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YOUR REGIONAL REPORT  [for November 2018]

SueAnn Gilmore

Regional Coordinator, Region 8

Facebook page for our region:  Region 8 Mensa

 

Last month I told you about the difficulty one of our smallest groups is having and their request to dissolve the chapter.  On September 9th three other members of San Francisco Regional Mensa (Erich Eichorn, Susan Heimlich,

Michael Eager) and I drove to Pacific Grove, CA to meet with members of Monterey County Mensa to hear their ideas on what the future of MCM might be.  We expected 4 members and actually had the pleasure of meeting/seeing 14 people from MCM.  What a delightful surprise!  Later in the day we drove to Salinas, CA and met 4 more members there, plus 2 more who had attended the earlier meeting.  In all we had nearly 20% of the total membership attend and offer their thoughts and ask questions of us and several more emailed me with their thoughts and ideas.  There were people who stepped forward to volunteer to take leadership roles in MCM and others who wanted to see the group become an area of SFRM.   A ballot has been mailed to the entire membership and now we are awaiting the results to see which way the majority of the voting members want to go.  We should know how this turns out by next month’s column…. In the meantime, many thanks for all of the untold hours the leaders of MCM have given to their local group through the years.  Bless you all. 

 

The quarterly AMC meeting was held in Arlington, Texas in late September.  About 23 minutes into the meeting Lori Norris gave a report about the committee she is heading up, Event Safety Task Force and some of that lapped over into Deb Stone’s report on the Risk Management Committee.  This meeting was amazingly short, clocking in at under 4-1/2 hours!   You may listen to it or to other meetings of the American Mensa Committee by going to the website, us.mensa.org, clicking on “Lead” and then “Board of Directors (AMC) and then, on the left side, “Meeting Reports.”  Then click on any meeting you’d like to hear. 

 

A conference call for all of the 11 LocSecs in Region 8 was held on Friday, October 19.  It was a good night for sharing ideas and giving information about best practices – especially regarding mailing problems over the last two years.  Thanks to all who attended – and to those who could not.  They are a hard-working group with Mensa’s best interests at heart.

 

There’s still time to attend the Regional Gathering being put on by San Francisco Regional Mensa November 16-18 at the Sheraton in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf area.  You will enjoy a weekend filled with fun and learning.  You can sign up on their website:   https://www.sfmensa.org/events/gatherings/rg2018/ 

 

More next time….

 

Use the link above to do all your Amazon.com shopping.  A percentage of
your purchase will come to Mensa Alaska for funding scholarships!

What is Mensa? 

Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by Roland Berrill, a barrister, and Dr Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer. They had the idea of forming a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ. The original aims were, as they are today, to create a society that is non-political and free from all racial or religious distinctions. The society welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population, with the objective of enjoying each other's company and participating in a wide range of social and cultural activities. 

"Mensa" means "Table" in Latin, with the idea that once someone joins the group, everyone is of equal status no matter who they are, or what they do for a living. 

Even the traditional "President" position within most clubs has been modified to "LocSec" (or Local Secretary) to cut down on the status implications. All local officers and position holders are unpaid volunteers 

For more information: American Mensa.

Please Review and Update Your Privacy Information

American Mensa, Ltd. and its groups understand that respecting the privacy of their members is of utmost importance and, as such, agree to respect and seek permission before distributing member information. Please pay careful attention to questions 1-10 as they provide authorization to distribute information that you have supplied to American Mensa.

Mensa Alaska Scholarship Fund challenge:  If you do not have a clear and recognizable photo of yourself in your online profile, please add one, and I (the webmaster) will then donate $10 to the Mensa Alaska Scholarship fund.  As of September 20 2018 there are 16 Alaska members with photos and 88 without.  That's $880 more that could be in the scholarship fund.  Similarly, if you currently get the Polar Expressions newsletter on paper and are willing to switch to electronic delivery, I will donate an additional $10 to the scholarship fund.  Go to www.us.mensa.org , log in, click on MY MENSA and Member Profile, upload your photo, click on Communication Preferences and Local Group Newsletter and change to Electronic.  To date these opportunities have only netted the fund $120.  We can do better !

What Does Life in Mensa Mean to You?

By Denise K. Yancey

Alaska's Mensans regularly support the Alaska Literacy Program by competing and attending their fundraisers: the BizBee (a spelling bee for adults) and the Scrabble Scramble (variation games of the traditional Scrabble game).

Here is the result of a game night challenge where we started with Mensa at the center of the board, and tried to use primarily Mensa Life words:

For other Scrabble Scramble practice games suggestions please see our webpage.


  

Which is worth more?  A thruppence or a groat?  Get Martin Oakes' answer in the Articles page!

Anchorage Mensa's 9:00 a.m. Saturday breakfast has been moved to Yes Bistro at 3801 Debarr Road.