Topic - Business with an IT Flavor
Format - Open Quiz (Students, Professionals, Corporate employees and Professors). Mixed Teams allowed. Teams have to have 2 members. Single member teams are not allowed to be in the final. No change in team composition is allowed.
Date - August 5th, Tuesday
Time - 2:30PM (Sharp) Prelims, Followed by Finals. Quiz will end by 5:30PM
Venue - Grand Saloon, Grand Hyatt, Santacruz, Mumbai
Team Composition - Teams of 2.
Prizes - I prize of Rs. 1 lakh
II prize of Rs. 50,000
III prize of Rs. 30,000

QuizMaster - Mitesh Agarwal

Registration to be done at
http://www.reg-express.com/suntechnovate08/quiz2.html

Contact Point- Yogeeta Sant
Tel No. - 022-66179180/ 66179178/9920334407
Fax No - 022-66179011

PS - A Request to please come dressed formally (if possible)

Schedule and rules of Tata Crucible Corporate Quiz 2008

Winners, Reviews and questions from Tata Crucible Campus 2008

Review and Questions from Tata Crucible International 2007 Edition

Review ,Winners and Questions from Tata Crucible Corporate 2007

Review, Winners and Questions from Tata Crucible Campus 2007

Review of Tata Crucible Campus 2006

For more questions and reviews register here

Official Site here

Ok… First my comments and reservations before details..

16 Non Tata Track Cities!! WTF!! Seriously!!

12 was a bloody crowd.. 16’s gonna be a mob!!

Anyway, I hope people will contribute with reviews and questions on QT or Quizkrieg, I’ll personally try to cover Bangalore and Chennai..

For now- the details

Click here for schedule

03rd Aug’08 Coimbatore
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm The Residency,
1076, Avinashi Road ,
Coimbatore - 641 018

05th Aug’08 Cochin
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Taj Residency,
M G Road, Cochin.

09th Aug’08 Hyderabad
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm RNR Auditorium,
Opp. Lotus Pond Road, No. 12 MLA Colony,
Banjara Hills, Hyderabad- 500 034

10th Aug’08 Goa
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6.00 pm National Institute of Oceanography
Dona Paula, Goa - 403 004.

12th Aug’08 Jaipur
(Only Non-TATA Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Vidya Ashram,
(Maharana Pratap Auditorium),
Opp.Daini Bhaskar,Malaviya Nagar, Jaipur - 302 015

19th Aug’08 Ahmedabad
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6.00pm IIM - Indian Institute of Management,
(Ravi Mathai Hall), Vastrapur,
Ahmedabad - 380015.

24th Aug’08 Pune
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Taj Blue Diamond,Garden Court,
11 ,Koregaon Road, Pune-411 001

31st Aug’08 Bangalore
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm NIMHANS Convention Centre,
Hosur Road,
Bangalore - 560 029

05th Sep’08 Bhubaneshwar
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Mayfair Lagoon,
Bhubaneswar - 751 015

07th Sep’08 Kolkata
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Taj Bengal,
Alipore,Kolkata.

11th Sep’08 Chandigarh
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm JBS Charitable Trust,
Sector 27A,
Chandigarh - 160 027

13th Sep’08 Delhi
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Army Public School,
Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi.

14th Sep’08 Lucknow
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Ravindralaya,
Motilal Nehru Marg,
Rly Station Char Bagh ke Samne,
Lucknow - 1

18th Sep’08 Indore
(Only Non-Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm Fortune Landmark,
Adj.Meghdooth Gardens,
Vijaynagar,
Indore - 452 010.

20th Sep’08 Mumbai
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Y B Chavan Centre,
Jagannathrao Bhonsle Marg,
Mumbai - 400 021

21st Sep’08 Chennai
(Both Tracks) Registration : 3.00 pm
Quiz: 3.30 pm Chinmaya Heritage Centre,
Tapovan Hall, #2, 13th Avenue,
Harrington Road,Chetpet,
Chennai - 600 031

26th Sep’08 Jamshedpur
(Only Tata Track) Registration : 5.30 pm
Quiz: 6 pm XLRI Auditorium,
C.H. Area (East), Post Box 222,
Jamshedpur - 831 001.

