What has a teaching and journalism background, but now works in the healthcare field? That would be Scott Gibson, owner of Louisville Trivia. A self-proclaimed dork who was looking for an outlet for his creative side, Scott began brainstorming business ideas a few years ago. The seed of his idea began during a visit to a friend in Cincinnati when it was suggested that they take in the trivia night at the local bar. Scott was intrigued by the style that was played that evening which he described less "Jeopardy" style, in which teams wager a certain amount of points on questions, than he had been involved with during times he had played. It was more centered around what teams actually knew versus what they knew plus their ability to "gamble". After that night he seemed to be hooked; he says that he sat down every night for three to four weeks afterwards scouring the internet for questions and topics. Once he had about one hundred pages of questions he began developing his player packets and set forth calling local bars to gauge interest; it took two months for him to get his first call back - Molly Malone's in St. Matthews.
He says his goal is to make it as fun and silly as possible without making it so easy that just anyone could answer the questions. There are six rounds to Scott's format with six people per team, but he says that even individuals are encouraged to come give it a try. They can play by themselves or join up with a team that might be short a few players; the point is to come out and have fun. Scott told me that one of his bigger supporters has been a group from Meetup.com, The Louisville Social Club, who has three teams that compete weekly.
Since business kicked off with Molly's in St. Matthews in late 2010 Scott has not only added to his accounts - taking on The Bard's Town now as well, but has also added on to his family. This prompted him to bring on some help so that he doesn't have to be out several nights a week. He prides himself with writing the majority of the questions - with some occasionally contributed by the gentleman who currently hosts his Wednesday night trivia at The Bard's Town and another employee. He explained to me that this isn't always necessarily the norm and that some trivia companies pay to get their packets from companies in other states, but his aim is to keep it as local as possible, which is why he says he named it "Louisville Trivia".
As a small business owner with a limited marketing budget, Scott said the majority of his advertising is done through his website, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. I asked what he does to drive people to these accounts and he explained that he always has one "secret" question that he will give in advance via his social media accounts to give people that follow him ever the slightest advantage during one of the rounds. He is currently only in two locations - Molly Malone's in St. Matthews on Tuesday nights and The Bard's Town on Wednesday nights, but said that he is in talks with a few more places currently. When I asked about his growth plan he explained that eventually he'd like to be in about two dozen different establishments with a presence in various areas of the city.
Trivia is free to play with prizes for first place; Scott also organizes tournaments in which the prizes are bigger and better. He has a year end tournament coming up on December 28th in which prizes include pub glasses, prize money, etc. Louisville Trivia is all about keeping it local while giving people something to do, laugh about, and building a sense of camaraderie. So, if you're looking to "buy local" you can contact Scott via email at louisvilletrivia@gmail.com and discuss your needs with him, from pub quizzes to corporate trivia, Louisville Trivia can answer that question for you.
