STA Blog

Yesterday, Tuesday the 14th December, the STA was due to have a live, in-person AGM and Christmas party with drinks and canapés at One Moorgate. Unlike those at 10 Downing Street in December last year, we didn’t break any rules, protocols and whatever else that has been thrown at us again this year. The in-person event was promptly replaced by a virtual meeting and Zoom quiz challenge by QuizQuizQuiz, cleverly arranged by STA admin – who have really come up trumps this year.

There have been a number of changes to the STA Board and Committees, with Chairman Tom Hicks standing down as is customary after three years to be replaced by current head of marketing Eddie Tofpik. Two non-executive directors will be appointed, Axel Rudolph and Simon Warren, well-known names to members. Patricia Elbaz and Clive Lambert will leave the board due to other commitments.

Voting for all these proposals and more was carried out via on-line polls. In fact, the mix between virtual and in-person events has been so successful that our society is planning a lot more of these in the coming year. Keep an eye out for many new and useful innovations.

On to the quiz at 19:00: organised by Lesly-Anne Brewis. Not as many members as I had hoped took part, but a very clever lot they were – so much so that the four teams were neck-and-neck through all the rounds. Starting with an ‘alphabet’ round (you’re given the first letter to the answer) which included bonus points ‘pour encourager les autres’, a 5,4,3,2,1, round with the equivalent points to each question, and round three where one might lose points for an incorrect answer.

Scores were as follows: team Pointless Figures (love the name!) in 4th place with 20 points – you can see that the questions were difficult. In third place Anal Technicalists; second the MMS Squad with 24 points and top dog, Pinball Wizards with 27. Well done all!