RVC News

Within Your Ken, December 2009

In my last column I admitted to not having held any positions of responsibility during my early years of Mensa membership.  Of course that has totally changed for me over the years.  In the past month I have received correspondence from two long-time Loc Secs that they don’t want the job anymore.   Local group officers, no matter how well they do their jobs are not elected for life!  This is also true for important appointed positions such as newsletter editor or RG Chair.  Sometimes people stay in jobs for a long time because they like doing them, but sometimes they stay because there is no one to take their place.

I’m encouraging everyone to get off of the sidelines and start looking for ways you can help your group.  Groups cannot exist without having a few members who are willing and able to take the responsibility of holding office.   Even with a full cadre of officers, no group can make it successfully without a core of volunteers.  Do you want a better group? Or, do you want a group at all?  Then it’s time for you to personally do something about it.  Many groups will soon be having elections, so you will have your chance to serve your group and its members, and try to make the experience of being a Mensa member better for all, especially for yourself.

I’ve mentioned this before, but even if you don’t care to work with others, or have a hard time getting out, there are many ways to volunteer.  I have a list of 38 volunteer opportunities for “introverts.”  I‘ve had a few takers for this list, I guess it should at least be in the hands of our Loc Secs, so check with them for ideas.

Talking about what can happen when leadership and volunteers work together to create something great for Mensa, I just attended Chicago’s ‘WeeM RG.  It was better than ever.  Congratulations once again to Robin, Beth Ann, and dozens of dedicated, responsible volunteers who make this possible.

Ken

Within Your Ken, November 2009

It’s hard for me to believe, but this month marks thirty years since I joined Mensa.  Much of what’s good about my life revolves around Mensa.  I met my wife through Mensa, most of my social friends are Mensans.   I had a ready-made group of friends when I joined, colleagues from work that had joined Mensa before me.  It’s been a lot of fun, and continues to be ever more so, for me.

Even though I could be counted on to be at every social event, during my early years I’ll admit to avoiding any responsibility within my group, Minnesota Mensa.  I was involved in a lot of other things, and I did have two young children.  I told everyone that Mensa is what I do for fun!

For most of my Mensa career I didn’t even know what an RVC was, let alone having any aspirations for the post.  But things change, I became treasurer of Minnesota Mensa, and a few years later we hosted an AG.  I had attended AGs, but being so heavily involved in one, gave me a new appreciation of how Mensa works, and where I might fit in.  The rest is history.

I’ve had more contact from members lately.  I had hardly any during my first term.  Some of this has to do with our finances and the Inpharmatica case, and recently I heard from several members about the October issue of Chicago’s newsletter, which had what they considered to be a distasteful cover.  Often members feel that they need to apologize for “bothering” me about these things, but they have been polite and considerate, and seemed grateful for my help.  I welcome almost any opportunity to chat with members.  To me it’s a privilege, not a bother.

If you’re headed to Chicago’s great “WeeM” RG, I’ll see you there.  Be sure and say hi!

Ken 

Within Your Ken, October 2009

Ever since becoming RVC, I’ve been touting the value of the American Mensa website (www.us.mensa.org).  It’s a store house of information and entertainment.  There’s now even more reason to go there.  In the wake of the legal action against Inpharmatica and all of the questions that arose once everything was made public, the AMC has worked on a list of Frequently Asked Questions that is posted to the Inside AML section of the website.  Inside AML is a Quick Link on the home page.  The path is:

Inside AML> AMC & Appointees> AMC FAQ.

The answers to the questions were written by the person with the best knowledge or greatest authority in a given area covered by the question. 1st Vice Chair, Dan Burg, gets most of the credit.  The page also includes a link to submit your own question(s).

A lot of people tell me that they lack the information to login to the really useful parts of the website, so they never go there.  This is my answer to that FAQ:  Your login information comes with your new membership card, which you may no longer have, or if you’re on a multi-year membership or a very new member, may not have yet received.  If you’re lacking a password, you can call Web Services at the National Office during business hours M-F 8:00-5:00 CDT, (817)607-0060 X5055 and they can help you.  You say you can’t call during the day.  Just e-mail Web Services (Webservices@americanmensa.org) put Password request in the subject line, and they will send you the information you need promptly.

I hope everyone who hasn’t as yet taken advantage of what’s available on the website will at least visit and look around.

