(Photo: via Super Duper Photographic)

Do you remember that episode of The Office “Beach Games,” when they went to a beach and competed for the chance to become regional manager, and rather than having a fun time everyone became drenched in sorrow and frustration?

Let’s be honest: team-building exercises are usually groan-worthy at worst or awkward at best - but a company called TrivWorks aims to bring some glitz, glamour and star power to your company’s next team-building excursion. Specializing in trivia entertainment, TrivWorks will put your corporate group to the test with fully-customized, live trivia events.

We’ve all seen the predictable “trust fall” on many a teen television show, and improv games can either be amazing, disastrous or even further alienating depending on your personality type. But everyone enjoys a friendly competition, providing equal opportunity for the individual’s moment to shine while building teamwork for a common cause: at a typical TrivWorks event, participants are divided into teams, and then compete to answer questions correctly, with plenty opportunity to socialize in between. The questions are organized into pretty general topics, so there’s no need to be a genius, which makes for a more fun, low-pressure situation. Variety in topics allows opportunity for each participant to rise to the occasion, and questions are completely customized to whatever topics it is you would like to promote to your group.

TrivWorks also works with you to throw the event in your prime venue of choice, but “brings a level of professionalism, expertise and value to our corporate events which cannot be replicated at typical pub quiz night” - David Jacobson, founder of the company, is a sort of trivia-quizzing expert, having written and hosted over 300 such events in New York City, so you get the real deal; there’s also the option, for select events, to snag Pat Kiernan - the beloved NY1 morning news anchor and host of  VH1’s “World Series of Pop Culture” - to host your event, who pomises “a high-stakes ‘showdown’ finale” that’s not to miss.

Before TrivWorks, Jacobson made his humble start hosting trivia events in 2006 hosting a weekly trivia night at The Gael Pub, which caught media attention and has since become one of the most popular trivia nights in the city.  After the economic collapse in 2008, Jacobson decided to hone his experience as a quiz host and event producer to help boost corporate morale: in a time where many were - and still are - left to justify their being employed at a company still, with uncertain futures, building a strong sense of community seemed necessary.  With over ten years of experience in event planning & production, including six years as Director of Adult Education Programs at 92Y, Jacobson recently resigned from 92Y to pursue TrivWorks full-time.

Having entertained clientele such as MTV Networks, PepsiCo and The Economist, it’s tempting to wonder if the secret to success might simply be a sense of community forged in the shared experience of a good night.

TrivWorks will be hosting a pop-culture trivia night Why We Love NYC at The Bell House Wednesday, January 25th, at 7:30pm, hosted by Pat Kiernan with all NYC-themed trivia. Attendees will be entered into a raffle with a chance to win prizes such as on- and off-Broadway shows, A Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tour, 92Y lectures, a Jazz at Lincoln Center performance by Wynton Marsalis, the chance to take home home their very own Appleletters game – a variation of the popular Bananagrams – to fit in with the Big Apple theme - and much more.  But the thrill of the game itself, featuring multiple rounds of trivia, is sure to be worth the $25 admission. Additionally, we're giving away a pair of tickets to one lucky Brooklyn Exposed reader, so act fast, because they won’t be up for grabs for long!