NYC Trivia Team Building Case Study: Children’s Museum of the Arts

Last week, we had the honor of producing a trivia team building activity for NYC-based Children’s Museum of the Arts. Billed as “A Place for Young Artists,” this nonprofit organization located in SoHo is a true treasure in the city, providing a venue for children old enough to walk to both learn and express themselves artistically – which, in an era of shrinking arts funding for public schools, has never been more important (my wife is a NYC public school teacher, so believe me – I know).

To make this place hum, however, requires a group of incredibly dedicated, hard-working staff members, working long hours to further the organization’s mission. Having recently left my own career within an NYC nonprofit arts institution, upon receiving CMA’s call asking to create a fun, high-energy activity to get their team pumped, I didn’t hesitate!

Following a comprehensive customization meeting to learn as much about the 40+ staff members who would be in attendance, the TrivWorks team set to work researching & writing trivia questions which would be appropriate for the audience – in this case, a group of mixed-gender 20s/30s with arts backgrounds. Based on experience with similar groups in the past, I recommended we kick things off with some broad-ranging trivia, and then go into age-appropriate pop culture questions: TV, movies, music etc. CMA agreed, and we were off and running!

The event itself was held onsite – which, along with helping to keep the cost of the event down, allowed us to utilize one of CMA’s unique spaces, an arts studio, in a new and unique way (I do believe this was the first event we’ve ever done IN an art studio – there was this gigantic water fountain-thing right in the middle of the room, with high-power spray hoses hanging off of it. No, I didn’t spray anything; yes, I was severely tempted to).

This group was EXTREMELY pumped up from the start, which is always a great sign! After breaking into teams and grabbing food/beer, we kicked things off with the “General Knowledge” round, allowing teams a moment to collaborate after each question. Once all 10 questions had been read out, we cranked the music up and encouraged all of the teams to stand up and grab a drink/socialize while grading the answer sheets. Once ready, we announced the scores (CHEERS!), the standings (MORE CHEERS!) and then moved on to the next round.

Round 2 was “TV/Movie,” followed by “Pop Culture.” For Round 4, we broke out an Ipod “stolen” from CMA’s Executive Director, and randomly played snippets of 10 songs for the teams to identify. An impromptu dance contest followed to change the energy in the room up a bit, after which we passed out the final round, which was the “Picture Round” – every team was given a picture sheet with 10 celebrities to identify for a point each, with a special 5-point bonus for correctly guessing what all 10 have in common.

We ended the event on as high a note as possible, reading through all the teams until we announced the winners – who, in this case, got to select a prize from the “Bucket of Awesomeness” – as well as take home the official TrivWorks lip balm (raspberry flavored, FYI).

I was so delighted after the event to have CMA staff approach me, and let me know what a fun and engaging time they had! A positive, dynamic group such as this – bringing such a great energy and enthusiasm to the event – really makes my job a joy, and is a reminder of why I love creating and hosting these trivia team building events as much as I do!

Do you have young children in NYC like I do, and want to give them a world-class arts experience? CMA programs are definitely for you! Check them out online at www.CMANY.org, follow them on Twitter @CMAinNYC, become a fan of their Facebook page or check out their great YouTube channel!