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Can you fight with geeks?


I first heard of GeekFight about a year ago. Some guy named Paolo Cruz had put together a sort of trivia contest about all things geek. Being no mean purveyor of things geek, I scoffed. “This guy probably isn’t even a real geek," I thought. “I bet the questions will be all about the JJ Abrams Star Trek movie. Jeez, watch one sci-fi movie and you think you’ve got cred…" You must understand my apprehension. I’ve been a Star Wars geek since I was five years old. I wear costumes. My husband is a clone trooper. We got married in a grand Star Wars wedding, complete with a lightsaber parade as our recessional. You know those sci-fi and fantasy conventions? I not only attended them—I helped organize them. So as you can see, I have every right to call myself a full-fledged geek, and I had every right to scoff at this challenge to my geekness. Fast forward to August 2010: I’m screaming my head off, arguing with Paolo about chaps and boots used by prospectors during the gold rush in the United States. About an hour later, my friends and I are cheering because we’ve won—again. So who is this guy and how did his GeekFight turn me and my friends into competitive raving lunatics? GeekFight Genesis This is the story of a guy who likes trivia contests. Paolo has been a participant in most quiz nights and trivia contests in bars and pubs all over town for some years now. “The germ of the idea goes back over a decade, back to my college days, as a member of an org dedicated to critical appreciation of pop culture," shares Paolo. “But the origin of the quiz as we know it was a direct response to me playing in various local pub trivia nights. A lot of them were interesting but I personally wanted to see one whose content reflected something closer to my own set of pet interests, and I correctly guessed that there would be enough like-minded individuals who shared my view of a good time."

GeekFight gathers geeks who want to have a brain workout while having a lot of fun. Photo by Caroline Dy
GeekFight started small. Paolo recalls, “It happened on a very stormy night in early May 2009, at Mag:net Cafe in Bonifacio High Street. It was a modest turnout for the initial quiz. I could legitimately blame the first day of a typhoon for the numbers, but what matters is that it set a precedent for a fun event. And since then, there's been noticeable growth with a pool of regular teams steadily expanding as the months pass. I'd say we get about two new regular, dedicated teams each quarter, with a handful of groups showing up for one night, just to check it out." Since then, GeekFight has grown from a one-man production to two different sets of GeekFight Trivia Nights—the ones by founder Paolo, and the Committee GeekFights, organized by players who agreed to step down and make the event a team effort. The Committee “I liked to joke that it took nine people to replace me," Paolo said. “But the reality is that they streamlined the effort while improving the range of the game." Every member of the Committee has played the game, and when Paolo decided he needed help putting the quizzes together, these brave volunteers jumped at the chance. Committee members Dante, Denice, JR, and Alice were happy to share their motivations. Dante, for example, is a born organizer. “I've always loved organizing things, and although I enjoy GeekFight as a player, I felt that I could contribute to making the event more enjoyable for everyone as an organizer. When Paolo considered the possibility of people helping him so he could take a break, I was among those who offered to help." JR didn’t think he’d enjoy being a quizmaster. “I thought it would be a passing thing, but I started to really enjoy working with my fellow quizmasters. It is a sacrifice since I really enjoyed playing, but then seeing people have fun really makes it all worth it."
The wacky and smart members of the GeekFight Committee. Photo by Caroline Dy
Denice and Alice joke that they just got dragged into it. It’s like saying that the people who cook well do so because they love to eat. So with the Committee of Quizmasters: they all enjoyed playing so much that organizing the event just became an extension of that. Says Denice, “I played for [the groups] Nano-E-Nano and Harem-trained, and we played for laughs. Most of the time we really didn't care if we gave the right answer. We tried, but mostly the laughs were the most important. We even had show-off points for clever-if-not-necessarily-right answers, which was more than our actual points most of the time! We had a lot of fun because it's basically a combination of good friends, good drinks and good conversation. As part of the committee, I love coming up with questions, though I need help phrasing them in such a way that people other than me would understand." For Alice, it’s a lot simpler. “It's a room full of people who are just as anal and obsessive as I am. And there’s alcohol." Gameplay Whether you’re playing in a game organized by Paolo or the Committee, the games play out pretty much the same way: teams of up to eight players compete to answer themed questions, usually related to various aspects of pop culture—movies, books, TV shows, video games, or comics. The game runs for eight rounds, with ten questions each. Teams are given markers and whiteboards to answer with, and each question has a designated time limit, so it's not a race to answer first. As for people who fear joining, Paolo says, “I have a general guideline for people who are concerned about being ‘geeky enough’ to join: if you can treat knowledge as leisure, then you're already likely to enjoy the game, regardless of your specific tastes and preferences."
Sometimes creativity is more important than the right answer. Photo by Caroline Dy
Different folks Lest you think that the trivia nights are populated by bespectacled nerds who live in their mothers’ basements, let me tell you: the people who join GeekFight are a veritable smorgasbord of today’s creative scene. Writers from various media and temperaments form part of different teams, while others are comprised of artists, teachers, IT specialists, designers, and students. Whatever their occupation, it seems all participants are united by their intelligence and creativity. Team names seem to be another part of the competition. According to Paolo, “The wackiest team names tend to use puns, like Ereptile Dysfunction and Politically Erect. A few of them are clever but only make sense if you're familiar with particular areas of knowledge, like indie rock (Broken Social Skillz), superhero comics (Betty White Lantern Corps), or current events (Somali Pirate Radio)."
The white board is both a canvas and an answer sheet. Photo by Caroline Dy
“I love a lot of things about GeekFight: these awesome, awesome people who never fail to say something funny and clever, the inside jokes, the intensity of people showing off things they know about topics they love. But mostly I love it for the laughs," Denice said. I asked the Committee: Doesn't it make you feel claustrophobic to be in a room full of crazy, competitive geeks? Denice replies, “It's all in fun! In GeekFight, everyone is friends with everyone. It's not claustrophobic because what's to be claustrophobic about when you're home?" According to JR, “It's the crowd! It's one thing to know about trivia, but GeekFight has a way of attracting specific types of people with similar interests." But perhaps Dante sums it up best by saying, “It's definitely about the people. It's heartwarming to see people of all ages, from all walks of life, coming together in friendly competition to celebrate their being geeks. Sure, it's about proving your knowledge against other people, but it's also more about being in a place where you and your stock knowledge are both welcomed and respected." - TJD, GMANews.TV The last GeekFight Trivia Night was hosted by Paolo Cruz at Last Home on Pioneer St. Paolo’s next GeekFight will be on September 13 at 121 Allegro on Pasong Tamo. The next Committee GeekFight will be in October, and it will be a special Halloween Edition. Check out the Facebook page for updates and announcements.

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