Format

Format for Selection - Regional Rounds (Tata Track)

• Prelim: 25 questions
• The top six teams from the prelim will make it to the regional final directly.
• The top team from each regional round will make it to the National Finals.

The National Final would be for 8 top teams from across India.

Format for Selection - Regional Rounds (Non-Tata Track)

• Prelim: 25 questions
• The top six teams from the prelim will make it to the regional final directly.
• The top team from each regional round will make it to the National Finals.

The National Final would be for 16 top teams from across India.

Rules

• There is NO ENTRY FEE
• Each team would comprise of two members from the same organisation.
• Team composition cannot change once the prelim has been taken.
• ANY NUMBER of TEAMS from the same organisation can take part
• Teams have the choice to participate in any location from across the country. However, teams will be allowed to take part only once in the Quiz.
• Travel and stay arrangements for the national finalists will be provided by the Organisers for the national final.
• All participants will be required to present proof of employment with photo ID in addition to the visiting cards.
• Once you register for the event you indicate your acceptance that the decision of the organisers and quizmaster will be final and binding on all issues related to Tata Crucible.

Complete details: Visit the official website

Schedule

Bangalore- Aug 8

Chennai- Aug 21

Hyderabad- Aug 23

Pune – Aug 26

Kolkata- Sep 4

Bhubaneshwar- Sep 6

Coimbatore – Oct 2

Kochi- Oct 4

Delhi- Nov 6

Lucknow- Nov 8

Mumbai – Nov 22

Ahmedabad- Nov 24

For locations , please click here

Event Details

Quiz Subject: The quiz will mainly focus on the following areas World of Internet and unique web sites, IT buzzwords and acronyms Personalia - International, national and local Advertisements of IT and Communication companies Software products, companies and brands. History of IT and also the humorous side of IT Areas where computers have made an impact, such as education, entertainment, books, multimedia, internet, banking, advertising, sports, etc., Entry and Eligibility: There is NO entry or registration fee. Students from 8th to 12th Std. are eligible to participate. Multiple teams per school (2 members per team) will be allowed to participate. Prizes Galore All students who take part will get a participation certificate and a memento from TCS All the 12 finalists (6 teams) who make to the Regional Finals will receive gift hampers from TCS. Winners will get Laptops while the runners will get a digital camera & portable DVD player respectively Schools that emerge Winners and Runners-up will be awarded the TCS trophy. Prizes will be distributed at the end of the quiz. There will be audience prizes and a special prize for the Best Cheering Squad.

Rules of the Game: On the day of the event, contestants should be present at the venue at the specified time in their school uniform and carry their official identification from the school (if any). Contestants will answer the preliminary written round on the pre-printed answer sheets supplied by TCS. The top 6 teams will qualify for the Regional final based on their performance in the written round. The quizmaster will announce their names and invite them on stage to contest in the final. The Regional finals will comprise oral questions, audio, visual, connect and rapid-fire rounds. The scoring system will be explained by the quizmaster before each round. Ties, if any, will be suitably resolved. The quizmaster’s verdict will be final. Scores will be displayed at the end of each round and winners announced at the end of the quiz. Audience Questions: As always, there will be several separate questions for the audience to win prizes. Flow of the event Registration Preliminary round Correction Break - Snacks will be provided. (Please carry own lunch) Regional Finals Prize Distribution

]]> http://rohitnair.wordpress.com/2008/07/17/tcs-it-wiz-2008/feed/ Rohit Nair http://rohitnair.wordpress.com/2008/07/12/quizzing-a-career-part-2/ http://rohitnair.wordpress.com/2008/07/12/quizzing-a-career-part-2/#comments Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:15:15 +0000 rohitnair http://rohitnair.wordpress.com/?p=223