Ken

Within Your Ken, September 2009

Each September I devote most of my column to congratulating the region’s award winners at the AG.  As usual we earned more than our share, which makes me feel very proud.

Surprise, surprise, the Group of the Year (GOTYA) for the Class I, or largest groups, went to Chicago Area Mensa.  I keep saying they should just retire it to them.

Sangamon Valley Mensa won the Innovative Owl for Outstanding Member Retention at
92%.  Evansville Area Mensa received an Honorable Mention in that category.

Individual winners included a Chairman’s Certificate of Appreciation to Robin Crawford for “taking on a thousand projects.”  Barbara Kryvko and Lessa Scherer also received certificates for their efforts.

The two Teresas, Gregory the LocSec, and Fisher the Editor, of Central Indiana Mensa were both nominated for the Publication Recognition Program (PRP) Award in the category of Fiction.  I had intended to sit with them at the Awards Luncheon and root them on, but they wanted AMC members seated together so they could be introduced, something new.  Anyway I was very happy for Teresa Fisher when she won the award.

We also had two teams finish in the money in CultureQuest, which means within the top 20 of the about 100 teams competing.  Central Indiana was 9th, Minnesota Mensa was 19th.  I think that’s three times in the last four years for Minnesota.

I had been home for just a few days, when I turned around and headed back to Chicago for their Monthly Meeting, which includes a whole evening of events, typically on the last Saturday of the month.  The next day, the Nibblers brunch SIG met at a posh golf club for their latest adventure.  Teresa Tucker who organizes the group, was nice enough to reschedule the brunch to coincide with the Monthly Meeting so I could join them.  I had a great weekend with my Chicago friends!

Ken

Within Your Kens, August 2009

This month’s column is about two Kens, myself, and Ken Jennings of Jeopardy fame.  Today is the Saturday before I leave for the AG.  Ken Jennings was at Minnesota’s Mall of America earlier this afternoon, to promote his new trivia book.  There was also a trivia contest that he emceed. 

I had been informed of this event by the local Taco Bell franchisee, which had promised free food and entry into the trivia contest with a qualifying score on their on-line trivia test.  I took the test and a coupon for free food popped up, a good sign.  The next day I got a heads-up that my score currently qualified me and they would get back to me.  In the meantime I’m thinking this could be a great opportunity to promote Mensa to the other competitors and Ken himself!

On Thursday I got the word that I made it.  Book signing at 11:00, trivia contest at noon.  I was of the first ones there.  I bought his book, had it signed, and had a chance to question him about what he knew about Mensa.  I told him I thought that a relationship between his trivia enterprises and Mensa would be a good thing.  He agreed and we exchanged information, so far, so good.  I spent the rest of the time before noon approaching contestants asking them if they wanted Mensa testing information and I had many takers.

The contest had three rounds.  The first round was a series of true-false questions, the two highest scores would make it to the semi-finals, and I made it!  The next round was done at a console “College Bowl” style, ten questions. The highest score became one of four finalists.  I got six of the first seven, so that was that.  I recognized one other Mensan there, Meg Preston; she also became one of the four finalists. 

Unfortunately the final round was a little anti-climactic for me.  The early questions were almost all of the recent pop culture variety.  Not my strong suit.  But when they ran out of those, I did get the last three questions to claim second place!  This was far better than I had imagined.  The honor of Mensa has been upheld, plus Ken Jennings and Mensa may become partners in trivia.

Ken

Within Your Ken, July 2009

By now you may be aware of American Mensa’s trademark infringement lawsuit against Inpharmatica over the use of the name ADMENSA on one of its software products.  In the past AML had prevailed on similar suits, and expected to do so again.  However, this time, the decision went against AML and no infringement was found.  Due to the fact that, according to the Court, Inpharmatica’s business was sufficiently different than Mensa’s that there would be no confusion.

This decision was a great disappointment to us.  We invested a lot of effort and resource to defend our trademark against what we felt was dilution.  We certainly don’t want our Mensa name being used in an uncontrolled fashion.  We might find ourselves defending the right to use our own name if we don’t protect it.  You fight these battles, so you don’t have to keep fighting them in the future.

If we didn’t recoup our expense from the suit, how will we regain this money, you may ask?  Things will be tight for a few years hopefully the savings will occur in ways that will be unnoticeable to most members.  As an example the amount of successful teleconferencing the AMC did during this case has shown us that we can still get a lot done without being face-to-face.  Three times a year including the AG will be plenty.

