July was a very busy month for me. I spent five days in New Orleans at the Annual Gathering. While there I attended 8 LDW programs, 3 AMC Committee meetings, and participated in my first AMC meeting.

The AMC meeting was very harmonious and quick. The highlights of the meeting included numerous appointments, repealing the motion prohibiting organizers of Mensa events from actively arranging for ridesharing or roommate matching, creating a committee to establish a policy for paying partial dues for needy members who otherwise contribute to Mensa, the annual report of the Mensa Foundation, and an excellent presentation on the Fall 2006 Colloquium on Cosmology.

Region 2 was mentioned numerous times during the Friday afternoon awards luncheon. Our winners included:

Steve and Lesley Slepner from Delaware Valley Mensa received a National Chair's Award for superior service in support of the aims and purposes of Mensa.

Tom Tyson from Thomas Jefferson Mensa received the PRP Newsletter Contribution award for Best Non-Fiction (Mensa Themed) Contribution for "An Out-Of-This-World Experience".

Sallie Banko from Lehigh Pocono Mensa received an Abbie Proctor of the Year Award Honorable Mention.

Two of the top 20 CultureQuest teams were from Region 2 - The Gordian Nots, captained by MWM's Stephanie Smilay, took second place. Who Knows?, captained by MWM's Nancy Farrar, finished in a tie for fourteenth place.

In the middle of the month I visited the ExCom of Delaware Valley Mensa. I discussed with them my trip to the AG, details from the AMC meeting, and my desire for a 2006 Leadership Development Workshop (LDW) in our region. Based on the interest and enthusiasm I received at this meeting, plans are underway for a May 2006 Region 2 LDW. I have sent each LocSec a copy of the LDW Needs Assessment form, and have asked them to distribute them at their next ExCom meeting. This form helps identify the topics we should cover at the LDW. I hope to finalize the dates and location by the end of September.

Next August American Mensa is hosting Mensa's 60th Anniversary World Gathering (WG). I spent the last weekend of July visiting the host hotel, the Coronado Springs Resort, at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I am the logistics chair for the event and my primary responsibilities are deciding how to use all of our available space and scheduling every event that will take place during the WG. This event will be a great opportunity to meet and mingle with Mensans from all over the world. Please visit the WG website (http://wg06.us.mensa.org) early and often for the latest news on what is shaping up to be the largest gathering of Mensans ever held.
 

---

 

How I Spent My Summer Vacation
by Marc Lederman, Region 2 RVC

 

It started with Tropical Storm Cindy and ended with Hurricane Dennis, and in-between was MensAGumbo, the 2005 Annual Gathering of American Mensa.

Wednesday evening was a meeting of the 2006 World Gathering (WG) Committee. I am the logistics chair and my primary responsibilities are deciding how to use all of our available space and scheduling every event that will take place during the WG. The main goals of the meeting were to meet one another in person and discuss our plans for the next day's program previewing the gathering.

Thursday began with the "World Gathering Preview". All of the committee chairs talked about their areas of responsibility to a standing-room-only crowd and answered questions on a number of topics. We debuted the World Gathering Journal, a quarterly newsletter that will be distributed at every RG for the next year, and handed out souvenir stress balls. The stress balls look like a globe and display the WG website address. We think the best way to relieve stress is to join us in Orlando next August for the World Gathering. Next was a Leadership Development Workshop (LDW) on "Newsletter Distribution Options". A representative from the U.S. Postal Service came down from New York to answer dozens of questions submitted by local group editors on how to mail their newsletters efficiently and cost effectively. Following this session, I attended Owl Award Winning Webmaster Matt Crawford's LDW program on "Effective Local Group Web Sites". Matt demonstrated examples of how to improve the look of a website, and gave us references to provide additional information. The next two and a half hours were spent in an "AMC Orientation" session. This session is required for all first-time AMC members and was our first opportunity to meet each other. I won't bore you with all the details, suffice it to say, lots and lots of paperwork was discussed and handed out. After a short break in my schedule, I attended Russ Bakke's LDW program on "How to Get Your Bylaws Approved". Since I am a member of the Bylaws Committee, I wanted to better understand the process. The bylaw approval process takes a minimum of six months from the time a group submits their proposed changes until the voting by their local groups to approve them, so it is important that local groups understand what they need to do before submitting changes to the Bylaws Committee. Next up was the "Annual Business Meeting" where we heard reports from outgoing Chairman Jean Becker, Outgoing Treasurer Jim Werdell, Incoming Chairman Russ Bakke, and Executive Director Pam Donahoo. Following this meeting, the AMC met with our CPA to talk about the recently conducted audit and give us an opportunity to ask him any questions.