A very positive response to the ‘Quizzing- A career’ post. And I remembered having read a nice post written by Surya in the Haftamag some time back. So, I just decided on posting the same.. So here it goes.. Read on

“

A story dating back to the 18^th century about a certain James Daly, manager of a Dublin theater who, deep into his cups one evening boldly declared he could invent a new word and overnight make it part of English language. Daly hired street urchins and beggars and sent them off with orders to mark the word on every city wall. The word was quiz, and by noon the next day everyone was asking what it meant. The ‘act of asking’ soon became the meaning of the word.

Whatever the word’s origin, etymologists aren’t certain whether to believe Daly’s story or whether it’s a corruption of the Latin quid est - meaning What is it? or even a derivation from Inquisition - courtesy of the judicial tortures of 15^th century Catholic Spain - we all know what ‘quiz’ means now.

Quizzing is an endless mind game which helps individuals to keep themselves abreast of the developments in general and in their area of interest. It’s addictive. It’s inanely fascinating. It becomes delightful with a heady mix of information and entertainment. A set of questions during a quiz may go dry and slow while a number of them may reach high momentum with fast-paced questions and sharp shooting answers. The expressions of the contenders during a quiz may range from confident grins, puckered brows, bland stares, fists punching the air, mild brawls between team-mates and moving heads to hysterical convulsions especially when the quiz reaches its climax. The members of the audience too are drawn into the trance until the quiz itself comes to a grinding halt. The primary reason that ushers people into quizzing is the sheer interest to know more. “The constant urge to know, assimilate & cross link information is the main reason why I was driven to quizzing. The satisfaction one derives after working out an answer with the help of clues is enormous,” enthuses Amit Pandeya, reigning National champion at TATA Crucible and a winner of various quizzes.

Quizzing started in India 40 years ago when Neil O’ Brien conducted the first well-structured quiz in Calcutta. Today, India plays home to a fantastic body of people forming a huge quizzing fraternity. With more and more colleges, schools and even companies coming up with their own brands of quizzes, it’s almost like a whole new world celebrating this unique ‘art of learning.’ Says Rajiv Rai (winner of Brand Equity Quiz 2005 and 2007), “India is one of the quizzing capitals of the world. Parents encourage their kids to quiz and being a quizzer is seen as equivalent of being brainy. At school and college levels quizzing is a very popular pursuit, which then gradually dies down due to the pressures of professional life. Quizzing communities have used sites, groups and blogs to stay in touch.”

Over the last two decades, corporates and marketers have used Quizzing as a medium for building brands and to reach niche audiences. Increasing sponsorship and media attention have also led to its popularity. “Television and Internet have been the biggest factors for the spread of Quizzing. Popular quiz shows like KBC, Bournvita Quiz Contest, Mastermind, BT Acumen, TATA Crucible, etc., have helped quizzing gain mass acceptance,” points out AP Alagarsamy, former President of K-Circle quiz club.

Mere awareness will not fetch you success in quizzes, rather applying a fair amount of lateral thinking also becomes important. Here, knowledge and information is used as a starting point, but to get to the answer, the quizzer will have to traverse across related bits of information and string them together. The quizzer must question and discriminate. He/she must be able to tell facts from shades of facts. “For example, this happened with me in one of the general quizzes I attended recently. The question was, ‘Which Indian city is believed to have got its name when Lord Shiva showered divine nectar on it from his matted locks?’ Though being clueless, we figured out that the suitable Sanskrit/ Hindi word for ‘nectar’ would be madhu. Thus, we guessed Madhurai and it turned out to be right”, narrates Dhananjay S, a leading quizzer and budding quizmaster.

