QFI Online Quizzes – FAQs – The Quiz Foundation of India

What are the QFI online quizzes?
Where are they held?
How do I participate in them?
Why can’t QFI subscribers participate in all the quizzes?
What are you doing about people Googling during these quizzes?
But seriously though, why not make all your events Google proof?
How do I get to participate in these quizzes, instead of just watching them? Do I need to be a really good quizzer?
What do I get for becoming a QFI subscriber?
I don’t feel like becoming a subscriber just to attend the occasional quiz that you guys conduct online. What can I do?
I have signed up for free using the form link to watch the weekly meetings, now what?
Can school kids participate in these quizzes?

What are the QFI online quizzes?

The QFI online quizzes include monthly special quizzes, weekly QFI meetings and one-off special events. They’re conducted by well known quizzers and quizmasters associated with the Quiz Foundation of India, Chennai, a non-profit organization more than 30 years old, devoted to popularizing Indian style “quizzing” as a pastime. Our questions are not about rote memory or reproducing arcane facts, but “working out” answers from the clues given by the QM arriving at the answer through a journey of creative discovery.

Where are they held?

They are usually held on Discord for weekly meetings and a combination of Discord and Zoom for larger monthly quizzes. We are also experimenting with other platforms and approaches for other quizzes. The quizzes will also be streamed on YouTube. (Not all quizzes are streamed on the public Quiz Foundation YouTube channel, most will only have private streams made available to those who have signed up.)

How do I participate in them?

All QFI current year subscribers can watch all these quizzes for free. They can also participate in select quizzes (we’re thinking one every month) which are thrown open to all subscribers.

Why can’t QFI subscribers participate in all the quizzes?

We appreciate the interest but at this time, our weekly meetings are capped at approximately 50 participants per meeting. Technology limitations in the tools that we use mean that we can’t support more than this many people at a weekly meeting without resorting to additional manpower and technology investment. It also becomes laborious in terms of checking pounces. We have successfully done online quizzes for 150 odd participants taking part (40 teams!) with many more watching, but those require a few people in addition to the QM checking pounces etc, which we can’t do for every weekend meeting.
We are an entirely volunteer run organization (none of them get paid anything for running these quizzes) and it’s difficult to make demands of their time every weekend. Because of a savvy use of technology, our weekly quizzes require just the QM who can also check pounces and score the quiz himself (through the magical Discord bots developed by Harish) without it dragging on for several minutes after each question. Our weekly meetings are 30 question quizzes which can take anywhere from 1.5-3 hours depending on the length of the questions and how fast the QM is able to get through them. They’re usually held on Saturday evenings.

What are you doing about people Googling during these quizzes?

Nothing actually. The weekly meetings have no prizes. We work on the basis of an honour system and we are well aware that there is very little we can do to prevent participants from Googling. We will also not focus too much on the scores, who put podium etc., for these quizzes in order to take away the focus from the things which are not in our control in online quizzes.
There are many approaches to make questions difficult to Google – closing the pounces within a very short period of time, obfuscating questions by removing details, asking roundabout questions etc. However, we will not resort to these for our regular quizzes, which we think are meant to be enjoyed as exercises of discovery and joy. If some people are too competitive, insecure enough to Google in these low stakes events which are meant for quiet enjoyment and pleasure, let them. They are denying themselves the thrill and joy arriving at the answers through their own wits / that of their team. It also becomes apparent who are the ones that are Googling over the course of such events and it provides much mirth to other participants who pick up on this.

But seriously though, why not make all your events Google proof?

Just because we can make Google proof quizzes doesn’t mean we should. For our weekly meetings, we see little need for enforcing rules of behaviour considering the very real practical difficulties in doing so. Stripping away meaningful information from the questions, running quizzes on a strict countdown etc., are approaches that can be tried, but we feel for these casual quizzes meant more for friendly participation, these measures are not needed. There is nothing at stake here and expecting the QMs who set quizzes for us to follow arcane rules and restrictions just to deter a few Googlers in our midst punishes everyone.

How do I get to participate in these quizzes, instead of just watching them? Do I need to be a really good quizzer?

Participation in these quizzes is not on the basis of how good you are as a quizzer. We are very inclusive of all interested people irrespective of their ability as quizzers. In our core group of participants (around 80-90 in number) there are many first timers, college students, people from many walks of life/backgrounds and quizzers young and old. The one thing that is currently the criteria is being a resident of Chennai and having been a regular at fortnightly QFI meetings in the past. We have signed up a few interested participants who are entirely new to quizzing, as well. We also have participants who are currently in other places around the world but who were regulars at our meetings when they were in Chennai. Based on how we can grow this community without losing the essence of the love for quizzing being the thing that binds us, we will add more people to our regular meetings.

What do I get for becoming a QFI subscriber?

You will get access to the quizzes that are being conducted as part of our weekly online quizzes in the form of presentations and PDFs. Irrespective of which part of the year you sign up in, all the ones shared over the course of the year will be available in our subscriber only Google Group archive. All subscriptions expire at the end of the calendar year, but your access to that year’s Google Group remains. All subscribers also get access to view the streams of the weekly quizzes we conduct and also get to participate in our periodic subscriber only quizzes.

I don’t feel like becoming a subscriber just to attend the occasional quiz that you guys conduct online. What can I do?

Please feel free to enjoy the quizzes and participate in the ones thrown open to all with no obligation to subscribe to QFI. However membership is only 1000 Rupees a year and you get so many other benefits, and you will also be supporting a unique endeavour without us having to struggle for sponsors.

Great, thanks for your interest in our quizzes. You are now part of a trial membership, you will be added to a WhatsApp group where we will forward you private streaming links to our weekly meetings which you can watch and enjoy the next few meetings. If you feel this is something you’d want to make part of your weekends in the future, do consider taking up a QFI subscription and we will add you to the subscriber group where you will continue to receive access to the weekly streams. Further down the line, once you decide to become an active participant, you can also conduct and participate directly in QFI quizzes yourself.

Can school kids participate in these quizzes?

We don’t really expect/encourage unaccompanied minors and young kids to participate in these online quizzes – not because of any content restrictions, but more because this is mainly an open event catering to an audience which is expected to have a certain level of understanding. If you are a parent and you want to watch these quizzes with your kid, you are welcome to, and if your child is mature enough to understand the questions (preferably age 15 and above) they can watch them on their own accord. We do plan to conduct events for school students from time to time but these will be announced as such and we will invite participants for them separately.