8 Ways To Take Your Trivia Event Completely Virtual With Online Streaming Tools

With the current situation of the world we continue to need to look to the future, and what the future has in store for our trivia shows and live entertainment. I am writing this on a Trivia Tuesday, but bars & restaurants are not permitted to open in my location, and this is the same for many cities, and perhaps from where you are reading this.

We have seen many requests for online tools to host trivia events using live streaming, so I thought I would take the time to compile my favorites here for you. You should be able to utilize any of our FBT PowerPoint Presentations to screen share and work with these tools, as well as our newest game Triv101 (currently in beta-access) "Survey" style trivia party game.

Music Bingo is a little bit more difficult to play online. You can share streaming services by allowing multiple people to listen to the same Spotify account, but in order to distribute cards, you will need to send them out or have everyone print their own cards beforehand. Perhaps you can send out the cards to each persons computers and have them "dob" off answers on their individual screens, but this can be a lot of work to set up for guests too. If you have attempted Music Bingo online yourself, please let us know how it went in the comment section below.

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Zoom: Video Conferencing

If you haven't heard about Zoom already, you're gonna. It is quickly taking the market by storm with its easy-to-use platform and screensharing service. It is free to use for up to 100 participants, but it does have a premium add-on for up to 500 participants. This is a good place to start if you aren't super tech savvy.

Google Hangouts

Google is offering a free upgrade, currently, and you should be able to get 150 people on the same call at once. This might be a good option for you if you already have all your contacts within your Gmail.

www.twitch.tv

This is my personal favorite option for sharing your trivia content right now. It's free to join, and you can easily begin taking donations and gaining paid subscribers to your stream. While they don't yet have a category specifically for Trivia, I think we can work together and get them to change that. There are several other option that will work in the meantime, such as Twitch Plays or Just Chatting.

Mixer | Interactive Livestreaming

This is Microsoft's new answer to live streaming. While there are not near as many viewers as Twitch or YouTube, this is a nicely laid out platform with everything you need to make an income online for your guests

Live - YouTube

YouTube is kind of hard to navigate and doesn't categorize too well yet, but it does have one of the largest viewer bases to work with. If you are planning on opening your trivia show up to the world, this could be an option for you.

Facebook Live

Could be OK if you are into that sort of thing. I don't enjoy Facebook's marketing algorithms, and find them a burden on society... but whatever. To each their own.

Join.me

This option was built mainly for online meetings but is easy-to-use and fits our needs nicely. Free for up to 10 users or 250 with their pro account. Not bad at all

Bonus option for the true virtual trivia experience!

Bigscreen VR

I have hosted dozens of trivia events using Bigscreen VR and it is quickly becoming one of my favorites. The experiences you can have interacting with guests in virtual reality is far greater than you will find with any other platform. You can have players draw their answer in 3d, raise their hands, and even have a dance contest!

You will be limited by how many people have the gear to join your event right now... but one day soon this will be THE way to host your virtual trivia night.

Thanks for reading. You're the best. Once again, thanks for supporting live entertainment.