]]>
The ExCom helps shape the future of Central Oklahoma Mensa. There are five ExCom positions. You run for ExCom at large, and then the ExCom elects from among themselves the LocSec (president), Secretary, and Treasurer. Being on ExCom requires that you attend one board meeting a month. The meeting lasts under two hours. Other time can be as little as an hour a month or much more if you are the LocSec.
LocSec: presides at board meetings, and performs such other duties as ordinarily pertain to the position of CEO. The LocSec is the chapter’s official liaison with the national office of American Mensa.
Secretary: keeps and maintains the minutes of the board meetings.
Treasurer: responsible for the finances of the chapter. Maintains chapter’s bank accounts, pays the bills, and writes and enforces the budget.
Other ExCom duties: sees that bylaws are up to date and helps form committee to make sure that happens, votes on board matters, helps manage various committees such as public relations, editorial issues, programs, membership welcomes, etc.
Got a couple of hours a year you can spare? Then help us count our ballots for local and national elections! Be active in coordinating polling and encouraging members to vote.
Host an event at your home or apartment. Supply ice, plates/cups, coffee/soft drinks and we’ll bring the rest. Or perhaps you could provide a rallying point for fellow Mensans at an outside event. Like a fair or somethin’.
Of the Mensokie. Take content from the contributing volunteers and organize it for publication and distribution to everyone in Central Oklahoma Mensa. Work closely with the ExCom and consult with editors from other groups around the nation. Get real experience in publishing and take an active role.
Testing is at the heart of Mensa. Be at the heart of testing. Proctors are needed in every area of the group-all of western Oklahoma. More proctors=more testing=more members=more fun.
Mensa is an international organization and occasionally we need to update our bylaws to ensure we’re all in the same club. Central Oklahoma Mensa’s bylaws will need to be amended beginning Sept. 1st and analytically minded volunteers are needed to cross the “t”’s and dot the “j”’s.
Coordinate with events planners, hosts and speaker seekers to schedule activities for the coming months. Put it all into one calendar and get it to the editor in time for the next Mensokie.
Help get some things going. Connect potential hosts with appropriate events. Coordinate with the editor and calendar editor and various other volunteers to make sure things happen. This is an active and important management role in Mensa.
Arrange events like picnics, game nights, poetry readings or whatever the members want to do. Work with the calendar editor to schedule them and get ideas from all us Mensans.
Stories, poems, or even puzzles. The Mensokies crave content. Maybe volunteer to review a book, film or art showing. Maybe just vent.
The Mensokie relies on artists of all kinds. Photos are needed of our gatherings and other events and a painting or cartoon feature would add variety and whimsy to our publication.
Phone calls seem more official than E-mails. You can help make Mensa more than just a magazine by calling up members and encouraging involvement. You’ll never be asked to call more than a handful of people in a month. Probably less.
Help get folks around. Not all Mensans are drivers, and in order to stay active, they need a ride. Volunteer to help us get them to meetings and events safely.
This small program provides activities for potential young Mensans. It’s great for those who enjoy working with children and watching their little minds grow.
Anything else? What do you do? Give us an idea on how you might contribute in your own way. Wanna start a Mensa jazz band? How ‘bout a book club? Let us know!
For the Bloggers. Write a column once and awhile and submit it to the newsletter. Beam proudly as it gets read by the smartest in the state.
Welcome new members and greet us when we show up to meetings. Toss ideas around to attract new geniuses to Mensa and help folks feel welcome and appreciated.
For the natural diplomat. Mediate and settle disputes between members, ExComs, editors, or any combination. Starting Sept. 1st you can hold the position that’s never been used. Except once, I’m told.
Exactly what you think. Proofread copy for the Mensokie. Perfect for the dictionary owners among us.
Get Mensa in the paper or on the radio. Build public interest in our organization to encourage growth and build the community.
Recap the last Speaker Meeting. Take photos of Mensans at Mensan events and get the scoop on the latest ExCom meeting. This is the content that Mensokie needs to produce an informative newsletter.
