BIG Charity Digital Pub Quiz 2017 round-up

Thursday saw us host our third Annual BIG Charity Digital Pub Quiz. Battling it out over four rounds of brain-twisting trivia, in the positively tropical heat of the Exmouth Market Centre, digital teams from 14 leading UK charities competed for the top prize: a £1,000 donation and one year’s possession of the highly coveted ABCDPQ trophy.

¡Ay caramba, es Jim Bowes!

This year’s quiz took on a Mexican theme, with scenes from Breaking Bad and Mexican wrestlers making the intro video cut.

We even nipped across the road to buy some cacti for the bar, and introduced some themed beer mats (because why not?)!

Do girls just wanna have fun? #Bigcharityquiz pic.twitter.com/Iv0nBxvexK

— Sarah Lines (@Silverdtwilight) July 6, 2017

Our quiz master, Manifesto CEO Jim Bowes, entered on a swegway, dressed in gold glittery shoes and a Mexican wrestling mask.

It’s time #BigCharityQuiz – good luck to all the charities. pic.twitter.com/vlUDbjAkvr

— Jim Bowes (@jimbowes) July 6, 2017

Just warming up

In true ABCDPQ style, the first round featured questions from an old board game. This year, ‘After Dinner Trivia’ supplied the posers, picked by random members of the competing teams.

And, because no Annual BIG Charity Pub Quiz would be complete without a rousing sing-a-long, our quiz attendees lent their voices to a rendition of Don’t Stop Movin’. (There were others, but Jim was particularly enthusiastic about singing that one!)

The food round featured hot chilli sauce samples that the teams were asked to match up to their respective bottles. The names ranged from Miss Bolly Good to Lady Coconut Lemon Grass. The  answer to the final question of that round was hotly contested. We asked which member of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers you wouldn’t like to find in your soup… it was pointed out to us that you wouldn’t want to find any of them really!

It’s getting hot in here

Mariachi Ole joined us for the music round.

@ManifestoLondon you crack me up 😂 pic.twitter.com/NuVCAGr816

— Faye Benfield (@fayebenfield) July 6, 2017

The incredible four-piece played song intros to set up the following questions:

Based on song intro: Timber – Pitbull, Kesha 2013

Q: Name this song.

A: Timber.

Based on song intro: Crazy in Love – Beyoncé 2003

Q: What famous girl group was this singer formerly a member of?

A: Destiny’s Child.

Based on song intro: Mambo No. 5 – Lou Bega 1999

Q: Name three of the girls featured in this song.

A: (Any three of) Angela, Pamela, Monica, Erica, Rita, Tina, Sandra, Mary, Jessica.

Based on song intro: The Final Countdown – Europe 1986)

Q: The band is called Europe, but which European country were they from?

A:Sweden

Based on song intro: Shape of you – Ed Sheeran 2017

Q: Which member of the Manifesto team is the same age as Ed Sheeran, Hugh, Ryan or Gemma?

A: Gemma

Cake break

Guests enjoyed some Flavourtown cupcakes, ranging from Unicorns to the classic red velvet. They quickly started melting in the 28 degree heat, along with everyone else!

Everyone was having fun with the snapchat filter, nicely demonstrated by Phil at the start of the evening! Pretty sure positioning your face correctly got more difficult as the evening went on.

Does my goatee necklace combo work? #bigcharityquiz pic.twitter.com/bDR2D6INxK

— Nicholas Dore (@NicholasDore) July 6, 2017

Bring on the #BigCharityQuiz with team @DiabetesUK! pic.twitter.com/tgSEY1HchU

— Vicky Larkin (@vickylarkin24) July 6, 2017

Can’t stand the heat?

It wasn’t just the room that was heating up as we approached the film round. The competition was also getting fiery, with just a few points separating the leading teams.

The film round saw Al and Hugh (among other Manifestonians) dressed up in front of a green screen to recreate famous films for the following questions:

Clip 1: Jurassic Park (1993)

Q: Jurassic Park founder John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) tells his guests that his first ever attraction was…?

A: A flea show.

Clip 2: Mary Poppins (1964)

Q: True or false: in the transition from page to screen, the Banks family manages to lose a set of twins?

A: True.

Clip 3: The Matrix (1999)

Q: What name is Neo also referred to as in the film? (Clue: it’s an anagram of Neo.)

A: The One.

Clip 4: 300 (2006)

Q: How many days did it take to shoot the film?

A: 60.

Clip 5: Dirty Dancing (1987)

Q: The movie won an Oscar, but what was it for?

A: Best Original Song.

Some like it hot

During the final round points reveal chairs were scattered in jubilation and arms waved in protest as controversy erupted over the year in which Jurassic Park was released. One team backed up their challenge with an appeal to IMDB, so we naturally presumed they had cheated. In any case, the real date was quickly put to bed by Al.

Teams were getting noticeably competitive, with Parkinson’s UK probably at the top of enthusiasm levels!

Great balls of fire

In the end, the team from Action for Children – a last-minute entry – scooped up third place, and were rewarded with a bronze trophy… stamp! Free to stamp anywhere they pleased.

Third place never looked so good. Thanks @ManifestoLondon, we love our stamp #bigcharityquiz #AFC4eva pic.twitter.com/C99Vl0TiWz

— Ruth Grosart (@Roo_fi_o) July 6, 2017

In second place, hoovering up the £400 donation,and adding their names to the runners-up shield, were Comic Relief. Here they are, positively levitating with joy at their success:

The night’s ultimate winners were Parkinson’s UK, who were understandably elated to get their hands on the trophy, champagne, and of course the £1000 donation!

Say hello to the #BigCharityQuiz winners of 2017! I love you guys so much. #bestcolleagues pic.twitter.com/KFRuq8fN8f

— Katrina Cimetta (@KatCimetta) July 6, 2017

Fire in the disco!

Once the winning moments had been captured on camera, Mariachi Ole performed their final set of the evening, including, but not limited to, ‘The Macarena’, and ‘Despacito’. Tables and chairs were moved out of the way as the teams showed us their Mexican dance moves. Later Ryan B took cheesy song requests that saw teams move from the ‘dance floor’ to the stage!

Can’t wait for our introduction to agile at 9am tomorrow @ManifestoLondon #bigcharityquiz pic.twitter.com/OasMZu0Qvq

— Marie Claire 👋🏻 (@missmariesaid) July 6, 2017

And to top the evening off in celebratory style, Louise Bliss and James McDiarmid (Head of Digital Engagement, Unicef UK) rocked up to the party following the Digital Technology Leader Awards, where we won Best Website Project of the Year for the Unicef website!

We won!!! Digital project of the year for the @UNICEF_uk website @jamespmcd #DTLA17 pic.twitter.com/mkpbVc2USi

— Manifesto (@ManifestoLondon) July 6, 2017

Video highlights

If you missed out on the Mexican fuelled fun that was the 2017 ABCDPQ, take a look at a selection of highlights we think are worth a watch, or relive night (alternatively cover your eyes) if you featured…

Until next year…

A huge thanks to all the competing charity teams: Action for Children, Amnesty International UK, Anthony Nolan, Bliss, Cancer Research UK, Comic Relief, Diabetes UK, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, Marie Curie, Movember UK, Parkinson’s UK, Prostate Cancer UK, Stonewall and Turn2us.

Until next year, it’s goodnight from us, and goodnight from him.