Roving Trivia: The Networking Event Planner’s Secret Weapon

When I first launched TrivWorks almost 20 years ago, I intended for it to be a trivia team building and corporate entertainment company. Trivia works great for group bonding, and I wanted to recreate the experience I saw as a quizmaster at bars New York City in a workplace setting. I always enjoyed mixing the format up a bit, with interstitial games between team rounds, celebrity emcees, etc. However, I didn’t think I’d have any other offerings beyond the core element of a professional team trivia competition. 

I can’t remember exactly when I first introduced “roving” as an entertainment format, however I believe it was roughly ten or twelve years ago. I’ve had the honor of partnering with illusionist/mentalist Ryan Oakes, one of the most in-demand corporate magicians working today, and have seen him perform many times. Part of his standard show is strolling “walkabout” close-up magic, usually as part of a cocktail-style event. I remember seeing how much people enjoyed it, and thought: why can’t we do this with trivia?

And so, “roving” trivia was born as a TrivWorks format offering!

I’m not saying I’m the first person to come up with this. But how often do you see someone walking around asking trivia questions? It’s pretty unique – but it’s also extremely fun, and it REALLY works well for one of the main reasons my clients hire me, which is to get people to know each other better. In fact, it’s now a standard part of the TrivWorks experience! Let’s take a look more closely at this unique format: what it is, how it works, and how it can be successfully applied in various settings.

What is Roving Trivia?

Put simply, roving trivia is a very casual means of interactive audience entertainment. A professional corporate emcee informally works the event space, approaching small groups of people and asking them trivia questions. Not a ton of trivia questions, and not just any type (more on this below). The intention is to get people interacting and engaging in conversation, so that they’re not just awkwardly standing around making uncomfortable small talk.

What Types of Questions are Asked During Roving Trivia?

As mentioned, with roving the idea is to promote socialization. We want to warm the audience up, and serve as an icebreaker for professional networking. As such, the questions we ask are specifically designed to be answered collaboratively. Rather than asking “What’s the capital of Country X” and having just one answer, we like to say, “Name all 8 countries that have X” or similar. The effect is that people immediately start belting out responses – some correct, some not – which they then feed off of one another to figure out the remaining answers. Sometimes the emcee gives hints, to steer them in the right direction. Hopefully, by the end the small group will have figured out all of the answers, while also enjoying the satisfaction of having accomplished something together.

How Long Does Roving Trivia Last?

Since this format is free-form and casual by nature, there’s really no set start or end time. As Ryan Oakes put it to me years ago when I asked him about his strolling close-up magic, it’s not “how long” but “how much.” What will it take to reach as many people as possible in the space, in the time allotted? Clearly the number of people in attendance affects this, as does the physical layout of the venue. But when TrivWorks entertains audiences with roving-style trivia, we try to “touch” as many people as we can – ideally everyone, if possible. This could be as short as 15-20 minutes before a team trivia event, or upwards of 2-3 hours for a cocktail-style party with no structured entertaining.

What Events Does Roving Trivia Work For?

Roving trivia is ideal for free-flowing/cocktail-style receptions, mixers and parties – which is why it works so well for professional networking events. It can easily be done with one or more professional emcees, who circulate throughout the space. Whether people are congregating together at the bar, at a hi-top table, at couches, or even just standing around, the emcee can walk over and start throwing around questions. Roving also can work during a meal, once guests are seated at their tables – so there’s that option, too!

What Does Roving Trivia NOT Work For?

I wouldn’t recommend roving as a structured activity, i.e. everyone is seated and the emcee has the room’s attention while circulating on a microphone. I also wouldn’t recommend it while something else is happening onstage that’s occupying the room’s attention. You also need to be mindful of the purpose of a networking event, which is of course for people to talk to each other! We don’t want to linger too long with any one group of people asking questions, since that takes valuable time away from them networking.

Are There Prizes?

For this entertainment format, I tell my clients that there’s two things we can do as far as prizes. The emcee can hand out small items, whatever will fit into their pockets: candies, stickers, trinkets, etc. This is for practical purposes, since by definition the entertainer is mobile and doesn’t want to be laden with heavy items, or not be able to use their hands.

The other thing we can do (which I prefer, actually) is to hand out raffle tickets, to be drawn at the end of the night. We’re generous with handing tickets out, for three reasons: 1) it encourages people to stick around till the end of the event; 2) people like raffles and winning prizes; and 3) it creates buzz and excitement at the event. When you see people walking around holding raffle tickets, you ask where they got them. “From that trivia guy over there, he’s asking questions and giving them away!”

Some of the best feedback I’ve had from events this year has been about roving trivia. People really love it – the way it engages an audience, gets small groups of people talking/laughing, and serves as a warm icebreaker. All of this adds up to a really unique interactive element for professional networking events. People rely on these types of networking opportunities at meetings, conferences and trade shows to get to know others in their industry. By simply having a professional trivia host working the space asking fun questions, attendees get so much more out of the experience than they otherwise would have. I guarantee it!

For a related article, check out “Roving Trivia: A Great Informal Event Entertainment Option.”