A Quizmaster is Born
Probably the most common question I am asked when people find out I own a trivia company is, “How did you get into this?” It’s a valid question, one that I’ve been asking myself for almost 5 years now. The answer?
It just kind of happened.
In the Summer of 2006, I was living on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and had just started my new job as a programming associate at The 92nd Street Y. A new Irish bar, The Gael Pub, had just opened nearby, and they began hosting a weekly “pub quiz”- a gimmick I’d never heard of, but which was apparently quite popular back in Ireland. I started going with friends- the host was humorous, the competition light (only about 6-7 other teams) and it was – well, it was just fun.
After several weeks, though, the host- who was being compensated with free reign of the bar- had a little too much and got into a fight (yes, a trivia night fight), and was subsequently removed from his post. His replacement the following week was extremely boring- she just read the questions & answers in a monotone voice, took forever to grade the answer sheets, and well- it was no longer fun.
My friends said to me, “Dave, you should be the host here- you’d be great at this!” Thinking of my flexible work schedule (I was working 12-8pm back then) as well as my proximity to the bar, I figured what the heck and gave the bartender my number. A few weeks later I got a call that I should come in; the bartender would provide the trivia questions, and I’d just need to read them out and keep score.
And so I did.
And I’ve been doing it ever since!
In my next post, I will discuss where things went from there.
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