Brain Men

Who's A Naughtie Boy Then?

2011-11-22T13:12:00.001Z

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.

Kelkoo Coo Over Our Journalists' Quiz

2011-11-19T13:16:00.001Z

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!

Associated British Ports Quiz 2011

2011-11-04T16:33:00.000Z

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

2011-11-04T16:06:00.002Z

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

2011-11-04T15:54:00.001Z

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

2011-11-04T15:23:00.001Z

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.

The World's Biggest Pub Quiz - Really!

2010-03-31T23:34:00.011+01:00

Following on from that last item, I've been delving into this whole 'world's biggest pub quiz' thing. The Eden project claim they beat the record in 2007, but the Guinness people deny this. According to Guinness World Records, the official title goes to India, where on 3 December 2007 1,566 high school students took part in the national final of the huge science quiz marathon T.I.M.E Aqua Regia.

Meanwhile our plans are taking shape to attempt the record at Alexandra Palace, near Muswell Hill, north London next year. Yesterday we had a meeting with a potential charity partner who seem very excited about the concept, so watch this space!

World's biggest quiz?

2010-03-31T23:16:00.004+01:00

Apparently an attempt was going to be made to hold the 'World's Biggest Pub Quiz' this week. It's all for a good cause, and supported by First Choice/Thomson Holidays.

My only grumble is that it should be called 'The World's Biggest Virtual Pub Quiz', as it ain't going to be thousands of people in one room, but a load of joined up individual quizzes going on all over the country, albeit using the same questions. Even the organisers have admitted it may fall foul of Guinness World Record rules.

Now, thousands of people all doing a quiz at, say, Ally Pally? That really would be the world's biggest pub quiz!

Lunch Bunch

2010-03-31T23:05:00.006+01:00

Another corporate quiz this week, for top property company Jones Lang LaSalle at their offices in Hanover Square, London W1. A lunchtime do with fantastic food and wine courtesy of JLL's in house catering people. Fewer teams and a more intimate occasion, but all seemed to enjoy themselves, despite a spot of minor Blackberry- and glove-based cheating!

Colman Getty PEN Quiz 2009

2010-03-25T14:38:00.005Z

More photos, this time from the Colman Getty English PEN Quiz at RIBA last December. Marcus Berkmann set the questions, English PEN's Assistant Director Sarah Hesketh did all the organising, David Mitchell was the quizmaster and I courageously pressed a couple of buttons to make the scoreboard work.

Thanks to Sarah for letting us use these.

Origin Tonic 2

2010-03-25T14:23:00.010Z

At last! I've finally got around to uploading some photos from the Origin Asset Management Charity Challenge 2010 with our quizmaster Marcus Berkmann in charge of proceedings. We've also been sent a very kind note from Origin:

'On behalf of Origin Asset Management I would like to thank you for the excellent job you did at our Charity Challenge. We all had a great time and have received very positive feedback from our guests. We hope it will the the first of an annual series and look forward to working with you again.'

Origin Tonic

2010-03-25T13:46:00.002Z

Mission accomplished for Origin Asset Management at the Ironmonger's Hall in the City. Ten teams enjoyed a five round quiz including photo round and video round, all in aid of charity. Winners were Abusive Tax Shelter (Hewitt Associates) with a whopping 84 out of a possible 100 points!

Looking forward to the Origin Asset Management Charity Challenge 2011!

Frog And Toad

2010-03-25T13:42:00.004Z

Here's another question from my local pub quiz: What's the difference between a frog and a toad? Well, what is the difference? Frogs leap, toads crawl? Frogs live in water and toads out? Frogs have smooth backs, toads warty? Or is it that a toad won't turn into a prince when you kiss it?

The quizmaster got all these perfectly reasonable answers, and in the end gave up and awarded a point to every team. A good decision as the truth is that toads are frogs. Frogs and toads are both in the order Anura, and there is no taxonomic difference between them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad

Lightning Decision

2010-03-25T13:41:00.001Z

Here's a topical question I heard in my local pub quiz in Kent recently: Are more people killed and injured each year by a) earthquakes b) hurricanes or c) lightning? The answer turned out to be lightning, apparently.

Somehow that doesn't seem right. However, it's on the Met Office website here:

http://www.metoffice.com/corporate/pressoffice/weatherguide/severe.html

100,000 injuries and 10,000 deaths a year. Yet it's estimated that 600,000 people have been killed in earthquakes (or tsunamis caused by earthquakes) in the past decade, with an unknown number of injuries. And floods, hurricanes and storms accounted for something like 2.5m-4m in the 20th century.

Personally I wouldn't have asked the question, as the answer relies too heavily on estimates, time frame, and a whole load of other variables for anyone to be able to say for sure that it's a fact.

Apologies For Our Absence

2010-03-24T22:44:00.004Z

Apologies for the absence of our weekly brainteaser recently. Brain Man Chris has been in hospital, so our quiz engine is only firing on two cylinders.

Thankfully he's on the mend, so we hope to restore normal service shortly.

Speaking of engines, here's a motoring question from Anne and Keith that really flummoxed us at the Prince of Wales quiz last night (I've elaborated and clarified it slightly):

Which car manufacturer originated in 1895 when bookseller Vaclav Klement tried to order parts for his German bicycle and received the reply: 'If you would like an answer to your inquiry, you should try writing in a language we can understand'? He started his own bicycle business in disgust, and later began making cars, which since 1926 have carried a winged arrow badge.

Click on 'comments' below for the answer.