Weird and Wonderful Varieties of Bingo

by Bill Weston⁽⁴⁰⁰⁾ Red Star

http://www.sitevisibility.co.uk/

Extremely popular in the 1990's, Buzzword Bingo is a variation of the traditional game, created by Tom Davis, Silicon Graphics Principal Scientist and his friend Seth Katz. The game relies on participants having a card with selected 'buzzwords' on it. They would then go to an event such as a meeting, lecture or speech and tick off each word as it is said by the speaker. Like its traditional counterpart, the winner of Buzzword Bingo is the person who crosses out all of the buzzwords on their card.

The idea behind Buzzword Bingo is that participants are making a statement about the person who is speaking. They may believe that someone simply spouts 'buzzwords' or words that are 'fashionable' at the time, instead of teaching anything relevant or worthwhile. A 'buzzword' can be seen as one that has become pretentiously used, words that have become over used in business environments are perhaps the most commonly used words in Buzzword Bingo. Some people believe that they are words overly used by non-technical people when trying to describe something technically.

One of the most documented examples of a Buzzword Bingo game being played is when the then Vice President of the United States, Al Gore spoke at the MIT's graduation in 1996. Gore was renowned for his liberal use of 'buzzwords', particularly those that where to do with technology. Hackers had seen this as a perfect opportunity to play the game. They sent graduates attending bingo cards with a wide number of buzzwords on them, including one of Gore's favorites, the term 'information superhighway.' Gore was apparently informed of the cards before his speech and when he heard some of the graduates cheering, he asked "did I say a buzzword!?"

There have since been a number of other variations of Bingo. One of these is Hipster bingo, aimed at mocking 'hipsters.' Players apparently go to a hipster hot spot, such as a part of a University or a skate park, media conference etc. and look out for certain things such as, old school Converse trainers, white guy with an Afro, ironic t-shirts, ironic moustache and so on. Again the winner is the person who finds each of the things on their game card and crosses them off.

More recently there have been club nights dedicated to bingo. This has led to an increase in the number of young people playing the game. Young people gather together and play bingo whilst dancing the night away and getting drunk to their favorite music. The aim of the game is to have fun whilst playing the game and callers are aided by lasers and projectors that also reveal the numbers all around the club. It is a vast change from the traditional game! The fact that you can come away with some winnings from a night out ensure its popularity continues to grow.

There are many different varieties of bingo. Online bingo sites have also started to experiment with varieties and are catering for all needs. No matter who you are, there will always be a version of the game to cater for your needs.

Bill Weston writes on a number of subjects including bingo, how toplay bingo and play bingo.

Article submitted Tuesday, June 07, 2011 & read 26 times.

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