Law firm injects fun into fundraising through lively annual staff quiz
Clifford Chance’s event this year to raise funds for Operation Santa Claus had a 1920s Jazz Age theme, with 60 staff taking part
At the sound of a whistle, the annual staff charity quiz at law firm Clifford Chance was under way. Alongside the fun and games, organisers had a creative method to add to the money already raised from entrance fees – participants also had to get more cash ready for “inspectors” Rocky Mui Ka-ho and Mark Chan.
Mui and Chan prowled the room, fining attendees for the slightest “offence” – drinking beer from a can, turning up late, having two mobile phones, even being too well behaved or denying any wrongdoing – with the amount to be paid based on staff seniority and decided by regional managing partner Geraint Hughes.
The firm has been running the event since 2010 to raise funds for Operation Santa Claus, the charity drive organised by the South China Morning Post and RTHK. Quiz participants pay HK$100 to compete.
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This year, 60 staff members split up into 10 teams to participate in the quiz, with Hughes, the quizmaster, also being fined for reading questions too slowly. Both inspectors were also fined – for “dereliction of duty” and for having “lame” whistles.
Chan quipped that being an inspector was “a very tough job because you’re fining colleagues and people you work with”.
“But it’s for a good cause and people are generally willing to fork out the cash,” he said.
“Both Rocky and I have to fork out cash ourselves but it’s all for charity and it’s fun because it’s not often we get together with colleagues from different departments, so I look forward to it every year.”