Greet out-of-town guests. The holder of this position is listed with American Mensa as a local contact for visitors. It hasn’t been needed much in the past but may be more active if we get a major league basketball team or some such.
Help find interesting speakers for us to listen to. Lecturers, teachers, artists, politicians, scientists, or just someone with good stories. Work with the events co-ordinator and calendar editor to put together one of the highlights of Mensa membership.
]]>From colloquia with experts as speakers to Mensa Mind Games, it sings your tune. From regional or national gatherings to local group parties, it’s a social void that is filled with your kind of people. Speaker Meetings, Leadership Workshops, Special Interest Groups, fun contests and serious contests — this is a place we chose to be because it’s unlike any other place (except maybe for The Restaurant at the End of the Universe).
It may be an on-again, off-again love affair for some of our busier members, and some may have a love-hate relationship with the High-IQ Society. Dichotomy’s OK.
Maybe you have a unique way of expressing why you love being a member of Mensa that can make you a big winner!
Tell Mensa what you love about it in a short video and upload it to YouTube, and you could win an Apple iPod Touch!
Check out www.us.mensa.org/lovemensa for more information and contest rules. The contest runs from now to midnight on February 15, 2008.
]]>Taking the Mensa test can be a little scary for prospective members. During the month of July, we’re going to make things easier by encouraging test takers to bring a friend with them when they test. And, we’ll let their friend test for free! For any test given between July 1 and July 31, 2007, we’ll administer another test (given at the same session) at no charge.
Please let your friends and colleagues know about this great opportunity to join Mensa…with a friend!]]>
Read on for the complete list of nominees.
]]> NEWSLETTER AWARD NOMINEESChiMe
Chicago Area Mensa
William Levin, Editor
i.e.
Inland Empire Mensa
Sonja Struthers, Editor
Much Ado About Mensa
Greater Phoenix Mensa
Gary Maycroft & S. Gail Skvarenina, Editors
Redwood Mpire News
Redwood Empire Mensa
Nancy Flack, Editor
Tampa Bay Sounding
Tampa Bay Mensa
Thomas George Thomas, Editor
The 4M
Manasota Mensa
Edgar F. Coudal, Editor
ChiMe
Chicago Area Mensa
William Levin, Editor
Mensokie
Central Oklahoma Mensa
Nancy Park, Editor
Tampa Bay Sounding
Tampa Bay Mensa
Thomas George Thomas, Editor
Tucson Mensun
Tucson Mensa
Pati Pate, Editor
The 4M
Manasota Mensa
Edgar F. Coudal, Editor
ChiMe
Chicago Area Mensa
Joseph Sackett, Activities Bulletin Editor
M-Aura
North Texas Mensa
Laura Stuart, Calendar Chair
The Mitensan
Middle Tennessee Mensa
Dan Brown, Editor
Much Ado About Mensa
Greater Phoenix Mensa
Donna Chavez, Calendar Gal
Tampa Bay Sounding
Tampa Bay Mensa
Dana Groulx, Calendar Editor
The 4M
Manasota Mensa
Edgar F. Coudal, Editor
ChiMe
Chicago Area Mensa
William Levin, Editor
i.e.
Inland Empire Mensa
Sonja Struthers, Editor
Omen
Oregon Mensa
David G. Grover, Editor
The Oracle
Orange County Mensa
Sandra Smolinsky, Editor
ChiMe
Chicago Area Mensa
William Levin, Editor
i.e.
Inland Empire Mensa
Sonja Struthers, Editor
MENSAGENDA
Minnesota Mensa
Bill Conlan, Editor
Mensokie
Central Oklahoma Mensa
Nancy Park, Editor
Tampa Bay Sounding
Tampa Bay Mensa
Thomas George Thomas, Editor
The 4M
Manasota Mensa
Edgar F. Coudal, Editor
The Brainiac
Nebraska/Western Iowa Mensa
Tami Whitney, Editor
ChiMe
Chicago Area Mensa
William Levin, Editor
i.e.
