Using Trivia Night as an NYC Singles Event Activity

Yesterday, we announced that we would be partnering with HurryDate© to produce a special, first-of-its-kind pub quiz night for NYC singles. While this is indeed the first time that HurryDate© – a prominent speed dating company and subsidiary of Spark Networks, home of such venerable online dating Websites as JDate.com, ChristianMingle.com and BlackSingles.Com – is using pub quiz as an “offline” event activity, I actually have had some rather unique experience in this area.

In my previous employment before taking on TrivWorks full-time this year, I served as director of adult education and enrichment programs at the 92nd Street Y, a major nonprofit cultural and community center in Manhattan. In this capacity, I oversaw 500 annual classes, lectures and events covering a wide range of program areas including personal/professional development, humanities, languages, excursions throughout the city, hobbies & games, food & wine, writing, literature – and a robust singles program.

Yes, it’s true: for 6 years, I actually planned and ran singles events for New York City’s unattached. Trust me, it’s not something I set out to do or ever thought I’d be doing, yet as it turns out I’ve probably been to more singles events than anyone you or I know combined – as an organizer, rather than as a participant. In so doing, I have inadvertently became somewhat of an expert in the black arts of running singles events – which, for those who may have had some experience with this, know that they are different from any other type of event out there.

Singles events present unique challenges for organizers, each of which must be dealt with carefully. Despite all best intentions and genuine desire to help create a comfortable environment where singles can meet and mingle, given the extremely personal nature of singles events, the stakes are quite high – and the margin for error very, very low.

The simple fact with singles events is that, unlike most events out there, the ultimate success or failure of the function is determined by the attendees themselves. You can have the most ideal venue, the best entertainment, most compelling activity and perfectly poured drinks – however, if the wrong audience shows up, the event is considered a failure.

What exactly is the wrong audience, anyway? Anybody who has attended a singles event, past or present, knows that there are always 3 factors at play: number of attendees, age appropriateness, and gender ratio. Let’s look at each individually:

• Number of Attendees – Simple math, really. The more people who attend a singles event, the greater chance you have of meeting somebody; conversely, not enough people means that attendees have fewer options available.
• Age Appropriateness – By and large, people attend singles events looking to meet someone who is appropriate for their age; that said, men have a tendency to want to date younger women – a theory which proves itself time and again at singles events, and which makes for some uncomfortable & awkward situations. If an event is marketed towards as 20s crowd, expect 30-something guys to show up. 30s-40s? You will absolutely have men in their 50s milling about. 40+? Don’t be surprised to see lots of white beards.
• Gender Ratio – The big one. Are there an equal number of men and women present? Another pattern which stands the test of time is that women will secure their tickets in advance, while men tend to be more impulsive, and go the night of. The result is that the event can have tons of women registered, and few (or no!) men. Bad scene…bad.

It’s a challenge to maintain all of these factors, since the singles event organizer really has little control over them. How do we know how many people will attend? How can we keep it age appropriate, without being accused of age bias? (a genuine concern, in this day and age). How will we know if/how many men will show up?

Fortunately, the pros at HurryDate© know how to handle these very sensitive issues better than anybody. What more, they are experts at managing factors they ARE able to control at the event – venue, entertainment, activity etc. So why trivia?

First of all, the activity has to be fun and inclusive. People are already a bit nervous going to a singles event, and chances are they are attending solo. With trivia, every attendee will be playing in a team – so no matter if you go to a trivia event alone or with a friend, you will never be a wallflower. Plus, the fun is a given…!

Trivia events are also naturally social. Time is needed in between trivia rounds to grade answer sheets – a perfect time for people to stand up, grab a drink and meet others in a relaxed, non-forced way. As everyone in the event will be sharing the same experience, everyone will have something in common to talk about (ex: “Did you know the answer to that movie question?” “I can’t believe they asked about that song, I haven’t heard it in years!” etc.).

And let’s not forget the competitive spirit coming into play – teams are competing to win, and when your team wins (or comes close to winning – or even loses, badly) you still form a bond with the other members. I can guarantee that everyone leaves a trivia singles event feeling that they got to know their team members – even just one other team member – well.

Next Tuesday, May 8th are looking forward to kicking off this unique NYC experiential marketing activity with HurryDate©’s first trivia night, and it’s going to be a blast!