I then had some free time, but not enough to go out to dinner, so I hung out in hospitality until the "M-Salon Yahoo Group Meet and Greet". M-Salon is a discussion group mainly for members of Mensa, but others are welcome. This year's Meet and Greet had a small, but interesting, turnout. All five of us were from Region 2, so we hung out for a few minutes then went out to dinner. I got back in time for my final meeting of the day - the "RVC Meeting". This is a meeting where the 10 RVCs talk about issues pertaining to the position of RVC. The thirty-minute meeting lasted ninety minutes.

Friday morning started with my program, the "Publications Recognition Program (PRP) Meet and Greet". The purpose was to give editors, webmasters and PRP judges a chance to meet Communications Officer Robin Crawford and me and talk about the PRP. We talked about some of the changes for 2006. Next was the LDW program on "New Members: Lifeblood" where National Marketing Director Jim Blackmore talked about many of the ways Mensa is being marketed. Look for an unusual reference in the upcoming movie "The O in Ohio."

After taking a quick rest break, I attended the second half of the awards luncheon to present the 2005 PRP Awards. After lunch were three more LDW programs - "Editors Shareshop", where several Mensa editors talked about editing and mailing their newsletters; "Testing and the Admissions Process", where we got an overview from Testing and Admissions Coordinator A'Nelle Nelms; and "LDWs: Conception to Completion", where Pat Coontz and Ike Kullman gave an overview on the importance of LDWs and how to use the LDW Needs Assessment form to help select topics. Sandwiched around another dinner with members from our Region, I attended two more committee meetings. The first was the "Communications Committee Meeting", chaired by Robin Crawford. I've been on this committee for at least six years under four different communications officers. My final meeting of the day was the "Site Selection Committee Meeting", chaired by Cyndi Kuyper. This Committee seeks and evaluates bids for AMC Meetings and Annual Gatherings. We currently are seeking bids for both the January 2007 AMC meeting and the 2008 Annual Gathering.

Saturday was the "AMC Meeting". I got up early and hung out in hospitality for a couple of hours before changing into my suit and going to the 9 A.M. meeting. The meeting was very harmonious and quick, ending around 3 P.M. The highlights of the meeting included numerous appointments, repealing the motion prohibiting organizers of Mensa events from actively arranging for ridesharing or roommate matching, and creating a committee to establish a policy for paying partial dues for needy members who otherwise contribute to Mensa. Following the AMC Meeting,  I attended the "MERF Reception" and the banquet.

On Sunday I slept in! I went to my favorite New Orleans restaurant, The Court of Two Sisters, for brunch with another group of people from our region. The weather was kind enough to spare New Orleans from the hurricane and I flew home right on schedule.

This article was not meant to review the AG, and if you talk to other people who were there, I'm sure they will have lots more to say about many different things than I did. One of the things I like best about AGs is that they offer something for everybody. You can spend a lot of time learning about Mensa, you can go to any of the several hundred programs, you can hang out in hospitality or the games room, or spend time touring the city.

The 2006 AG is being held as part of the World Gathering in Orlando, Florida, August 8 - 13. It is a month later than usual to accomodate the hundreds of expected guests from around the world. The World Gathering will host both an AMC meeting, our Annual Business Meeting, and the annual International Board of Directors meeting. I hope to see you there.