For 10 years, Debra Weiss worked as a game-show producer at a company that provided a network of live, online trivia games in bars, hotels, and restaurants. So when Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle wanted to pivot from an adult spelling bee to a different annual fundraiser, Weiss had some ideas. “I know a lot about live multiplayer games,” she says, “and was pretty confident I could come up with something appealing for Literacy Volunteers,” which helps immigrants, refugees, and native-born adults improve their reading, writing, English, and U.S. citizenship skills.
Nearly two decades later, Wordplay, a team-based competition that’s held every spring at The Paramount Theater, continues to be the nonprofit’s biggest fundraiser. And Weiss, who does all the research, writing, and presentation creation for the evening, isn’t slowing down. It takes about four to six months to design the event, she says. “But I’m always thinking about it. There are usually seven or eight rounds and 10 to 15 questions per round.” When she encounters a “tidbit,” she tries to come up with 10 more similar things, and “then I know I have a round.”
She recalls looking at coins and noticing that all the heads except Lincoln’s faced the same way. “How many times have I seen coins and not noticed that?” Weiss wondered. “So I started looking for other things we see a lot. Like the Statue of Liberty. Does she hold the torch with her left hand or her right hand? I have done a round like that twice, and it’s really fun.”
But Worldplay isn’t just about facts and trivia, Weiss says. “It’s about broad, general knowledge of the world around us. … It’s my contribution to raising money and awareness for an organization that does something I care deeply about.”
