While looking after the affairs of SPQC last year, I had noted down certain things which if implemented could improve the SPQC experience. I’d made a mental note to implement them from this season (season 4). Most of them pertain to modifications in the format of the questions and the points system. I’m just rattling down points in a random order. I exhort the current “managing group” to give them a thought -

1. The essence of Infinite Rebound is the outlandish funda that resides behind each question. A certain “wow” element behind every question in an IR makes for a good round. IR is designed for long, workout-able questions where all teams have enough time to come up with a really “inspired” guess which often turns out to be the answer. With sixty questions being made on IR, the flavour of IR often gets compromised. Many questions are made just to comply with the “IR quota” which need not exist. Reduction of questions in IR to 30 would help a lot. Moreover, IR questions can be made one per day over the period of an entire month.
2. Moving over to the connects – points for individual questions in a connect need to be scrapped. This, I say, keeping a lot of factors in mind. If there are no points for individual questions, people can focus on getting the overall connect right. As there will be no exchange of sheets for evaluation, a lot of time will be saved. Also, if individual points are given for the connect, the “connect round” assumes a lot of importance over the other rounds. Say, there is a 10q connect with 10 points per question and an overall 100 points for the connect. The worth of the connect round becomes 200 points. With two such rounds, connects are worth 400 points and overshadow all other rounds. Infinite Rebound which is supposed to be the crux of the quiz gets reduced to a mere farce. Scrapping individual points for connect questions could do the trick. If not completely scrapped, the points awarded for each question should be very minimal. The Long Visual Connects (LVCs) are fine as points are awarded to each block of visuals and no points for individual questions.
3. All the “dry” questions which are often used as IR could be incorporated as a written round. If thirty questions are to be included as a written round, then perhaps they could be split up in 3 sets of 10 each instead of 30 at a go.
4. Print ads, identification of visuals, audio clips could be incorporated in another written A/V round instead of including them in the IR.
5. Also, I’d like to touch on the “answer slide”. Most often, the answer slide consists of just the one or two word answer. In the case of workoutable questions, an effort should be made to explain how the answer could have been derived from the question. Any supplementary text which would help the viewer to understand what the question was all about would be appreciated. Also, to create visual recall, the answer slide would do well to have a picture of the answer. For a question like, “Who became Murali’s 800th Test victim ?” – one can have a pic of Pragyan Ojha along with the answer. The effect is not so pronounced or evident in the above question. But with other high funda questions, pictures could make a clinching difference as the audience would be able to identify themselves with the questions rather than thinking of them as an exercise in rapid reading.

A typical quiz Thursday SPQC quiz could be framed in the following format -

• 8 Question Current Affairs Written  (8*5=40 pts)
• 15 IR Clockwise (15*10=150 pts)
• Connect/LVC (5 point depreciation per slide starting from 50)
• 8 Dry Questions Written (8*5=40 pts)
• 8 Q Dedicated Audio/Visual (8*5=40 pts)
• 15 IR Anticlock (15*10=150 pts)
• Connect/LVC (5 point depreciation per slide starting from 50)

Of course, this need not be the exact format of the quiz all the time. The idea is not to straight-jacket the QMs into conforming to a certain format. QMs can change the order, number of questions, perhaps introduce a new round. But if the above format is taken as a base to build upon, it would ensure equitable distribution of points. And the quiz will not be skewed towards a particular round or a particular team. I’m a little apprehensive that such a fixed format might just prove to be an impediment for first time QMs. In that case, the quiz could be shared by two first first time QMs who put in their best foot forward in making their half of the questions.

More than anything, this post is purely based on personal observation. I’d be glad if the current bunch of guys thought over this and made some changes if they felt right. Cheers.

For the last two days, I’ve been thinking over what my “comeback” post should look like. I had made up my mind to crib about how difficult the last six months have been – the sheer physical exhaustion and mental tiredness et al, why one should choose his project topics carefully and so on. But today’s proceedings put me out of this conrundrum. What follows is a simple account of today’s events. It involves a lot of enthusiasm and a slight sense of resignation.

I have missed the last two quizzes due to “educational hazards”. Practicals, lack of enthusiam, and lack of partners ensured that I wasn’t able to attend the Sweden Memorial Quiz at IITB and the NITIE Biz Quiz. So, it would be an understatement to say that I was eager to attend today’s Biz Quiz at NMIMS. With two spots in the finals reserved for student teams, qualification was an added incentive.

Mr.Diniz agreed to partner me and we were all set to have an almighty crack at the elims. Another bunch of enthusiastic juniors who call themseleves Mayuresh and Gautam were also sailing in the same boat. The 25 question elims was what you’d call a horror elims. It was like facing Lasitha Malinga’s inswinging yorkers wearing Kolhapuri chappals. We flapped our tiny little grey cells forward and backward, often in futility, and managed to get a grand total of 4 questions correct which gave us 4*2=8 points . Mayuresh and Gautam got anything between 2.5 and 4.5 questions correct, a fact that we haven’t been able to establish yet.

Partly dejected and totally deflated, we whiled away time, having a quick bite at the nearby eatery. And while we were snacking, Mr. Diniz’s phone did a jig in his pocket. A pity that we didn’t pay any heed to it. Two MICA teams had qualified from the students’ “quota” but had to leave for Ahmedabad. Hence, the organisers had to replace them with teams three and four.

As we were sitting in the pretty cozy audience environment and having a really good time drowning can after can of the greatest energy drink to come out of this country – Cloud Nine, we suddenly realised that the student teams on stage had scored 6 points each. At that precise moment, I hit my head against the table in utter frustration. Next thing we managed to do is to call the “missed call”. It turned out that the person on the other end was just ten yards away. He came up to us and we had an animated discussion which culminated with the realisation that we’d missed our chance to make the stage because we had failed to answer the call !

Ah. A day of missed chances. Why was I not called when Oswin didn’t pick up his phone ? Why weren’t Mayuesh or Gautam never given a ring when they too had got more than both the student teams on stage ? We gulped down some more Cloud 9 finding it difficult to distingush the bitter taste of disappointement from the equally obnoxious aftertaste of Cloud 9. (Seriously, who the hell drinks Cloud 9. How do they manage to sell this thing ?)

Not many B-school quizzes have reserved seats for students’ in the final. And battling with the corporate behemoths is a real challenge. Hence, it hurts to be stripped off a chance to “make the stage”. But there will be a next time, provided these menacing cell phones don’t sell us down the river.