC can be the difference between an average night and a memorable one!
  
  
• Make sure you ban mobile phones to stop people Googling the answers!
  
  
• Ensure you have a volunteer looking after "administration" of the night - adding up scores, helping with music, collecting money, etc.  It's difficult to run a Trivia night on your own!