If you want more information on this topic, go to the American Mensa website at
www.us.mensa.org/legalissues.

I hope to see many of you in Pittsburgh at the AG.

Ken

Within Your Ken, June 2009

Minnesota Mensa had a great RG the last weekend in April.  It had all of the elements that we like about RGs; the food, the games, the speakers, and wonderful camaraderie.  One disappointment was the inability to attract members from around the region.  There was one couple from Milwaukee, and a few former Minnesotans who used this excuse to visit. 

I know that people come from all over the country for WeeM, rightfully so, it’s a special event.  As RVC I’ve been to RGs in four other cities in just over a year, and the number of guests from other groups is surprisingly small.  These were all highly entertaining events, with plenty to do, and lots of friendly people, but few visitors.  Indianapolis had a nice group of guests, but they were mostly from Ohio, Region 3.

I think it would be good for the groups and good for members in general, if we tried harder to support each others’ events.  If you can share costs with someone, these weekends aren’t that expensive.  Especially considering that RG registrations include most, if not all of your meals.

For the members from the smaller groups who are less likely to ever put on their own RG, it would be a great experience for you.  And I’ve checked it out, most of you live fairly close to one of the groups that has an RG annually.

For your information I’ve made a table of the driving distances between cities, so you can see the possibilities.  I hope to see some new faces at these RGs in the coming year.

Ken

Within Your Ken, May 2009

We haven’t had much in the way of Leader Development Workshops in Region 4 lately, but it’s not really our fault. In the early days of the LDW, there was the feeling that the money used to subsidize them was not well spent. So a myriad of rules was instituted to make sure this didn’t happen anymore. Unfortunately, the rules made it so difficult to have a LDW, that everyone just stopped having them.

There was a prohibition of LDW workshops at an RG. Last year I tried to tack on a couple of workshops on the end of WeeM, basically after the RG was over, and was denied funding. This didn’t set well with me. This episode, along with the Tecker project, and a new, very enthusiastic LDW Coordinator in Peggy Pannke-Smith, has had the AMC re-looking at how the LDW can be delivered. At the last AMC meeting, we voted to remove the RG prohibition.

There is a great amount of excellent LDW material that has been written since this region last had a workshop. If there’s one thing that will mark my next term as RVC, it will be making the LDW part of the routine function of our groups. I’m expecting that more well-informed Mensa members will be more satisfied members.

Ken

Within Your Ken, April 2009

We think of January as the time for New Year’s resolutions, but the Mensa year begins on April 1, no fooling. This is just the time for Mensa New Year’s resolutions.

1. I will pay my dues. If I don’t renew, none of the rest of this makes any sense. If you haven’t renewed yet, go to your computer right now, to the American Mensa website while you’re thinking about it.

2. I will share with others. Have some pictures or a recipe from a Mensa event? Let’s get them up on the new and improved Region 4 website. Never seen it? Just Google, “Mensa Region 4.”

3. I will volunteer. No group has enough volunteers. Even in the biggest groups it seems like the same few people do most of the work. If you read your monthly newsletter, the volunteer opportunities become obvious. Or just contact your loc sec.

4. I will go to more events. This is a social club after all. There are so many members we never see. Try a SIG, better yet if you’re interested in something that isn’t offered, start a SIG. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

5. I will familiarize myself with the American Mensa website. There’s a treasure of information, entertainment, and communication avenues there. The website alone is worth the price of membership if you get what you could out of it.

6. I will encourage my friends, relatives and other acquaintances to try to qualify for Mensa. Many people keep their membership a secret. Like there’s something wrong with being smart. Having someone you know really well join Mensa will almost certainly make your experience better.

7. I will try going to other groups’ events. This is a topic for a whole column, but most of us live a relatively short drive from another group. Take advantage of gas prices being down.

I’m sure there are more, but if you can follow these, I promise 2009-2010 will be your best Mensa year ever!

Ken

Within Your Ken, March 2009

As I’m writing this in early February, I’m getting ready to attend the Finance Committee meeting to work on the 2009-2010 Annual Budget.  It  will be presented to the AMC as a whole for approval, at its next meeting on March 20 in Indianapolis.  I’m looking through the materials and know this will not be an easy process.  Even with the dues increase, resources will be tight.

