In Ithaca, more than a dozen establishments offer their own trivia nights regularly. Comparably, 24 miles away in Cortland, two establishments host their own trivia nights. Geeks Who Drink, a pub quiz generator company based out of Colorado that started seven years ago, is used in over 400 bars and restaurants in 29 states. In New York, the generator is used in four cities at nine different establishments. The Haunt is the only bar in Ithaca so far to buy into this quiz generator that produces new quizzes six days a week with a lengthy 64 questions in each quiz—the average pub quiz only asking 20 questions.
According to Haunt bartender Chris Nash, trivia helps the bar make money and get people to come in regularly on a weeknight that usually has little to no business.
John Smith, director of PR and marketing at Geeks Who Drink, said the increased earning potential for bars who use Geeks Who Drink pub quizzes tends to depend on the bar and their targeted audience. The Haunt’s trivia tends to pull a late twenty to early thirties crowd.
“It’s fun I like to think of it as once you got out of college, its the next best thing if you are not into sports to meet people and make new relationships,” Smith said.
The Moonshadow Tavern gears their trivia toward college students aged between 21 and 24, said Chris Washburn, its manager. Washburn himself generates new quiz questions every week, recalling his enjoyment of bar life before creating trivia at Moonies in 2011.
“As a bar-goer myself I always enjoyed being active and playing games and things like that so playing pong, trivia, pool, being competitive,” Washburn said.
Whether a trivia attendee answering questions while enjoying a few cold drinks, or a bar owner reaping the economic gains of this new event trend, it seems true that geeks are taking over the nightlife world one bar and restaurant at a time.
