My Kid Will Like This

Mensa video games!

Unconnected comments

It occurs to me that since January, I've been Communications Officer longer than anyone else (Marie served 4 years).

I'm looking forward to working with the new Bulletin editor. We met last Friday and I feel good about the direction the publication will be heading. We saw eye-to-eye on most values and priorities, most particularly an increase in member-involvement.

A lady recently called me to tell me she's quitting Mensa because another member insulted her by calling Christianity a mythology. The Revelle Report revealed that a huge reason people quit is because they don't feel welcomed by the local members. How on earth is the AMC supposed to legislate ways to force members to be nice to each other?

Nonconformists vs The Majority

I have seen members opine that anybody who is a nonconformist and bucks the
"groupthink" on the AMC gets frustrated and ends up quitting or refusing to run in the first place.

Gosh, that sounds really bad. So I got to pondering....

What is the difference between a "nonconformist" and a "holder of a minority viewpoint" in a democratic society? Isn't the whole point of voting to make the resulting decision one that most members agree on.?

Should nonconformists roll over and give up since they'll never win a vote, or should they stay on in order to ensure that all views, even minority ones, are aired? Perhaps Mensa would be better served if they work cooperatively and respectfully within the larger group towards compromises that might please even more members.

"My way or the highway" approaches to making Board decisions usually result in... worn out shoe leather.

RVC6 Resignation

The AMC didn't kick him out; he quit. Why isn't anyone asking RR how his actions and decisions served the members who elected him?

AMC versus Local Service

I've been reading some discussion about how AMC members fade away from participation in their Local Groups when they move up an on to the national level. Just because I can't resist, I thought I'd share the local positions I've held in recent years-- and if you look, you'll see that many of them overlap with my time on the AMC:

Editor (ChiMe, Chicago Area Mensa) 2001-2003; 2005-2006
Publications Officer (Chicago Area Mensa) 2002-2003; 2006-2007
Webmaster (Chicago Area Mensa) 2002-2003
LocSec (Chicago Area Mensa) 2003-2006
HalloweeM Co-Chair (Chicago Area Mensa) 2008-present
AGOG Chair (Chicago Area Mensa) 2007-present
BFD Co-Chair (Chicago Area Mensa) 2008-present
Proctor 2008-present

NomCom (AML) 2004
Communications Officer (AML) 2004-present

I'm no saint; I am one of the fortunate few who doesn't have to work outside the home and I am free to spend much of my time doing what I enjoy, which is usually doing Mensa stuff. Sometimes it's work; sometimes it's fun. Most of the time it is satisfying. And it does require sacrifices: My husband sometimes has to take a day off from work to watch kids so I can go to a meeting, and I have to kennel my dog, which is a runs me at least a grand each year for AMC-related travel.

Is the Veil of Secrecy Really Being Wrapped Tighter?

There is a mood among some cliques of Mensans that the AMC is not only anti-transparency, but is making efforts to increase confidentiality; to become more secretive. So I got to musing, after seeing this accusation for the umptteenth time:

What information used to be easily available to the general membership which is now being withheld?

Is there any visible increase in the amount of interaction and sharing of information between the AMC members and the general membership?