An online quiz that started as a way to keep friends and family entertained, has gone national - and is helping people overseas access Covid-19 vaccinations.
Quizmaster James Gatley. Photo: Supplied.
It's called The Pandemic Pub Quiz, and James Gatley is the quizmaster. He told Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan how the quiz works.
Pandemic Pub Quiz providing light relief in lockdown
Gatley and his friend Liam Turner came up with the idea to run a quiz with their friends over Zoom during last year's lockdown.
The pair took turns at hosting the quizzes and they found their friends and whanau loved taking part while stuck in their bubbles.
Gatley had noticed a lot of people were taking part in similar quiz events online and with the help of some friends he decided to take the quiz to a larger scale.
"Essentially we just were just like for starters, how many people are actually keen to do this?
"So we put out a few feelers and then it was quickly apparent there was actually quite a lot of demand for this type of thing especially in level four in particular when there is next to nothing else to do."
Gatley and his friends then set out to explore how they could make their quiz dreams a reality.
"We started googling what platforms can we use, how can we broadcast this, do we need a quizmaster or can we just do it with an online quiz platform."
He says they've found success in broadcasting their quizzes over Zoom and other platforms as it's added an entertainment value to their quiz.
Gatley is the quizmaster and has been known to be quite a laugh. He attributes his humour to his time in drama class and having banter with his mates as a teenager at Hamilton Boys High School.
He hosts the event which is nowadays run over a Zoom call while participants use an app on their phone to answer questions.
Each team pays $30 to take part, $10 of which goes directly to UNICEF to fund Covid-19 vaccine access in impoverished countries overseas.
Gatley admits there's nothing stopping participants from simply searching the answers up on their phone but he says there's not much he can do about it at this stage.
However, he warns any prospective cheaters that 'on Saturday morning after the quiz they'll be the ones having to look at themselves in the mirror.'
"There's not a heck of a lot to be gained here this is about entertainment, having a bit of fun with your bubble and if I can get a few giggles out you on the way it's a win win."
You can tune into the Pandemic Pub Quiz by heading to their website to find details on when their next quiz will be run.