Today, access to information is at one’s finger tips. It is no more a challenge to know a lot of stuff. The real challenge though, is to apply the mind. Then again, the knowledge application part helps retain an interest in quizzing, by taking it one level higher. Thereby, the joy of Quizzing for many is not always about towering on top and clinching prizes. It’s about cracking (at least) one question by sheer application of mind, accumulated knowledge, giving in to an impulse and making wild yet intelligent guesses. And if the answer turns out to be right, the happiness knows no bounds. Narrates Pandeya, “A stamp depicting a tower cum antennae, at New Foundland (Canada) was shown. For a second it stumped me. Then, it dawned on me that perhaps its something related to Radio especially trans-atlantic transmission. After being passed by all the other teams, I replied ‘maybe this tower commemorates Marconi’s First trans-Atlantic wireless Signal.’ This turned out to be a right answer, much to my surprise!”

From beer bottles and live ducks to jeans and shoes to laptops and foreign holidays, Quizzes offer a couple of crores for grabs today. Mounting sponsorships with an intention to increase audience base, Quizzing has quite settled on the commercial couch. So, is a lot of money bad really? Will it kill the very concept? Explains Rai, “In today’s world, a certain amount of commercialization is inevitable and welcome. Corporate sponsorships have only made events more slick and glamorous. While the lowest common denominator for an event like KBC is money, the overall publicity has had a positive rub-off on quizzing. Moreover, quality of quizzing has improved over the years in spite of, or maybe because of this commercialization.”

Quizzing and setting questions for quizzes is also a full-time profession for many. The knowledge business, especially in the area of research, is a great place to be. After all, how many professions pay you to read books, magazines and watch films/TV? Says Lloyd Saldanha, a full-time researcher at Greycaps, “The scope is huge but one needs to have a passion for research. When I joined Greycaps I thought I would take it as it comes but now three years into this career, I can’t see myself having chosen a better path. What’s best is you get paid to do what you love doing.”

In 1782, the word quiz “meant an odd, eccentric person in character and spirit” and by 1807, its definition had “changed to a practical joke,” says Edmund Marsden, director of the British Council in India. But quizzing today is not a joke. It is probably the world’s most intellectual hobby, joining millions of people with an acute thirst for knowledge. Jaws hang and eyes pop out, when one sees the contestants pick off those tough questions so easily. The magic in a Quiz happens between the content and the contender. But what is more miraculous is its ability to lull everyone - even the audience - into a memorable stupor.

Cheers to this beauty of a game!

“

Greenko Group and Hyderabad Quiz Club are proud to announce the Greenko Hyderabad Open Quiz 2008.

Details

Date: August 2^nd,  2008 (Saturday)

Time:

Venue :

Hari Hara Kala Bhavan
Patni Junction
SP Road
Secunderabad (Map)

Team Size: 3 or less (Register)

Prizes:

Ist Place - Rs. 15,000 ++
IInd Place - Rs. 9,000 ++
IIIrd Place - Rs. 6,000 ++

Cash prizes for all finalists!

Special prizes for best school team, best corporate team and best all women team!

Attractive audience prizes also!

Entry: The quiz is open to all. Entry is free.

QM : Diwakar Pingle, Priyambad Pattanayak, Nitish Khadiya and Ravi Mundoli

For updates, visit the Hyderabad Quiz Site

My random perusal of some links got me to an interesting post about Quizzing as a career option. Read on

From the JAM Website

“

Curiosity killed the cat, but it made the quizzer rich! From beer bottles and live ducks to jeans and shoes to laptops and foreign holidays, quizzes offer tons of expensive swag up for grabs. In today’s knowledge-driven world, quizzing is no longer just another intellectual pursuit - it’s a realistic and, sometimes, even lucrative career option.

Quizzing is a full-fledged career for the likes of Giri Balsubramniam, popularly known as ‘Pickbrain’, a quiz master from Bangalore. Says Giri, “Personally, I never advise youngsters to take up quizzing as a career option. The perishability of a quizmaster is very high. I am a Pickbrain only till the next Pickbrain surfaces. It is not a job you can do for 58 years. As a profession, quizzing needs constant innovation and an endless thought processes. If you just pick some questions for a particular event without doing a comprehensive research, you may end up making a fool of yourself. But ya, for those who are passionate about quizzing, this is the right time to get going.”

