From the Stevens Point Journal April 13, 2004:

Trivia team prepares with 27-hour campout

By SUSAN KAMPMEIER
Journal staff


Armed with long johns and sleeping bags, members of The Collective warmed up for Trivia 35 with a 27-hour sleepover outside the WWSP-FM studios.

Ben Scheer, 28, Stevens Point, and Jason Bilbrey, 28, Plover, showed up at the Communication Arts Center at noon Sunday, staked their claim and braved snow and cold temperatures while waiting to register for Trivia 35: Thanks For The Contest. The duo kept busy with a variety of activities, including playing Trivial Pursuit, they said.

"We needed to train for Trivia," Scheer said. "We picked noon because it was 27 hours, exactly half of the contest."
Trivia 35 kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday and runs for 54 hours. The trivia contest, which is a fund-raiser for the campus radio station, is believed to be the world's largest.

The Collective earned the honor of being first in line, beating out the five-member group from Dad's Computers, which showed up at 7 p.m. Sunday to secure the second spot in the registration line. The campers braved temperatures that dipped as low as 18 degrees and never rose above 38 degrees, according to logs at the Weather Underground Web site.

The Dad's Computers campers bought a tent just for Sunday night's campout. Members Vanessa Castrodes, Eric Hamus, Rhiannon Gatton, Aaron Hamus and Patty Bamberg passed the time by listening to music and playing games like hopscotch in an effort to keep moving and stay warm, Castrodes said.
Their overnight stay came complete with a 6 a.m. wake-up call. "The ducks woke us up with their quacking," Bamberg said.

Before the doors opened at 3 p.m. Monday, the registration line snaked down the sidewalk as more than 100 people waited to register their teams.

"You blow off what you need to, to get here," said Tom Mathias, Marshfield, of Finding Neebins. First-day registration is important because of the Trivia Times, the handout that contains visual clues to questions that will be asked during the contest. Getting a copy on the first day of registration gives the team a week's lead time, Mathias said.

He planned to spend time Monday photocopying the booklet and mailing it out fellow team members so they could start hunting for answers.


Kampmeier can be reached at 715-344-6100, ext. 2503, or at susan.kampmeier@cwnews.net.