Inland Empire Mensa
Sonja Struthers, Editor
Tucson Mensun
Tucson Mensa
Pati Pate, Editor
ChiMe
Chicago Area Mensa
William Levin, Editor
M-Aura
North Texas Mensa
Jason Brown, Editor
Much Ado About Mensa
Greater Phoenix Mensa
Gary Maycroft & S. Gail Skvarenina, Editors
The Oracle
Orange County Mensa
Sandra Smolinsky, Editor
Tampa Bay Sounding
Tampa Bay Mensa
Thomas George Thomas, Editor
The 4M
Manasota Mensa
Edgar F. Coudal, Editor
i.e.
Inland Empire Mensa
Sonja Struthers, Editor
Phoenix
Western Pennsylvania Mensa
Eric Starbuck, Editor
Redwood Mpire News
Redwood Empire Mensa
Nancy Flack, Editor
Tucson Mensun
Tucson Mensa
Pati Pate, Editor
M-Bassador
Borderline Mensa
Doug Miller, Editor
Mensokie
Central Oklahoma Mensa
Nancy Park, Editor
M-Press
Coastal Carolina Mensa
Gill Krebs, Editor
Inland Empire Mensa
www.iemensa.us
Janet Geiger, Webmaster
Lehigh Pocono Mensa
www.lpm.us.mensa.org
Adriana Platner, Webmaster
San Francisco Regional Mensa
www.sfmensa.org
Gary Koerzendorfer, Webmaster
Southwest Idaho Mensa
www.swidaho.us.mensa.org
Margit S.L. Curtright, Webmaster
Western New York Mensa
www.wny.us.mensa.org
Jaclyn McKewan, Webmaster
Borderline Mensa
www.borderline.us.mensa.org
Doug Miller, Webmaster
Chicago Area Mensa
www.chicago.us.mensa.org
Ed Poremba, Webmaster
Manasota Mensa
www.manasota.us.mensa.org
Dwight Gill, Webmaster
North Texas Mensa
www.northtexasmensa.org
Mike Shaffer, Webmaster
Northwest Florida Mensa
www.nwflorida.us.mensa.org
Jill Russ, Webmaster
Greater Los Angeles Area Mensa
www.glaam.us.mensa.org
Lindsey Murray, Webmaster
Mid-America Mensa
www.mamensa.org
Mark Short, Webmaster
Minnesota Mensa
www.mnmensa.org
Bill Conlan, Webmaster
North Texas Mensa
www.northtexasmensa.org
Mike Shaffer, Webmaster
San Diego Mensa
www.sandiego.us.mensa.org
Dave Bowles, Webmaster
Chicago Area Mensa
www.chicago.us.mensa.org
Ed Poremba, Webmaster
San Diego Mensa
www.sandiego.us.mensa.org
Dave Bowles, Webmaster
San Francisco Regional Mensa
www.sfmensa.org
Gary Koerzendorfer, Webmaster
Western New York Mensa
www.wny.us.mensa.org
Jaclyn McKewan, Webmaster
Cleveland Area Mensa
www.cleveland.us.mensa.org
Bobbie Rooney, Webmaster
East Central Ohio Mensa
www.ecom.us.mensa.org
Rick DeMattia, Webmaster
Gulf Coast Mensa
www.gcmensa.org
Lori Crews, Webmaster
Southeast Michigan Mensa
www.semm.us.mensa.org
John Voymas, Webmaster
Chicago Area Mensa
www.chicago.us.mensa.org
Ed Poremba, Webmaster
Greater Los Angeles Area Mensa
www.glaam.us.mensa.org
Lindsey Murray, Webmaster
North Texas Mensa
www.northtexasmensa.org
Mike Shaffer, Webmaster
San Diego Mensa
www.sandiego.us.mensa.org
Dave Bowles, Webmaster
San Francisco Regional Mensa
www.sfmensa.org
Gary Koerzendorfer, Webmaster
Lehigh Pocono Mensa
www.lpm.us.mensa.org
Adriana Platner, Webmaster
Northwest Florida Mensa
www.nwflorida.us.mensa.org
Jill Russ, Webmaster
Southern Nevada Mensa