Who can be a Professional Quizmaster?
You have to be a quizzer first in order to know what it feels like on the other side. A good quiz master understands his

Other Careers Articles Cool office of the fortnight Quizzing anyone BPO Work-Ex Making the Nano

audience thoroughly. A good quizzer always keeps his eyes and ears open and is observant. “You must take interest in varied subjects; you must have an aptitude that allows you to assimilate and store a lot of information, and essentially, an ability to recall them whenever required.” Good quizzers are also voracious readers.

Apart from these qualities, as a quizmaster, you need to be a performer. As a quiz is just another show and you are the compere, you need to have stage presence. Says Lloyd Saldanha, researcher and quizmaster, Greycaps, “Just having knowledge and being able to speak good English does not suffice. A quizmaster needs to understand his audience and be an entertainer at heart. He needs to have a good sense of humour, at the same time a mature speaker.”

A decently good personality, a flawless command over the language, a sense of timing, the ability to handle a variety of situations and a ready wit, are all essential to being a popular and successful quizmaster. Says Dhananjay Shettigar, a leading quizzer and budding quizmaster from Mumbai, “To be a quizmaster you don’t need to be highly knowledgeable. You just need to be a good host. You need to be amiable and able to connect with the audience. Of course you should be decently informed. If you are an uninformed
person, you just cannot carry it off.”

If you’re good at it, then there’s a whole lot of money to be made in the field. India has a number of highly successful quizmasters - think Siddhartha Basu and Derek O’Brien. Says Lloyd, “from a practical point of view, initially you won’t have too much moolah. Once you start getting shows, you are on it.
I do two-three shows a month, and
I make Rs.20-30,000 off them.”

If not a Quizmaster,
You can be a Researcher .People who aren’t too confident on stage can also take a look at becoming a researcher. A lot of professional quizmasters have dedicated research teams working on the content. Greycaps is one such company that hires a host of researchers for their quiz shows and even quizzing book releases. The questions have to be well-researched, double-checked to ensure factual correctness, of the right standard, and more importantly, well-framed. Says Dhananjay, “To be a researcher you need to be inquisitive. Questioning should come naturally to you. You must have a passion for finding new stuff. You need to know sources for varied information. And most importantly, which most people lack these days, is that you must know how to use the internet . There is a lot of stuff on the net but you must know how to get to it.”

A researcher also needs to be well-informed person himself. Adds Dhananjay, “There is a serious lack of good research teams. There are people who do research but it can be far better. In 60-70% of the cases, there isn’t much quality in terms of questions - there are repetitions and
arbitrary stuff.”

Being a Quizzer
Just being a quizzer is also an informal career these days. Interested students and corporates travel almost randomly across the country to attend and participate in quizzes, and of course, win prizes. “Mere awareness will not fetch you success in quizzes, rather, applying a fair amount of lateral thinking also becomes important. Here, knowledge and information is used as a starting point, but to get to the answer, the quizzer will have to traverse across related bits of information and string them together. The quizzer must question and discriminate. He/she must be able to tell facts from shades of facts. “For example, this happened with me in one of the general quizzes I attended recently. The question was, ‘Which Indian city is believed to have got its name when Lord Shiva showered divine nectar on it from his matted locks?’ Though being clueless, we figured out that the suitable Sanskrit/ Hindi word for ‘nectar’ would be madhu. Thus, we guessed Madhurai and it turned out to be right”, narrates Dhananjay.

You have to be a very good listener because there’s always a small clue in the question and you should always look out for it. There are no specific academic qualifications required to succeed as a quizzer and absolutely no correlation between quizzing ability and classroom performance. So, when you’re talking to your friends and find that you know more than most of them, remember that it’s not just something to be proud of - it’s something that can become your career!

