The bulbs are blooming! The plum tree is blooming! Most of the lilies are starting to show some signs of life, and the rugosa rose is covered with leaves again. And, to balance things out, the weeds are starting to show themselves too. Further down on my to-do list is picking up a load of mulch from Lowe's. It's finally springtime in Region 2… Can you tell I've been awaiting it quite anxiously?

At the end of March I attended the Aspects of Humor Colloquium and the last American Mensa Committee (AMC) meeting of the term. It was my first Colloquium ever, and I had a great time. Those Chicago folks sure do know how to put on an event! They really had a great group of people working on the event. Their team worked together like a well-oiled machine, and if anything didn't go exactly as planned, I don't think the rest of us could've seen it. The program was a great combination of comedy professionals and professionals who study humor in their research. I only saw one presenter selling books, and the stacks he brought with him were sold out within minutes.

After the January meeting, when the motion about Colloquium sponsorship was tabled, I emailed every past chair of a Colloquium, all the way back to the 80s, to get their input on the motions that were before us for votes. Those who responded were unanimously, to various degrees, in favor of the Mensa Education and Research Foundation (MERF) sponsoring these intellectual events. I forwarded their feedback on the rest of the AMC as I received it. During the Colloquium weekend, I was able to talk to a few more people who are deeply committed to the future of Colloquium, and/or were deeply involved in past Colloquiums. In fact, the chair of the Chicago Colloquium, after his event was all said and done, still made time to sit and review the two versions of the motion, and to give me his feedback. In the end, the motion passed to make Colloquium an American Mensa, Ltd. event, sponsored by the Mensa Education and Research Foundation, and presented by host groups.

By the time you receive this column, we will be well into the national elections for American Mensa. You'll have received your Bulletin with the candidate biographies and campaign statements, along with their answers to the questions posed by the AMC. In addition to that information, if you visit the American Mensa website, you can find those same biographies and campaign statements, along with an option to click a button and ask a question of all the candidates for a particular office. There's also an active thread on the AML forums in the Mensa Matters section under the You and Your AMC category where you can discuss aspects of the election and questions for the candidates. I think there is more information available for this election than any of the ones in the past, and I encourage you all to avail yourselves of it and help guide the future of the organization by casting your votes.