www.southernnevada.us.mensa.org
Judy Dosse, Webmaster
Tidewater Mensa
www.tidewater.us.mensa.org
Don Gregory, Webmaster
Western New York Mensa
www.wny.us.mensa.org
Jaclyn McKewan, Webmaster
Borderline Mensa
www.borderline.us.mensa.org
Doug Miller, Webmaster
Mensa Alaska
alaska.us.mensa.org
Daniel Gilman, Webmaster
Mississippi Mensa
www.mississippi.us.mensa.org
James Dutschke, Webmaster
South Mississippi Mensa
www.southmississippi.us.mensa.org
Eric Ladner, Webmaster
“Bad Love Poem”
Rachel Dillard
North Texas Mensa
(M-Aura, February 2007)
Haiku
Alexandra Schiller
Oregon Mensa
(Omen, December 2006)
“The Legend Makers”
Tom Wilson
Redwood Empire Mensa
(Redwood Mpire News, March 2007)
“Stinging March Snow”
Karen Kozak
Nebraska/Western Iowa Mensa
(The Brainiac, March 2007)
Untitled poem on back cover
Jason Brown
North Texas Mensa
(M-Aura, April 2006)
“The Barney Saga”
Ruth Parvin
Oregon Mensa
(Omen, June 2006)
“Math for Word Lovers”
Pamela Miller
Greater Phoenix Mensa
(Much Ado About Mensa, August 2006)
Limericks
ted kelly
Redwood Empire Mensa
(Redwood Mpire News, February 2007)
“Missing Owl Mystery Deepens”
Doug Miller
Borderline Mensa
(Borderline Mensa Web Site)
“More Musings After the Methylphenidate Wears Off: Life In a Nonlinear Accelerator”
Ferron Talobe
Cleveland Area Mensa
(Graffiti, September 2006)
“Read the Small Print”
The Sassy Broad (aka Donna Davis)
Central Oklahoma Mensa
(Mensokie, May 2006)
“Jenny”
Victory Crayne
Orange County Mensa
(The Oracle, June/July 2006)
“Official Minutes”
Pamela Miller
Borderline Mensa
(Borderline Mensa Web Site)
“Rona Pagliaro”
J.E. Boles
Oregon Mensa
(Omen, November 2006)
“Wilhelm Travels Back In Time To Save Bubo!”
Doug Miller
Borderline Mensa
(Borderline Mensa Web Site)
“World Gathering: Magic, Mensa, and Mayhem”
Karina L. Fabian
North Dakota Mensa
(North Dakota Mensa Web Site)
“Bubo: A Sordid Tale of Abandonment, Abduction, and Betrayal”
Stephen Wilhelm
Borderline Mensa
(Borderline Mensa Web Site)
“Experiences and Impressions at My First RG”
Dan Chesnut
Tampa Bay Mensa
(Tampa Bay Sounding, April 2006)
“Insight on S.I.G.H.T.”
Kate Reeves
Inland Empire Mensa
(i.e., April 2006)
“Thai Cooking with Mike Yamrick”
Ruth Parvin
Oregon Mensa
(Omen, December 2006)
“We Miss You!”
Dave Shiffman
Memphis Mensa
(Memphis Mensa, November 2006)
“Korki’s Korner”
Korki Whitaker
Western Michigan Mensa
(Nova, March 2007)
“The Last Frontier”
Terry Black
Orange County Mensa
(The Oracle, October 2006)
“Lemonade – From Scratch”
Dave Shiffman
Memphis Mensa
(Memphis Mensa, April 2006)
“A Most Beautiful Southern Belle”
John J.J. Ward
Greater Phoenix Mensa
(Much Ado About Mensa, August 2006)
“Partly Cloudy: The Tipping Point”
Karen Cyson
Minnesota Mensa
(MENSAGENDA, November 2006)
“The 2006 Year-End Quiz”
Dick Nuenke
Columbus Area Mensa
(Col-M, February 2007)
“Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?”