“

Ramanand reviews the Landmark Pune Quiz here

Anubhav and Vijay post the prelims from Landmark Quiz Pune 2008 here

The Karnataka Quiz Association celebrates the 25th anniversary of its founding this year.  ASKQANCE 2008, our anniversary quiz festival will now feature nine quizzes to be held over two days.

This year’s ASKQANCE is supported by TVS Tyres who also celebrate their 25th anniversary.

The Dates:

• Saturday 28th June 2008
• Sunday 29th June 2008

The Venues:

Saturday 28th June

Old Hall, St. Joseph’s Boys High School
Museum Road
Bangalore

Sunday 29th June

Purandara Bhavan
(Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha)
8th Main Road
(Near Indiranagar Club)

The Quizzes

Quizzes on Saturday, 28th June

KQA Intercollegiate Championships
(featuring two separate finals for junior college and collegiate teams)
3-member teams
No entry fee
No mixed teams allowed
Registration: 09:30a.m.
Start: 10:00a.m. sharp
Junior Finals: 11:00a.m.-12:00 noon
College Finals: 1200 noon -1:00p.m.
Prizes totalling Rs. 10,000 to be won.
QMs: Ochintya Sharma, Rajeev Gowda and Thejaswi Udupa

Hubbubb-a!
The Third edition of the Bangalore Quiz
2-member teams
Open to all
Entry fee: Rs. 50/-
Start: 1:30 p.m
Prizes: Rs. 2000/-, Rs. 1500/- and Rs. 1000/-
QM: Arul Mani

Open Entertainment Quiz
Teams of 4 members
Entry Fee: Rs. 200/-
Start: 3:00p.m.
Finals: 4:00p.m. - 6:00p.m.
Prizes totalling Rs. 20,000/- to be won
QMs: Kiran Vijayakumar and Madhav Nair

Quizzes on Sunday, 29th June (at Purandara Bhavan)

Cognito
High School Quiz Championships
Teams of 2 members
A maximum of 6 teams per school
No entry fee
Prelims: 10 a.m
QM: Dibyendu Das

High School Solo Championship
Start: 12:30 p.m
QM: Mitesh Agarwal

Prizes totalling Rs. 10,000/-

Sesame - The Open Quiz

Teams of 4 members
Open to all
Entry Fee: Rs. 100/-
Free entry for school teams
Prelims: 2p.m.

TVS Tyres Ride Smart Round: 3:30pm

Finals: 4:15p.m.
QMs: Arun Hiregange and Arul Mani
Prizes totalling Rs. 25,000/-

KQA Silver Jubilee Ceremonies
6:00 p.m

All prizes and certificates will be given out during the ceremonies.

A map to help those who need directions to Purandara Bhavan for the quizzes on 29th June:

Find the review and prelims of this quiz by clicking here

Landmark Pune are organising a quiz on the evening of 28th of June, 2008 at Nehru Memorial Hall.

Details:

* Teams of upto 3 members.
* Venue: Nehru Memorial Hall, Camp, Pune
* 28th of June 2008, 3pm.
* Quizmaster: Derek O’Brien

* Prizes

(All prizes are in form of Landmark Gift Vouchers)
- First place – Rs. 30000
- Second place – Rs. 15000
- Third place – Rs. 9000
- Best corporate team – Rs. 6000
- Best team name – Rs. 3000
- Best school team – Rs. 6000 (students of upto class 12 are eligible)
- Best school team runner up – Rs. 3000 (students of upto class 12 are eligible)
- Quizzer of the year – Rs. 5000
- Plus attractive audience prizes.

* Registration needs to be done in advance. The organizers will be assigning seats, and so it is recommended that you register early so as to avoid last minute crowding.

* To register, walk into Landmark (Next to Dorabjee’s), Moledina Road, Camp, Pune anytime before the 28th of June. You can register for your friends just as well. You could call 40068888 for details.