Quizfest 2021 - It's a Wrap!

Posted 30 Oct, 2021 07:51 PM by Karl

Quizfest 2021 was two weeks ago today.  It was so exciting to be back together again with a somewhat "major" quiz, in-person.  So Quizfest was back, after a one-year Covid-hiatus, and I had my first year as Quizfest Director.  For my part, I had a blast!

Lots of "Thank Yous" to go around to everyone who made it happen.  To College Church - for hosting us.  To Youth Pastor Joel Heald and his youth group - for providing a great lunch.  To the quizmasters, content judges and stats crew.  To others who worked behind the scenes to help with set-up, chairs, take-down.  Particularly to Ryan Kuehl - previous director and Todd Olson - Olivet Field Director, for their advance help, and to Scott Christensen for scouting out quiz rooms and chairs.  To all you coaches - who brought your quiz teams, and to all the quizzers who came.  Thanks most of all to God, and His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, for giving us the very Word of God, for giving us Life, and for Living in us!

We had a couple late cancels, one in each division, so we ended up with 10 Experienced Teams and 11 Novice Teams.  During the opening I made a miscount - and I believe we actually had 9 states represented.  We went for a full day of round robin preliminaries - and were able to do a full round robin in both divisions, each team quizzing all the other teams in the division.  We concluded quickly - with a Novice Finals, Experienced Finals and Awards.  It was GREAT that almost every team stayed through to the very end!  That's how things were back in the day - and I encourage coaches to re-start this tradition, despite all the pressures to get home.  It really made for a great atmosphere as we closed things up.

Novice - WOW!!!  I've been saying "never in human history" - although the Preacher reminds us several times that there is nothing new under the sun (presumably Solomon, in Ecclesiastes).  Still - it was remarkable that the top five teams in the novice division all finished with records of 8-2, all had won their quizzes against the rest of the field, and all of them were in a five-way tie among each other at 2-2.  So we went to total points to determine initial standings.  The top 3 of those went to finals, the 4th also got a trophy, and 5th place went without.  So - the team in 5th finished with the very same record in prelims as the team that finished first!  Great job to all five of those teams.  We didn't want to lengthen the day, so following what we determined in advance, despite the 5-way tie in records, was for the best.  And truthfully - those five might all belong in Experienced next year!

Experienced Division had some very strong teams, and also some typical church teams.  We gave trophies to the top six teams in Experienced, and the top three - who went to finals - received up to (5) scholarships from Olivet for their quizzers.

It was great to see a lot of new teams come to Quizfest for their first time.  Hope you had a great time, and hope you'll spread the word to more teams for next year.

All the statistics/results are posted now, including scoresheets from both finals.  In both finals rounds, all teams were still in the running to take first place going into the final question.

This year we tracked memory verse answers and awarded those in both divisions, as well as awarding the top quizzers.  We recognized the top 6 in both memory and individual awards in the novice division and top 10 in both memory and individual awards in the experienced division.  Both top 10s in experienced came with a scholarship from Olivet.  Then, of course, we handed out the crowns for our top memory verse people - and our top experienced quizzer got our "Top Dog" award - a stuffed dog!

You'll note a pattern with the scholarship amounts.  All within Experienced - every single first place was $600, every second place $500 and every third place $400.  All scholarships awarded were a minimum of $300.  So we flattened them a bit by reducing the highest amounts (seemed appropriate for a quiz so early in the year) and stretched them out to include an additional team and the memory verse quizzers.  The total scholarship amount is split 50-50 between team and individual.

We experimented with an alternate rule - allowing quizzers to address multiple questions in a "question-answer/question-answer/question-answer" format, as well as the current "question-question-question/answer-answer-answer".  There was some use of this, but I think most quizzers who typically make multiples stuck with the method they were used to.

I hope for what we did to be a pattern of what you'll see in years to come.  I want Quizfest to be a fun quiz.  I want the focus to be on helping your local church teams get going for the year - including motivating quizzers to learn their memory verses.  I plan to continue awarding memory verses.  I will very likely keep using alternate rules.  And I hope to throw in another odd surprise every now and then.  I hope this becomes a quiz that everyone can just hit in stride, instead at making special effort for.  My goal is that somehow, quizzers will go home pumped up to study more for the next quiz, instead of feeling like they already need a break!