Joel Chinkes
Greater Phoenix Mensa
(Much Ado About Mensa, July 2006)
“A King-Sized Puzzle”
Greg Northcutt
Utah Mensa
(Utah Mensa Web Site)
“And Now For Something Completely Different”
Karen Webb
Utah Mensa
(Utah Mensa Web Site)
“Trivial Matters”
Elaine Brody
Delaware Valley Mensa
(Proteus, April 2006)
“37,000 Words – A Photo Essay”
Dennis Tallent
Tucson Mensa
(Tucson Mensun, December 2006)
Cover illustration
Nancy Park
Central Oklahoma Mensa
(Mensokie, April 2006)
“Dawn of the New Year”
Garin Ardash
Western Pennsylvania Mensa
(Phoenix, January 2007)
Photos of bees
Nancy Flack
Redwood Empire Mensa
(Redwood Mpire News, April 2006)
“Snakes in the Garage”
Nick Quaglietta
Tucson Mensa
(Tucson Mensun, November 2006)
“Acute Angles”
David Fidelman
Greater Phoenix Mensa
Much Ado About Mensa
“Blue River”
Ray Voet
Minnesota Mensa
MENSAGENDA
“Cheap Eats”
Cynthia Clampitt
Chicago Area Mensa
ChiMe
“Fun with Stuff”
Bruce Smith
Inland Empire Mensa
i.e.
“Resident Curmudgeon”
Jim Sitton
Inland Empire Mensa
i.e.
American Mensa has complete election coverage on the Inside AML website, including candidate bios, election discussion forums, and information for those who need replacement ballots.
Have some thoughts about this year’s elections? Post ‘em in the comments.
]]>Magical Michael, one of COM’s newest members, had asked me for any comments about his ‘show’ for our chapter several months ago. Below is a portion of an e-mail he wrote to me.
Also, I wonder if I could ask a favor of you? I always appreciate it when I receive a response card back for a show I have performed, and I look forward to receiving yours. But, since I’m trying to launch an ALL mentalism show, as an option for my clients, … I’d love to get some comments about the Mensa show, specifically. I’m designing a web page to promote the new act and some juicy quotes from a fellow Mensan would be icing on the cake. Plus, I think it might also promote the local chapter.
How’s that for a win-win on everybody’s part? I love it when that happens. A lot of folks think we run around with pocket protectors. Having us mentioned on a magician’s website could be a real boon for getting more people to take the test. More new members, less work for any individual member.
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“Our goal is to gather 50 Mensans - 10 teams of 5 people - to log onto QnA Live throughout the month of March to ask questions, give answers and vote for the best answers. (The emphasis is on answering questions, so the public can see how Mensa members respond to their queries.) As Mensa’s teams engage more with QnA members, the money rises, until we hit a $10,000 donation* to the Mensa Foundation!
“If you have 4 friends in Mensa who want to form a team, appoint a team leader who will then send the names, email addresses, and member numbers of your team of 5 to Catherine Barney at catherineb@americanmensa.org. Please note, your name/email address will be sent to QnA Live. They will keep the addresses on file until the end of the promotion in April.
“To create a QnA Live ID, each team member will need to visit https://accountservices.passport.net/ppnetworkhome.srf?vv=450&lc=1033. Please email your QnA Nickname and User Profile URL to Catherine, so your account can be tagged “Mensa” during the month of March. We’ll need this information by February 2.
“If you want to join a team, but don’t have enough members, send Catherine your name and we can try to place you in a team that isn’t full yet.
“Unfamiliar with QnA Live? Visit www.qna.live.com for more information.
“*Each time a Mensa member participates in March, it adds to the total donation, with a maximum donation of $10,000.”
]]>Q: The term “slush funds†originated on sailing ships and refers to?
]]> A: Fat or grease from salted meat]]>Also, if you’re interested in running for an office in American Mensa, your petition needs to be received by February 1, 2007. More information is available here [username/password required].
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