Tuesday 22 November 2011

Who's A Naughtie Boy Then?

Radio 4 Today presenter James Naughtie (also famed for his on air spoonerisms) fronted up our annual quiz for English PEN last night at the Royal Institute of British Architects.
There wasn't a Jeremy Hunt in sight, although Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, was on the Times team.

Top three scores on the doors, in what is designed to be one of our toughest quizzes of the year, were: The Agile Agents (A P Watt) (64/75), The Telegraph (63/75) and The Times (63/75). Bottom of the heap of 23 teams were Bloomberg (34/75).
Congratulations to everyone who took part - tons of money was raised for English PEN (which does splendid work campaigning for press freedom around the world) through ticket sales, joker rounds and new membership sign-ups.

Saturday 19 November 2011

Kelkoo Coo Over Our Journalists' Quiz

We've had some great feedback from Kelkoo, the price comparison people, following the dinner quiz we designed for national journalists in London on Thursday. It's the second year Kelkoo have hired us for this key event in their PR calendar.

Kelkoo spokeswoman Laura McDonnell writes: 'Just a note to let you know that last night’s quiz was another roaring success! All went smoothly, and the host Iain Lee got to grips really well with the questions. Everyone was happy with the level too – challenging enough for the ones who took it more seriously, but with enough in there to keep the more laid back teams happy, and to keep everyone’s interest.'

Winners were the Telegraph... they've got a table at Monday's Colman Getty PEN Quiz too, so they're clearly Brain Men fans!

Friday 4 November 2011

Associated British Ports Quiz 2011

Burleigh Court Hotel and Conference Centre, part of the University of Loughborough campus, was the setting for our latest quiz on behalf of Associated British Ports, presented by our quizmaster Chris Pollikett.

Eight ABP teams rounded off their conference dinner with an all-singing, all-dancing quiz which included a music clips round, TV and film clips round, and a photo round.

The atmosphere was highly competitive, with the team that had been leading for most of the quiz pipped to the post at the last minute on the final round.

Colman Getty Pen Quiz 2011

On 21 November, Brain Man Marcus Berkmann will be posing the questions at the 2011 Colman Getty PEN Quiz, which will be held as usual at RIBA. This year the quiz will be presented by Radio 4's James Naughtie, with a little help from Channel 4's Jon Snow.

Click here to see the advance publicity.

Oh, and while we're at it, we forgot to show you a pic of the 2010 Colman Getty English PEN Quiz which we also compiled the questions for. So here's David Baddiel doing the honours last year...


Brain Men Treasure Hunts

As well as tip-top quizzes we also research and host treasure hunts - the perfect summer event for your team-building day or, in the case of Kent seaside town Ramsgate, annual arts shindig.

This is the second year we've been to Ramsgate as part of the August bank holiday Summer Squall, and our highly popular competitive scavenge of the town's delightful Victorian architecture and curious nooks and crannies has earned us the accolade of becoming a 'core event' for the festival.

Click here for more details of Ramsgate's Summer Squall.

Hachette Quiz 2011

International publishing giant Hachette wanted a lively, engaging and sociable evening during their annual conference for senior management, held in the UK. We obliged with a five round quiz over dinner, including a photo round and music clip round, presented by our quizmaster, Marcus Berkmann.

Hachette were delighted:

Thank you very much indeed for making a major contribution to a very successful conference. The quiz was a triumph - and I'm not just saying that because my table won, although I was very chuffed, obviously!

It was the perfect way to break any remaining ice that needing breaking and everyone - even the most reserved and sceptical publishers there - had a fantastically enjoyable evening.

Claire Harrington, Group Communications Director, Hachette.