Heat Trivia — Host Training Script

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Heat Trivia · Host Training

From Account to "End Game"

A complete one-night walkthrough for teaching a new host, in order.
Format: Read-aloud training script, ~30–40 min Use it: Pair-train a new host side-by-side, or self-study Printed:

What We'll Cover

  1. Part 1 — The Morning Of: sign in, launch the game, print everything
  2. Part 2 — At the Venue: displays, windows, handouts
  3. Part 3 — Opening Registration: when, how, and who helps
  4. Part 4 — Running the Game: slides, scoring, break, ticker, wagers
  5. Part 5 — Wrapping Up: winners, end game, clean up
  6. Troubleshooting: what to do when something goes sideways
Part 1 The Morning Of
≈ 30 MIN · HOME
Trainer says: Host nights don't start when people walk in the door — they start this morning. If we try to do everything at 6:45 pm we're scrambling. So let's plan the day properly.

1 Sign in and launch your game

  1. Open heattrivia.com and click Sign In (top right).
  2. Enter your email and password, click Sign In.
  3. On the Dashboard, click the big Launch Game button.
Pick your game pack for tonight. The most recent weekly pack is at the top — that's the one with the newest content.
  1. Click the game card to select it. It highlights orange.
  2. Fill in the fields:
    • Title for the night — e.g., "Tuesday Trivia at [Venue]"
    • Host Name — your name
    • Venue / Location — the bar's name
    • Presentation Theme — pick one (Default for most nights; Halloween, Christmas, etc. for themed weeks)
  3. Click 🚀 Launch Game.
Check: You're on the Host Console. Top bar shows a 6-letter Game ID (like H7BG6F). A "Before You Start" checklist pops up. Read it, dismiss it.

2 Print the paperwork

Handouts and answer sheets get printed NOW, from home, before we even leave. The QR on the handouts is already valid — the game ID we just created stays the same all day.
  1. Top bar of Host Console → 🖨 Print → Blank Answer Sheets.
  2. A new tab opens with a printable sheet. Click 🖨 Print.
  3. In the print dialog: choose Duplex / Print on both sides → Flip on short edge. Also tick "Background graphics" (under "More settings") so the black round bars print solid, not grey text.
  4. Print one per expected team, plus 2–3 spares. Typical Tuesday: 10–15 sheets.
  5. Back to the Host Console → 🖨 Print → Team Captain Handouts.
  6. Print single-sided. Each page has TWO handouts side-by-side — you'll cut them in half at the venue. Print enough for every table (8–12 usually).
Check: You have a stack of answer sheets and a stack of captain handouts. Put them in your trivia bag. Close the browser if you want — the game stays active for 24 hours. We'll come back to it later.
Part 2 At the Venue
15–30 MIN BEFORE GAME
Walk in, grab a drink, stake out your host spot. Plug in your laptop, connect to the second screen — the bar's TV or projector.

3 Display setup

  1. Plug in the external display (HDMI, DisplayPort, or wireless cast).
  2. Windows: right-click desktop → Display settings. Mac: Apple menu → System Settings → Displays.
  3. Configure:
    • Primary screen (your laptop): 1920×1080 @ 125% scaling.
    • Secondary screen (TV/projector): 1920×1080 @ 150% scaling.
  4. Set arrangement to Extend (not Mirror).
Check: Laptop and TV show different things. You see a workspace on the laptop; TV is a blank desktop.

4 Re-open the game

  1. Open heattrivia.com. If still signed in, you'll land on the Dashboard.
  2. If you see "Recently Ended (Resumable)" with today's game, click Resume. Otherwise click the game under "Active Sessions" to reopen.
  3. In the Host Console top bar, click 🔥 Presentation. A new window opens. Drag it to the TV/projector. Press F to fullscreen.
  4. Click 📺 TV Scores. Another window opens. Drag it to the TV/projector (or a second nearby screen if the bar has two). Click inside to fullscreen.
You can click those buttons again later — the same window pops to the front. It won't keep spawning new ones.
Check: Laptop shows Host Console. TV/projector shows the title slide of your game.

5 Distribute handouts

  1. Cut the captain handouts in half along the dashed line.
  2. Drop one handout per table (preferably in the middle, face-up).
  3. Keep the answer sheets near your host station — you'll hand them out after registration closes.
Now we wait. Sip your drink. Chat with regulars. Don't start registration yet.
Part 3 Opening Registration
≈ 15 MIN BEFORE GAME
People are arriving. You want registration OPEN when they scan the QR. So about 15 minutes before game time, we start it.

6 Start Registration

  1. In the Host Console, find the REG chip on the left panel.
  2. In the number field, type how many minutes to keep registration open. 15 is a good default.
  3. Click Start.
Check: Phones that already scanned the QR flip from "Got Here Early!" to the join form with a countdown timer.

7 Watch teams populate

Teams show up in your scoreboard as they register. Watch for three things:
  1. Duplicate team names — if two phones race in with "The Beer Nuts," only the first wins. The second will see "team name taken" and need to pick a new name.
  2. Someone typing through their team — if John, Mary, and Chris all register as "Table 5" separately, you end up with three teams. The captain handouts say CAPTAIN ONLY — remind them in-person if you see it happening.
  3. People who can't scan — walk over, show them the URL on the handout, help them type it.

8 Hand out answer sheets

As each team finishes registering and shows on your scoreboard, drop an answer sheet at their table. Say "Team Name at the top, grab a pen, we start in 10."

