Oh My....

 Is it "vague booking" if I post this on my blog?

Mensa International News Team Goal

Since November 2022, I've been the Chair of the Mensa International News Team. It's been a great experience and very different from volunteering in American Mensa. This month, I'm putting the final touches on a PowerPoint presentation I'll be making at the IBD meeting in Dallas in mid October. As part of that, I had to really ponder and distill the ultimate goal of what we're trying to do.

Reducing the Size of the AMC

I read RVC 4's October 2023 column with interest, since governance is a passion of mine. I have thoughts.

If the point of a Board of Directors is to guide and make decisions for the organization, then it follows that more wise voices participating in the process leads to better decisions. There is (always) talk of reducing the number on the AMC in order to streamline this or that. My question is: If you’re already having difficulty getting all 18 AMC members to actively engage in discussions, how would reducing that number lead to more wise input?

Imagine if the AMC comprised only the current ExComm. Yes, that would save money on meeting-travel. Now picture two or three of that five-person ExComm being utter outsiders with little or no Mensa leadership experience (it’s happened before and will happen again).

I don’t think I need to say more :-)

What I've done June 15 - August 15, 2023

I no longer have to do quarterly reports, but I like to keep track of things anyway. Here is a list of what I've done for Mensa over the past two months. 

MI News Team

• Posted list of assignments.
• Worked on post about the new N&L committee.
• Zoom with (GYC) to coordinate how we can help.
• Filled out Strategic Planning survey.
• Worked to find info about upcoming Constit referendum.
• Nudged new members to get on WP.
• Pulled info about communication outlets and sent to K.
  
• Brainstormed interview questions for sister of French PM.
• Nudged team to respond.
• Zoom with A.
• Facilitated V getting started with uploading events.
• Sent draft about EMAG post to EMAG chair
• Recreated GY YouTube template.
• Re-worked post on Book SIG.
• Nudged News Team to contribute something, anything.
• Messaged K about I-SIGs vs WP groups covering similar topics.
• Asked I and B about posting Focus on Italy without hearing from that chair.
• Reviewed and organized as-yet-unused post content.
• Reviewed Team members regarding levels and likelihood of contributing.
• Sent interview questions to new DoD.
• Helped new team member craft requests for info from his NM.
• Shared pdf listing many events with team in hopes of someone stepping up to do something.
• Organized content fodder and schedule with A.
• Nudged team members to sign up for WP and check the group for content ideas and needs.
• Drafted a summary of May 27 ExComm Minutes to be used as a post.
• Drafted article on Economics, Finance & Trade SIG and sent to coordinator for input.
• Drafted article on M-Compusig and sent to coordinators for input.
• Brainstormed questions for future interviews and asked team for additions.
• Worked to put together a spread sheet with info on all listed ISIGs.
• Posted GY post about Euro school survey.
• Nagged team to respond, again.
• Made graphic for discussion meeting minutes posts.
• Looked for info about EMAG online session link.
• Drafted a mini report to I about how things are going and what help we need.
• Discussed and edited draft report with A.
• Prepped for and then zoomed with A.
• Sent notes and action items to A.
• Sent mini report to I.
• Made graphic template for Gifted Youth committee posts.
• Asked V to write post-EMAG article.
• Sent interview questions to K.
• Drafted post-AG summary and sent to T for review.
• Nudged news Team again about looking for interesting activities around the world.
• Researched and drafted article about UK-based/newsletter-only ISIGs.
• Long reply answering many questions from R.
• Organized a Google doc listing every post we’ve done so far.
• Poked around looking for viable SIGs to write about.
• Researched and fixed links for Focus on Mensa Bulgaria article.
• Introduced R to JB regarding research.
• Drafted article on Level Up! program and sent to R for edits.
• Answered L’s questions and dug up images of Chicago's of Hungry Hungry Hippos as an example of an “Activity Around the World.”
• Messaged V about doing a post-EMAG write-up.
• Responded to a flood of comments and questions on WP; Re-sent info on uploading to MI website.
• Created and filled in spreadsheet with stats about all posts.
  
• Re-edited Book SIG article.
• Drafted interview with K.
• Whipped up a Remine memorial piece.
• Found and spreadsheeted info correlating membership numbers and languages for M to create an infographic with.
• Encouraged N and A to follow up on their ideas.
• Asked N&L for review of two graphics about simplified rules.
• Edited story  and returned to A for review.
• Nudged V to write about EMAG.
• Looped I in regarding Call for Volunteers and EMAG review posts.
• Cleaned up and  prepped info about Slovenian Ski Weekend.
• Responded to N’s request for onboarding.
• Asked V about handling the website events content.
• Drafted and sent questions for interviewing J.
• Zoom onboarding with N.

