Jeopardy!

Went over to the St. Regis Hotel in Washington, DC today for my Jeopardy! audition. I had a great time!.

I took the Metro down and found the hotel easily. I went across the street and got a cup of Starbucks. It was 10:30 and I was glad to be early for an 11:30 audition.

I found a comfortable seat in a beautiful lobby and read some. I quickly found others waiting for the same audition session. One was a Navy wife from Norfolk and one was a retired teacher from San Antonio. (People will travel for this chance.)

I had taken the online 50 question test in January 2008. Jeopardy! never tells you your results, but I guess I did well enough and several weeks ago I got the email inviting me to the audition.

We went into a meeting room that held about 25 people. After some introductory remarks, Maggie, an energetic and very funny contestant coordinator, gave us some great Jeopardy! info and hints on how to play the game. The hints were important reminders like "Remember the categories" and "Look for the internal clues". We had the opportunity to ask any questions, but this crowd of Jeopardy! junkies had few questions.

We did a quick practice round, raising our hands for the answers. I blew my first question, but it is less about answering questions correctly and all about attitude.

We then took another 50 question test. I know I blew about 4, and about 4-5 more were good guesses. (We were asked not to share the answers and questions, so I won't.)

We were the called up 3 at a time to play a quick mock game. We got real buzzers! Each person got to answer 3 questions or so. The point was to see if you could remember the basics; answer in the form of a question (with gentle reminders), be ready to select the next question and speak up! I think I did OK with this part. One can fake confidence.

We were then asked to tell the Jeopardy! folks about ourselves. The asked questions about the 5 amusing facts or anecdotes we had been asked to supply. The bottom line here is to be ready to talk about yourself. When you're asked to "Tell us about yourself", talk! Don't ask "What do you wan to know?"

I told them where I work, the quick version of what I do, and that my job has let me sit in the cockpits of a U-2 and SR-71. True and unique.

Everyone was asked "What would you do with the money if you win?" Again, the best move was to have a clear answer. They know you're smart. They want to know if you can stand up and talk.

I tried out about 10 years ago. The process was slightly different and I didn't make it past the mock game.

Now, everyone is out into a contestant pool. If you scored well in both rounds and could speak up, you are eligible to be called for about 18 months. Demographics also plays a factor. They use about 400 contestants in a season.

We'll see. It was a fun experience. Maybe I'll get a call. Maybe I won't and I'll just have to continue playing at home.

It's out of my hands.

dkMommy Spot

Chemical Free Living for You and Your Little Sprouts!

Check out this site for great info on a healthier lifestyle!

Robyn's First Giveaway!

Check out Robyn's great blog sweep at:
http://robynsonlineworld.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-1st-giveaway-50-amazoncom-gift.html

You could ein!