I would love to get feedback from those who came to quiz, coach, spectate, officiate, or help in some other way.  On the event itself, on the alternate rule, on the awards, on the preliminary-finals format, on anything at all about the quiz.

Thanks again - to all of you!

In Christ,

Karl Tabor

karltabor@hotmail.com

Quizfest 2021 - Updates 9-20-21

Posted 20 Sep, 2021 09:17 PM by Karl

Note: Live Stats Link was no longer active and is removed.

A couple updates on Quizfest 2021

1. Send registration fees by check to me (Karl Tabor) at this address:

Karl Tabor

4584 Route 37

Marion, IL  62959

2. The College Church Youth Group plans to provide a lunch at Quizfest for $7 per person.  I hope that all - or almost all - of you will take advantage of this.  It will be the speediest lunch you'll get, likely the cheapest, and is a way to say "thank you" to our host church and their youth group.  Plus good fellowship with great quizzers from all over, even while you eat!  They're planning on a BBQ Potato Bar with salad, chips, desserts and beverage options.  You will pay for this separately - on site.  Do not send this money to me.  But I WILL need to get a good count so they buy enough food for us all.  Officials' meals covered by the Quiz.

Thank you!

~Karl

Quizfest 2021 - Registration

Posted 31 Aug, 2021 10:53 PM by Karl

Registration for Quizfest 2021 opens at 3:00 am on Wednesday, September 1, 2021 - and will close at 10:00 pm on Sunday, October 10, 2021.  Times given are Central Standard.  Registration is open to local church teams only.  Location is College Church University Avenue, by Olivet Nazarene University.  Date is Saturday, October 16, 2021.  Material covered is Romans 1-7.

Registration Costs:

$35 - Experienced Team

$25 - Novice Team

$20 - 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc - team from the same church (if you bring both an Experienced & Novice Team - you pay the $35 for Experienced and discount rate for Novice or other additional team)

$20 - First team to register

$20 - Team coming the farthest (from church to church, by googlemaps) - discount refunded on site

$20 - If your church has never come to Quizfest before... or at least not in the past 10 years

Information on payment forthcoming.

There will be lots of quizzing.  There will be scholarships to Olivet awarded.  There will be awards for top teams and top individual quizzers.  There will be awards for top memory verse quizzers.  Fun will be mandatory.  The Big Goal - is to help quiz teams get off to a good start in their study of Romans and James.  And to have fun.

Covid Policies: We will follow whatever the current guidelines are at College Church at the time of the quiz.  Some of us may be in more restrictive areas, others in less restrictive areas.  Policy will likely include masks.  We plan on an in-person quiz.  If we are unable to hold an in-person quiz, we will determine whether we can hold an online quiz.  In this case, registrations will be refunded in full for teams not wishing to participate in an online quiz.  Registrations will be refunded in full if covid outbreak or quarantine prevents a particular team from coming.  You will be treated as fairly as we can.

Questions: Karl Tabor / karltabor@hotmail.com / 773-552-6579

Quizfest 2021

Posted 31 Aug, 2016 02:40 AM by Ryan

Quizfest will be on October 16th, 2021 at College Church University Avenue. Material covered will be Romans chapters 1-7 and there will be 2 divisions (Experienced and Novice) available.  Registration will open around September 1 and the deadline will be October 10th.

Quizfest is an Open Invitational - teams from anywhere can attend.  It will be held on October 16 at College Church in Kankakee and will cover Romans 1-7.  More information to follow.  There are usually dozens of teams from several states, and I hope we have a great representation from the Illinois District.  These Open Invitationals help teams improve, help motivate quizzers - and we'll be making a special effort for the quiz to help teams get going in the early part of the Bible Quiz season.

We also have a new director this year! Karl Tabor has agreed to direct this quiz.

Karl writes, "A few of you know me, some do not.  I found the Lord and started Bible Quizzing as a teenager at the old Carbondale Church in 1978.  I went on to the University of Illinois, to Chicago, out west to Casper, WY and to Colorado Springs - and have just moved back to Marion, IL.  I've spent all my adult years involved in various roles in the Bible Quiz Ministry (40 years now!)." 

There will also be a special emphasis on memory verses for this invitational!