Virtual quiz hosting app launched to support struggling hospitality and entertainment sectors
- SpeedQuizzing Live enables users to host and play interactive, virtual gameshow-style pub quizzes.
- It has been created by quiz tech company SpeedQuizzing to enable the thousands of hospitality operators forced to close under the new tiering to continue to generate some income through hosting quizzes.
- Beleaguered hospitality operators and entertainment professionals claim app delivers a vital lifeline following the introduction of new tier restrictions.
A new app and online quiz hosting platform is being officially launched this week to support the struggling hospitality and entertainment sectors and provide much needed festive-fun to millions of home-bound brits over the Christmas period.
SpeedQuizzing Live, created by York-based entertainment tech firm SpeedQuizzing, comprises of a free to download app and online hosting platform which enable users to remotely host and play fast-paced, interactive virtual pub quizzes, with up to 250 players able to join each event.
The tech, which allows users to connect and play through their smartphones while interacting with fellow quizzers and the host through a separate zoom-enabled device, is being launched following a successful seven-month pilot.
The pilot saw SpeedQuizzing Live trialled by hundreds of hospitality operators and entertainment professionals during both the first and second lockdown, with the tech used by them to generate much-needed income through hosting ticketed gameshow-style virtual quizzes while hospitality venues were closed.
Over the course of the pilot, the company has continually made improvements to both the app and hosting platform, responding to feedback from enthusiastic hosts and hospitality operators who have praised SpeedQuizzing Live as a ‘lifeline’ after they lost their usual income streams.
Hosts can create their own questions or purchase ready-made question packs from SpeedQuizzing, with quizzes running over a number of multi-format rounds where players have just ten seconds to answer each question, vastly reducing the problem of cheating which has plagued pen and paper quizzes for decades. Scoring is automated, eliminating the need for marking, and there are no geographical restrictions meaning a virtual quiz can be hosted by a quiz master in Aberdeen and have teams playing from as far afield as Cornwall.
New features have been added to improve the hosting and game-play experience, including personalised buzzer sounds and a grouping feature which means that players in different locations can play as part of the same team.
On the official launch of the new app and hosting platform, SpeedQuizzing co-founder Alan Leach said:
“We stand in solidarity with the hospitality industry, which has been left devastated by two lockdowns and the soon to be introduced tiering system, which will once again see tens of thousands of operators forced to close.
“We developed and launched the pilot version of SpeedQuizzing Live over a two-week period, rushing it through to make sure it was available for hospitality operators at the start of the first lockdown, when they were faced with the ruinous prospect of losing most, if not all, of their income.
“The feedback we have had from them has been incredible and it’s spurred us on to create something that we believe offers an unrivalled virtual quiz experience, rolling all the excitement of a quiz and game show into one.
“We hope that it will enable the thousands of hospitality operators and entertainment professionals impacted by the new tier two and three restrictions to continue to generate some much-needed income and stay afloat during these incredibly challenging times.”
Under the new tier system which comes into effect from the 2nd December, 98% of the UK’s hospitality trade will now take place in tier two and three regions, with £7.8 billion worth of trading set to be wiped out compared to 2019, according to trade association UKHospitality.
The new tiers will see over 120,000* venues across England placed into the second highest level – tier two – with tens of thousands of these forced to close as they are unable to provide a table meal either physically or financially. 38,000* businesses in tier three, employing over 540,000 people, will be forced to provide takeaway or close altogether.
Sam Robinson, owner of 1331 Bar and Restaurant in York, said:
“2020 has been a really tough year for us and the entire hospitality sector, with the industry forced to close its doors on multiple occasions for a prolonged period of time. We’re well-known for our entertainment programme and SpeedQuizzing Live has meant that we’ve been able to continue to bring people together and remain at the heart of the community even when we’ve been closed, which has been a real boost for us and our loyal customers.”
Stockport-based entertainment professional Tony Murphy said:
“I used to DJ and host in-venue pub quizzes on a regular basis but all of that stopped when the first lockdown was introduced, and with that I faced the very real prospect of having to leave the sector and look for another job. SpeedQuizzing Live has been a real lifeline, enabling hosts like me to continue to do the thing we love, albeit remotely, earning a living by entertaining people and bringing them together, virtually, for some much-needed fun.”
SpeedQuizzing Live is available to download for android and Apple devices through Google Play. More detail on SpeedQuizzing Live events can be found at SpeedQuizzing.com.
