Culture Quest
American Mensa holds an annual cultural literacy contest in which teams from across the nation compete by answering the same questions on the same day. Cash prizes are awarded to the local group sponsor. Adult and youth teams compete, with the youth teams competing against each other (not against the adult teams).
Culture Quest 2010 was held on April 11. Results are below. Come back here next February for registration information for next year's competition.
If you would like a better sense of this event, or if you just enjoy trivia questions, you can subscribe to the 'Culture Quest-ion of the Day' here. You will receive an email containing a culturally-based trivia question each day.
CAM's Culture Quest Coordinator is . John has a long history of putting together teams to compete in this event and placed 'in the money' for 8 straight years. His teams have earned over $775 for the CAM Scholarship Fund. Past teams (of which we are very proud!) are listed below. Contact John if you are interested in joining or starting a team.
2010 Culture Quest XXI
CAM sponsored three teams again this year -
Tiffany Everett (Captain), Barry Austern, Sean Cannon, John Cunningham, Rick Magnus; Steve Fletcher & Peggy Stapleton, alternates. MECCA, as they named themselves, came in 3rd place nationally (again!) with 169.5 points and won $220 dollars for the scholarship fund.
John Schneder (Captain), Richard Hildebrand, Paulette Wilson, Katrina Riley, Cassie Ryle. John's team scored 113.5 points in the competition.
Misty Richmond (Captain), Rebecca Cornett, Brian Meeron, Susan James, Steve Homer. Misty's team scored 118.5 points in the competition.
2009 Culture Quest XX
CAM sponsored two teams this year -
Tiffany Everett (Captain), Barry Austern, Sean Cannon, John Cunningham, Rick Magnus; Paulette Wilson & Peggy Stapleton, alternates. MECCA, as they named themselves, came in 3rd place nationally and won $226 dollars for the scholarship fund.
John Schneder (Captain), Rebecca Cornett, Richard Hildebrand, Brian Meeron, CE Reutter; Misty Richmond, alternate (AKA popcorn popper and soft drink provider ;-).
2008 Culture Quest XIX
For the first time, Cincy's CQ team did not finish in the money - but '09 is a new year!
2007 Culture Quest XVIII
"Buckeye Blitz", hosted by John Schneder (of course), finished in the money (of course!). Their 137 points earned $85 for the Scholarship Fund and placed them 16th in the nation.
2006 Culture Quest XVII
"Hexagone Crazy" did just that - go crazy! They earned $110 by finishing in 15th place with 192.5 points. The team was headed by John Schneder.
2005 Culture Quest XVI
We are going to field 3 teams this year. And, 6 of the 7 ExComm members are on teams! That's a first for here. 17 team-members out of a population of about 370 CAM Mensans is over 4.5% on teams.
The teams are:
- "5 Alive - Reassembled" - Team-Captain, John Schneder. Team members; Barry Austern, Richard Hildebrand, Rick Magnus and Paulette Wilson. Team hosted by Paulette Wilson.
- "OH-K Chorale" - Team Captain, Rob McDonough. Team members; Candi Bower, Rebecca Cornett, and Peggy Stapleton. Team hosted by Rob McDonough.
- "Cincinnati Dead-Enders" - Team Captain, John Cunningham. Team members: Robert Charlton, Susan Kight, Dave Lennig, Margaret Maddox. Alternates: Debbi Brown and Bob Fitzgerald.
Team hosted by Susan Kight.
Alive Reassembled finished 18th! With 202 points they earned $75 for the Scholarship Fund.
2004 Culture Quest XV
John Schneder again put a team together - "CAM Cads and Cadettes". And once again they finished in the money - 17th in the country with 171 points. Their $80 brought the total earnings for CAM Culture Quest to $402.50!
2003 Culture Quest XIV
The "Mencinnati 7" finished an impressive 7th in the nation this year - perhaps they should put a small number in their name again! With 125.5 points they earned a not-too-shabby $135 for CAM Scholarships.
2002 Culture Quest XIII
Cincinnati's Culture Quest team placed eighth this year, the fourth year straight to earn money for the Cincinnati Area Mensa Scholarship fund. This year, the prize was $130. The "Flying Pig Word Worriors" earned 179 points.
The team composition was identical to the 2001 team: Barry Austern, Richard Hildebrand, Rosann O'Rielly, John Schneder and Paulette Wilson, with alternates Richard Magnus and Peggy Stapleton.
2001 Culture Quest XII
For the third time in three years, Cincinnati's Culture Quest team placed "in the money". Placing 20th (of approximately 90 teams), the "Questorae Cincinnati" team earned 197 points. Although not making a lot of money, by placing in the top 20 they earned $50, which exceeded entry fees. They have been able to send money to the CAM Scholarship fund every year.
Photo from Culture Quest XII, April 29th. The team is John Schneder, captain; Rosann O'Reilly, Barry Austern, Richard Hildebrand, and Paulette Wilson. Alternates, Peggy Stapleton and Richard Magnus are not pictured. Photo by Richard Magnus.
2000 Culture Quest XI
Cincinnati Area Mensa's Award-Winning Culture Quest XI Team (clockwise from the upper left): John Schneder - team captain; Paulette Wilson; Rajesh Desikan; Rich Hildebrand; Barry Austern. Team Alternate Peggy Stapleton, who took the photo, is not pictured. The team, "Queen City Quandries", tied for 12th place out of 88 teams nationwide with team earnings of $87.50.
1999 Culture Quest X
The team, nicknamed "Paulette's Ponderers", finished 18th in the nation with 148.75 points. Well Done! They earned $50.