Results of the 2012 Parsons Corporate Trivia Challenge

First off, let me start by saying what an amazing and well-run event the Parsons Corporate Trivia Challenge was.  When I arrived at Jillian’s for the event, there was a staff of Parsons volunteers ready to answer all my questions as to where to sit, where to eat, and where to get the 50/50 raffle tickets.  Trivia teams milled around and socialized and noshed and looked like they were ready.  Forty-two teams were there that night, and Parsons volunteers took care of every one of them as if it was the seating party for a small wedding.

Although the teams that were at the event were playing for their corporations, businesses and employment centers, I did recognize a few people from the world of Capital District competitive team trivia – Steve and Jeff from the Elbo Room team Get That Poison Out were playing for one of the AFLAC teams; while Ed from A Few Cards Short of a Deck was a member of the Professional Insurers of America squad (as did Nicole, who used to play on the hammer team Pork is a Meat years ago at Hooters).

I was ready for the event, as well.  Although I couldn’t play as the “Street Academy” trivia team (this was a corporate trivia event, not a “bring your friends and come up with a goofy trivia name team), I did agree to participate as the “Independent” team – which meant that if someone else didn’t have a trivia team to join, they could be part of the Independents squad.  But I didn’t go in there as the classic “one man wrecking crew” of old… I brought along my Street Academy teammate Alexis Curry to join me in the competition.

WNYT reporter Jessica Layton worked with Trivia Nights Live owner Kevin Baker as co-hosts, and we were ready to go.

The first four-point question was a toughie.  “Who was named People Magazine’s Sexiest Man of the Year in 2003 and again in 2009?”

I tried to remember who had won it on multiple occasions, and all I could think of was Brad Pitt.

“I think it’s Johnny Depp,” said Alexis.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Not really.”

So we went with Brad Pitt.  And everyone else in the competition went with George Clooney.

“Did everybody write down George Clooney as the answer to this question?” Layton asked.

A roar of cheers echoed through the bar.

“It’s NOT George Clooney!”

A roar of groans echoed through the bar.

“It is actually Johnny Depp!”

A roar of groans echoed through my table.  Actually, only one team got it right, so congrats to them, whoever they are.

But from that moment on, we were unstoppable.  Alexis knew the highway that goes from Hartford CT to Burlington VT (I-91), I knew the only child of Abraham Lincoln to survive to adulthood (Robert Todd Lincoln), Alexis knew the two independent countries that are completely surrounded by Italy (San Marino and Vatican City), while I knew the birth state for singer John Mayer (Connecticut – and if I didn’t answer that one correctly, Amanda Talar would have thrown one of her shoes at me for missing her boyfriend’s home state).

The game went well, and after 19 questions we had a slim 6-point lead.

The category was “U.S. Tourist Attractions.”

We bet almost everything we had.  When you’re playing against 41 other squads, there’s no way you can lock out everybody with a safe bet.

“In what city can you visit Pioneer Park and see the Coit Tower?”

Alexis and I looked at each other as if to say, “Do you know this, ’cause I don’t know this.”

And I’m sure, dear reader, you’re screaming at me right now, saying, “It’s San Francisco, Chuck.  Write down San Francisco and hand it to the host.”

Well, you didn’t scream loud enough, because we didn’t know the answer, and we wrote down St. Louis.

And of the top six teams in scoring that night, we all wrote down six different answers.  But the team that did get it right – answering San Francisco – was one of the AFLAC teams.  They got it right, they won the championship trophy, and they get bragging rights for they ear, and much much congratulations to them.

Oh, and did I happen to mention that the AFLAC team that did win the corporate trivia challenge was the team that had Steve and Jeff from the Get That Poison Out trivia squad at Elbo Room?  Big props and kudos to them.  Couldn’t have found a pair of nicer guys anywhere else in the bar.

All in all, it was a very successful event, Parsons Child and Family Centers raised OODLES of money for their programs – including raising funds for a camp program that reunites brothers and sisters who were separated in the foster care system.  Whether we won or we lost, the most important thing is that we contributed to a worthy and deserving charity that helps families in the Capital District.

And I’ll participate in that competition every single week, knowing that it helps raise money for those in need.