MI Name & Logo Committee

• Read concerns from German member about various logo violations.
• Lengthy responses to the many topics T posted.
• Provided instructions for signing up for Workplace.
• Posted about a probably issue of the name in a Mensa member’s new WhatsAp group.
• Zoom meeting.

Anti-Kitten Tasks*

• Re-reviewed MI website for broken links.
• Created basic text site map of MI site.
• Prepped pdfs of Aug and Sept “from the ExComm” columns for website.
• Created template for GY Hot Topics” tip sheets.
• Laid out and edited GY Hot Topics #1.
• Reviewed and commented on three site designs ICO is working on.

MI Translation Team

• Took the practice test (but clicked random answers halfway through) to see what needs to be translated.
• Compared all practice test text with AW’s English version and made notes.
• Looked up all the languages spoken by NMs and then determined into which the test needs to be translated. 
• Asked friends for better word for “fingerprints” in the test translation template.
• Helped identify priorities for languages to focus on first.
• Lots of discussion about how to proceed.
• Helped prioritize which translations to ask for and some editing of email template.
• Refined and prepped draft email and several versions of translation templates, then sent to E & A for review.

AML But as Plain Ol' Robin

• Advised RVC about how to remove someone from her region’s MC community.
• Wrote a Volunteer Insights column for the Bulletin.

Last bit of official AMC-related roles:

Communications Officer

• Posted farewell messages to various working communities on MC.
• Forwarded a member’s request for help to Becky.
• Bothered to reply to Eric G’s baiting on MC.
• Forwarded a death notice to the NO.
• Investigated unapproved use of membership data.
• Nudged staff to respond to Digital Officers’ questions.
• Posted goodbye to Digital Officers.
• Helped RVC8 find award bio information.
• Left the private AMC Facebook group.
• Weighed in on an editor’s question about referencing outside articles about GY.
• Stayed alert for a dust-up on MC.
• Rolled my eyes Eric’s last attempt to bait me.

Communications Committee

• Nothing- no one seemed to want to  finish up the Nat Pubs Policy project.

Strategic Planning Committee

• Contributed lengthy input regarding AMC’s fall planning day agenda.

Marketing Committee

• No activity.

Name & Logo Committee

• Commented on Brad Lucht’s proposed logo for his Theodore talks.

SIGs Advisory Committee

• No activity.

National Awards Committee

• No new activity.

*An "Anti-Kitten" task is something unofficial that helps keep me busy, without which I would probably go buying kittens and learning to knit.

It's My Blog, so It's Ok to Brag

This year, I was honored with a National Certificate of Appreciation (for my work on the Volunteerism Task Force and the LG Communications Guide).

This makes me the only person who has been given every National Award (except the "Lifetime Membership," which is rarely given because most super-volunteers are already Life Members, as am I).

National Chairman’s Award 2005, 2009, 2022

National Service Award 2006

Distinguished Service Award 2014

Margot Award 2019

National Certificate of Appreciation 2023

I’ll never be a Sturgeon, Salny, or Remine, but I guess I’ve done some stuff.

My Opinions on the 2023 MI Constitutional Referendum

1 Yes (Privacy concerns and laws are complex and ever changing.)

2 Yes (Mensa, whether national or international, should not have to be involved in a personal cat fight over the last ice cream sandwich at an RG. And no one should have to wonder if they’re allowed to call the police before trying to track down an ombudsperson somewhere.)

3 Yes (there are quite a few pretty dysfunctional national Mensas, so I’m good with the IBD having the authority to step in when necessary. Plus, I fully disagree that MI shouldn’t know who the members are... good grief, Mensa is an international club, not this mish-mash of being a member in your home country and nowhere else.)

4 Yes (It’s silly to have to renew rules every year, though regular review does have merit.)

5 Yes (Too much detail on a hard-to-change document strangles any process of adapting to changes. Job details should be in other documents.)

6 Yes (Short and sweet in the top document with fine details in other "lower" rules documents  makes it easier to adapt to changes when another pandemic hits, or a continent gets set on fire and takes out their internet or whatever.) 

7 Yes (MI is more than just AML.)