Before I get into the latest blog post, let’s start off with a flashback to March last year when I first heard about the University of Malta Research, Innovation & Development Trust (RIDT) and RIDT CEO, Wilfred Kenely. My CEO had recently been speaking to Wilfred and had immediately been inspired to help RIDT in some way or another so he brought in myself and Johanna (our unit’s manager) for a brainstorming session. Now I don’t know about the rest of you but here at MUHC brainstorming sessions are always eventful and this was no different. I don’t remember the exact goings-on, but many different ideas were discussed and eventually we somehow all agreed on a Quiz Night.

I am going to be honest here and say that I was never a big fan of Quiz Nights and was in fact extremely sceptical about the idea of organising one for the general public. That is until I finally got to meet Wilfred and hear him speak about ALS and the inspirational Bjorn Formosa. It was then that I understood why our CEO had been so adamant about doing something to help – my heart melted in the same way. Still doubtful about the idea of holding a quiz but more motivated than ever to make it work – I set out to planning something with a bit of a difference to entice people to attend and support this amazing cause. AND THAT ladies and gentlemen is the story of how Battle of the Brains was born.

A year later and having just held our 3rd edition of the quiz night series, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Each night has been a huge success and Battle of the Brains has become a much awaited event for all! This last event was our biggest one yet with over 80 people joining us on the night and we were able to raise €610 for research in ALS through RIDT.

Now that the introduction is over let’s move on to the fun stuff. Now that we have held 3 events, we have started to see a trend with the type of people we tend to attract. This gave me a great idea for this next blog post – I give you: 4 people you are likely to bump into at Battle of the Brains (photo credits: Emvigee PR & Marketing):

The ‘Faithful Parent’

As organisers we tend to rope in as many of our close friends and family members as possible. I must admit emotional blackmail comes into play a bit here but you know we love you plus you always end up having a great night! Thank you for always being there for us (and let’s face it you seem to be enjoying that Pizza ;))

The ‘Table-Turner’

You know how there is always that one person who (often when you least expect it) excels in a particular area and before you know it you’re suddenly in with a chance of winning. Well here is that guy from our 3rd edition who smashed the taste test round and put his team into the lead.

The ‘Fluke’

They went from almost last in our first event to actually winning Battle of the Brains in its second edition that same year. They were back this year to reclaim their win but let’s just say it wasn’t ‘third time lucky’ for them ;).

The ‘Smart Ones’

Although our quiz nights are all about having a good time with friends and families and we must admit they can get quite rowdy with all the laughter, we do actually get some trivia whizzes. Congratulations to our 3rd Edition Winners who proved just how smart they actually are.

 

Although we do have some typical characters on the night, what makes Battle of the Brains so special is that it is open to all and we get a huge range of people joining on the night. We are already looking into how to make things even bigger in our next edition and cannot wait to raise more funds for research in ALS. For now, we just wanted to say thank you to our friends, families, sponsors, participants and everyone else who has supported this cause.