9 Close registration

Either wait for the countdown to hit 0, or click Lock on the REG chip when you're ready to start. After that, no new teams register through the phone flow.

If a team arrives late, click Add Team on your scoreboard and type them in manually. Warn them their captain can't submit wagers without a PIN.
Part 4 Running the Game
≈ 90–110 MIN
Now we play. You advance slides, they answer on paper. Simple.

10 Advance through rounds

  • Right arrow or Space bar = next slide.
  • Left arrow = previous slide.
  • Or use the Next button in the panel.

Each round has: intro slide → 10 question slides → "PASS YOUR ANSWERS" slide → answers reveal. You read each question clearly, give teams ~20 seconds, then advance.

11 End-of-round grading

  1. After you hit the "PASS YOUR ANSWERS" slide, wait for teams to swap sheets.
  2. Advance to the answers slide and read each answer aloud.
  3. While teams grade, sip your drink. Don't rush.
  4. Collect the graded sheets from each table (or have a runner).

12 Enter the scores

  1. In your Scoreboard panel, find the team's row.
  2. In the column for the round you just finished, type the raw score (0–50).
  3. Tab or Enter to save.
CRITICAL: Enter the raw, un-doubled score. If a team chose that round as their bonus, the system doubles it automatically. If you double it yourself, they get 4×. Don't.
  1. Do all teams before moving to the next round.

13 The break (between round 4 and round 5)

Standard pacing: break after round 4, about 10 minutes. Give people a chance to order another round and hit the bathroom.
  1. In the BREAK chip, set minutes (10 is standard).
  2. Click Start. Both the TV and every player's phone now show a 10-minute countdown.
  3. Enjoy your own break. When you return, click Clear or let the timer hit zero.

14 The ticker (any time you want to announce something)

Want to promote happy hour? Shout out a birthday? Push an event? Use the ticker.
  1. In the slide panel, find the Broadcast text field.
  2. Type your message (uppercase looks best on the TV).
  3. Click Broadcast.
  4. The TV and all player phones show a scrolling orange bar with your text across the top.
  5. Click Clear when you want it gone.

15 Wager rounds (at the end — there are TWO)

After round 7, we do two wager questions. Each team's captain has to submit a bet of 0–10 points on their phone. Correct answer = points ADDED. Wrong = points SUBTRACTED. This is where games swing.
  1. Advance to the first wager slide on your deck. Read the category but not the question yet.
  2. In the WAGER chip, set minutes (2 is standard) and click Start.
  3. Every phone in the room gets the wager submission form. Captains type their number (0–10) and submit.
  4. Count down out loud: "30 seconds left… 10 seconds…"
  5. When time's up, advance to the question slide, read the question.
  6. After teams discuss and write their answer on the back of their sheet, advance to the answer slide. Read the answer aloud.
  7. On the Scoreboard panel, each team shows their locked wager as a 🔒. Click Reveal W1 to un-lock.
  8. For each team that got it wrong: click the ± button next to their W1 number. Their +7 becomes −7.
  9. Repeat the entire flow for Wager 2.
Part 5 Wrapping Up
5 MIN

16 Announce the winners

Before you End Game, soak up the moment. Third place, second place, first place — announce them one at a time. Give out the prizes. Take a picture of the winning team.
  1. Click Sort if your scoreboard isn't already in total order — the top team is your winner.
  2. Announce out loud. The TV shows the leaderboard for the room.

17 End Game

  1. In the top bar, click 🛑 End Game.
  2. Confirm the prompt.
The game freezes. TV and phones show the final scoreboard. You can close the laptop any time — the record stays on your dashboard.

18 Clean up

  1. Unplug the laptop.
  2. Pack (or toss) answer sheets — whatever the bar prefers.
  3. Grab your tab.
App. Troubleshooting
WHEN THINGS GO SIDEWAYS
What happensHow to fix it
A team's captain lost their phone mid-game Tell them to open /play on any device, click Reconnect, enter team name + PIN. They're back.
A captain forgot their PIN You can't look it up. Delete the team (pencil icon → Delete) and have them re-register, OR just enter their scores manually.
TV dropped fullscreen when you alt-tabbed Click anywhere inside the TV window. The "Tap to Enter Fullscreen" overlay reappears. One click and you're back.
Scoreboard shows "Save failed" on a score entry Your host token likely expired. Hard-refresh the page (Ctrl+F5 / Cmd+Shift+R). State is safe in Firebase.
You accidentally clicked End Game Go back to Dashboard → "Recently Ended (Resumable)" → click Resume. Same Game ID, handouts still valid.
A team disputes a scoring call ("we got half that answer!") Scoring rubric: 0 = wrong, 1 = partial credit, 2 = correct. Your call as host. Be consistent.
Bar Wi-Fi gets flaky mid-game Have a cellular hotspot in your bag. Heat Trivia state lives in Firebase — refreshing picks up where you were. Scores are safe.
Reveal W1 / Reveal W2 button doesn't do anything Open browser DevTools (F12) → Console. If you see a token error, hard-refresh. Otherwise check that you actually started the wager first (click Start in the WAGER chip).
Registration was opened hours ago, countdown expired, can't join On the REG chip, click Start again with fresh minutes. Overrides the old countdown.
Heat Trivia · A product of Ikon Marketing Group LLC
Need help? Email heattriviaforbiz@gmail.com · Questions in real time? Open the Help panel in the Host Console (press ?).