He runs Virtually The Best Pub Quiz Ever & has a big aim this week to get 300 teams to take part....... It's a great initiative & a wonderful way to connect with family & friends during this time. Let's see if our Overbury community can help Neil reach his target!
Neil has been a key part of the community since he came to Overbury. Neil has had two children at Overbury First School and family have even worked there. Over the years Neil and his business have been great supporters of events in the village from fund raising for the village hall to celebrations of both the Queen's jubilees.
We did a quick Q & A with him to find out exactly what he has been up to during lockdown in Overbury!
How long have you lived and worked at Overbury?
22 years!! Since 1998, when the business was just 2 years old.
For people who don’t know you, what is your business?
Mainly Corporate event entertainment and fundraising event auctions.
The Moonlighting Group covers three key brands:
Quiztaztic
Auction Direct
Moonlighting Casino & Race Nights
Looking back, what have been your most exciting projects? Any worldwide?
Large Quiz fundraisers mostly in London / Birmingham / Manchester, for up to 5-600 guests
Do you employ any local people?
We are a small team of only 3 full timers (other than me) one each from Tewkesbury, Cheltenham & Kemerton. Currently my daughter is also employed by us.
We have had villagers in the past and often helped as casual workers on events.
So tell us what has your business been doing during lockdown?
Virtually THE BEST PUB QUIZ Ever ...... streamed live on YouTube & organised all from my office,..
Fortunately the full fibre broadband which we were connected to last year has been crucial to enable our transmissions to Teams playing along around the world!
That’s such a great idea…. How many teams compete?
We started with 50 Teams. Hoping for 500 next week when Barnardo’s will be our chosen charity partner. Then 1000 Teams by the end of May?
What have been the difficulties if any, in organising the quiz during lock down?
Delivering the Quiz shows solo from my office was the first hurdle, with my team based elsewhere. We all had to learn new technical skills from Google docs for the answer sheets to YouTube streaming, mics and webcams!
Then marketing to the general public - digital marketing and Facebook promo - fortunately I have an old friend in London who has been invaluable for that!
It’s fantastic that people can ultimately join in for free (if they cannot afford a donation) but obviously this relies on donations….. Which charities do you support?
We have already supported Sue Ryder, TASC & Refuge. This week is in support of Crisis.
Very exciting next week we are able to support Barnardo’s which will hopefully give us a larger reach & in turn raise more money for each charity.
Final question - what in your opinion is the best thing about living and working within Overbury?
The peaceful surroundings and strong community would be top of my list - I can't think of anywhere better to be for lockdown. How fortunate are we..!?
All information about how to take part can be found at here.