Which popular board game, originating in India, was invented to teach about Karma? I thought that was a good question. The answer to which I of course didn't know until a couple of weeks ago.
We've never planned a quiz before, not the whole thing anyway. Last year when we had our first quiz at The Windmill we had help and someone else came up with the questions. This time around it was down to Anna, Anita and me. I'm fortunate in that I have the head space while at work to let my mind go into such things, so I'd been giving it some thought for a few weeks. Mulling it over and remembering quizzes I'd enjoyed. Put on, seemingly effortlessly by their hosts. Right from the early days of designing the website and planning our first events I've had Indian Futures in my head for some, or most, of the day. The benefits of working a manual job!
So, how does one put on a fun quiz that's challenging but not too challenging? Will people enjoy our round dedicated to all things Brighton? Are our general knowledge questions general enough? And...the major concern; will people have a good time?
The night of the quiz at The Caxton comes around at lightening speed. The questions are written, the answer sheets printed and the play dough bought (yep, grown ups do love a bit of play dough with their pint!).
I felt excited, it was going to be fun. Wasn't it? Generally, as a group of three fundraisers, we're always a little nervous ahead of an event. We're still cutting our teeth in the world of fundraising after all. Anna and I were particularly nervous as we'd agreed to "say a few words" before Anita took the mic and charmingly played the role of quiz master!
The talking was over, thirty seconds of my life passed by in a second and I'd uttered a few things down the microphone that I hope people understood.
The quiz was underway and who knew just how much fun it would be? I enjoyed going around and chatting to the teams, we knew lot's of the faces their thanks to our supportive friends! There was also the teams we didn't know, the young couple nervous about our Brighton round as they'd only just moved here and the two guys taking their time with the play dough to produce a fine looking Ganesh!
It turns out the quiz was everyone's. That early sense of nerves soon evaporated upon seeing everyone having a great time. So much good feedback, many people thanking us for a great night and chucking a couple of quid in the pot so they could delve into the lucky dip on their way out (the polystyrene balls feel good, you should try it).
We raised £211 that night, a fantastic amount that I happily put into our bank account a couple of days later - turns out this fundraising lark is really fun!
Oh, and the classic board game teaching about Karma? Snakes and ladders. Obviously.
