It's all going to happen in 2008, except whatever doesn't

Friends-

Due to the vagaries of holiday scheduling, last Monday, December 10, was the final Big Quiz Thing of 2007. I actually briefly considered trying to do a quiz on Xmas Eve—this is New York City, I think we could scrounge up a few Jewish nerds—but ultimately thought better of it. And even I have better things to do on New Year's Eve than ask trivia questions in a basement.

So this gives me a little time to make a BQT plan for '08. And to share it with you. 'Cause, you know, I love you.

1. The biggest development of '07 was saying good-bye to our longtime venue, the Slipper Room. That place was insanely good to us for an amazingly long time (nearly five years), and we only moved because I got sick of feeling guilty that I was unable to conjure extra chairs out of the ether. Our new home, Crash Mansion, is a beautiful, beautiful venue, and job No. 1 for '08 is to really make it our home. So I'm bringing in throw pillows, pictures of my cat, and dirty magazines to hide under the stage.

2. As you're conceivably aware, the Big Quiz Thing does some good business doing private parties—office parties, corporate events, fund-raisers, cult meetings. But not enough—Quizmaster Noah and DJ GB still have day jobs, EDP still has to sell drugs. The goal in '08 is to kick that business up. We have a new press kit inches from completion and some useful doors to bang on. Should we get an agent? A publicist? If so, what's the best way to go about getting such help? Suggestions are beloved.

3. The format and gameplay of the BQT is forever a work in progress. Just a couple of months ago, we made the minor but vital tweak of adjusting the lag time between Lightning Round questions from 15 seconds to 10 seconds. It's still not a particularly lightning-like Lightning Round, but everything's relative.

One of the big goals for '08—and this is greatly at the longtime prodding of DJ GB—is to be a little more cryptic in how we advertise the show, to give less away and make it harder to anticipate the nature of the trivia. I realize that's a little unclear, so apparently I also need to be less cryptic in how I explain how I'm going to be more cryptic…

Okay, instead of flat-out telling people what the subject of the next audio round is going to be ("'White Songs," "Drive My 'Car,'" "Songs by Guys from Memphis with Titles That Rhyme with 'Mail Louse Jock'"), I'll try to explain it in not-so-explicit terms. So that people can't prepare so much. Yeah, anyone who prints things out and brings them as crib notes to a quiz show in a bar has too much time on their hands, but I know with whom I'm dealing here.

So that's the plan. For now. More later, I'm sure…

- Quizmaster Noah