The main idea I’m trying to get across, is how seriously all of this is taken, and how every line item of the budget will be scrutinized.   We will be balancing a very careful spending plan with the desire to keep Mensa headed in the right direction.  That means continued membership growth and providing more and  better services to our members.  The current membership year ending March 31 will be the 11th consecutive year of membership growth.  You don’t want to mess with that!

With the dues increase, “why are things still tight?” you may be wondering.  Current low interest rates are a big factor.  Life membership dues, as an example, are invested and the interest earned goes to pay the cost of supporting these members.  Historically these funds haven’t been amortized into the dues stream, but left to continue drawing interest.  I don’t know exactly how much we’re going to earn my recent $708 life membership, but I know Mensa is going to lose money on me this year.  Just one example.

We start on Saturday morning.  By the time we finish early Sunday afternoon, we will have spent 12+ hours trying to devise a revenue plan that may be a little stretch, but realistic, and a spending plan that buys us only what we think we need.  We will enjoy the beautiful Dallas weather to and from the airport, but not much in-between. 

My luggage will be carry-on only, a recent purchase.  Because I don’t expect Mensa to pay checked bag fees for me.  You do what you can.

Ken

Within Your Ken, February 2009

Much of this month’s column will refer to things I’ve mentioned in previous columns.

Last month I talked about October’s Mensa Testing Month.  As promised, I now have the final results.  We had 174 test takers in Region 4 out of a total of 1272 nationally.  That means the other nine regions totaled 1098, an average of 122 tests by comparison.

We were lead by Minnesota Mensa with 86, making it the top local group in the country.
This refers me back to the column in which I described what Minnesota tries to accomplish with its State Fair booth.  This year it worked to near-perfection.  Armed with over 400 leads gathered from fairgoers, Testing Coordinator and Assistant RVC, Paul Jensen, personally contacted almost all of these people, and achieved great success.

I’ve also written it the past about the progress being made on the Region 4 website.  The Webmaster, Tina Bernu, after bringing all of the information up-to-date, has recently finished a major overhaul of the site.  It really looks good.  It just lacks input from the groups.  I’ll be working with the local group leaders to try to change that, and make the Regional Website a true resource.  Use the “Groups” icon on the homepage of the national website to find it, and then bookmark it.

We have a nice RG schedule this year.  When you read this I will have just returned from Indianapolis.  I was going to go last year, but couldn’t make it.  I can even procrastinate in being a “Procrastinator.”  Over Presidents’ Day weekend is St Louis’ “Get a Clue” RG, an RG good enough to risk life and limb to attend.  Hopefully the weather will be better this year.  And Minnesota is using that special weekend in April that’s exactly six months after and before WeeM, so you have no excuse to not attend, to have a “Last of the Aughts” RG.  I hope to see as many of you as possible at these events.

Ken

Within Your Ken, January 2009

In my November column I talked about the AMC hiring Tecker Consultants to help us develop a comprehensive strategic plan for American Mensa. We spent a day and a half at the November AMC meeting examining Mensa from the ground up. We started with mission, vision, and core values. Based on these we developed our BIG AUDACIOUS GOAL. This is a goal that is beyond our comfort zone, but is doable with heroic effort and much luck. It is meant to stimulate progress within the organization.

The “BAG” we developed was:

“Be widely recognized as the premier community for intelligent people seeking intellectual challenge, respect for intelligence, and the opportunity to collectively benefit humanity.”

With this in mind, we began drafting the goals and objectives that will become our strategic plan. We broke into five groups, each group developed the goals and objectives for one of these areas: Membership, Governance, Leadership Development, Public Awareness, and Finance. The results of this exercise were critiqued by the whole group for completeness and for where we felt Mensa stands in the completion of the goals.

The project is not complete, but we continue to make steady progress, of which I will keep you informed.

In an entirely different vein, if you’ve been to WeeM in the last two years, you’ve had the chance to taste the Pretentious Pastry of Minnesota Mensan Marie Porter. In November, she won the Twin City Bridal Association’s ICON Award for “Excellence in Cake Design.” That led to full page spread in the Minneapolis StarTribune about her and her cake design business. Congratulations, Marie! Martha Stewart, watch out!

A happy year to you and yours.

Ken