Questions Galore
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| President or CEO | Michael Hurley | |||
| Location: | Wheaton, IL | |||
| Status | Sold to Avery Enterprises | |||
Questions Galore (QG) was a question writing company based in Wheaton, Illinois. It provided questions for a number of competitions, including several state championships and bills itself as "THE source for Scholastic Bowl competition questions and study materials."
Despite this self description, Questions Galore incurred widespread criticism for the low quality of its questions. Such criticism has come not only from proponents of "good quizbowl", but also from coaches and players generally disinterested in the issue of "good" vs. "bad quizbowl".
In 2016, it was announced that Bryce Avery had purchased Questions Galore and had taken over most of QG's existing contracts under the aegis of his own company, Avery Enterprises.
Question Quality
Hallmarks of Questions Galore include the widespread use of "left turns," spelling, buzzer races, and both excessively difficult and excessively easy computational math. Even worse, Questions Galore apparently felt that the 2009 MSHSAA District final could be adequately determined on such questions as "Given the names of these presidents, give their wives' maiden names," an outrageous example of pure trivia in an ostensibly academic tournament.
Many of these hallmarks along with other problems were addressed in Greg Gauthier's 2009 letter to Questions Galore, which was ignored.
Business Tactics
The hallmark tactic used by Questions Galore to maintain its market share is to inundate middle and high school circuits by seriously undercutting the bids of competitors.
Contracts
- 2008-2010 MSHSAA district and state questions, much to everyone's chagrin. [1][2]
- For several years has written the IESA questions.
- Alabama Scholastic Competition Association Middle School, Junior Varsity, and Small Schools questions for several years
- Quizbusters (WNAB) during its first (2008-09) and third (2010-11) seasons.
- OSSAA state tournament from 2010 to 2012.
- Cullman County Scholar Bowl in Alabama for several decades until 2014.
External Links
- Questions Galore Official Website
- Discussion of Questions Galore's 08-09 MSHSAA Contract on the Missouri Academic Competition Message Board--Provides Missouri response to Questions Galore's being chosen as the 08-09 MSHSAA question provider.
- Quiz Bowl Resource Center discussion of 08-09 Missouri Season--Provides general response to Questions Galore's being chosen as the 08-09 MSHSAA question provider.