Tuesday, December 03, 2019

TechWit - The Intercorporate Tech+Biz Quiz at Infosys

Conducted by - Shrirang Raddi and Chintan Shah
Set by - Thinq2Win
Date: 28 November 2019
Venue: Infosys Phase-II campus
Format - 20 Question Elims; 32 Questions on IR, one written round and one "Pounce" round in the Finals

Results:
Winners: Talentica (Gokul & Nilay)
Runners up: Arcubus (Avaneendra & Kunal)
Second runners up: BNY Mellon (Kapinjal & Rakesh)
Other Finalists: UBS (Ashish & Nishant), Infosys (Gaurav +1) and PriceWaterhouse Coopers (Nikhil & Anil)

Report:

People who are not into business quizzes have a stereotype of biz-quizzes being boring and formulaic; and this quiz was anything but. The elims were really well-framed, with lots of clues for each question to help you along even if you aren't up to date with the zeitgeist of biz-quizzes and were generally a lot of fun for the participants. Though slightly short at 20 questions, the elims managed to separate the top 6 teams to go through to the finals, with a few teams narrowly missing out.

The finals had a stronger focus on core Business and Tech quizzing, with somewhat of a lesser focus on workability than the elims did. There were two special rounds to break up the Infinite Rebounds rounds - a written round on famous fathers halfway through and a "Pounce" round at the end. At the end of the IR rounds, UBS were ahead with a slight lead, with Talentica, Arcubus and BNY Mellon tied 10 points behind them. However, this leaderboard was upended in the Pounce round, which consisted on 5 questions open only on the pounce on the various members of the Paypal Mafia. UBS eschewed the safe strategy, taking some chances on the pounce, and unfortunately fell 20 points behind the other teams, with Talentica, Arcubus and UBS tied after the second-last question was asked. Talentica pulled ahead with a correct pounce on the very last question to a much-deserved win, while Arcubus and UBS went into a tie-breaker to determine second place. QM Shrirang, conscious of the Boy Scouts motto, had prepared for sudden-death questions beyond the initial three in the tie-breaker, but these were not needed as Arcubus eked out ahead of UBS.

Overall, the quiz was a great experience for all the participants. QM Shrirang conducted the quiz with great flair, keeping a decent clip with the pounces and keeping the audience engaged. Thanks to Shrirang, Chintan and the whole Infosys team for a well put-together event, and we hope this quiz becomes a regular event going forward.