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September 2006
Newsletter

Contents

Coming Soon... Notes from the LocSec The Tenth Story Humor Courtesy of our LocSec A Message from our New Program Director Member News

 

Coming Soon...

• Regional Gathering (September 2006)
  www.mamensa.org/RG2006

• Colloquium (October 2006)
  www.colloquium.us.mensa.org

We are looking for original artwork for our newsletter, submit yours to editor@palmbeach.us.mensa.org.

Visit our website at www.palmbeach.us.mensa.org

 

Notes from the LocSec --

Diamond Anniversary 1946-2006 -- The World Gathering

     The Mensa World Gathering 2006 was a great place to be in early August. I spent only three days there, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sadly I was alone since my wife Judy was at a Peace conference in North Carolina which had been booked before the Mensa gathering date was set.

     The hospitality hall was great, I met people from all over the US, and the world, from the Philippines, Norway, Sweden, Canada, and from Macedonia. I am sure there were many I did not have time to speak with from other interesting places, the pins in the world map, representing where participants were from, were in many, many countries from Europe to Asia.

I met almost all of the Palm Beach Mensa attendees, and some of the Broward County Mensa Attendees, they all said they were having a great time. There were so many simultaneous meetings it was a challenge just to select the ones that were personally most appealing. Trouble is there were still many where I would have liked to be at more than one at the same time. And when not in a meeting there was the game room, many Mensan are engrossed in game playing, card, board, or oral.

Game nights make a good Mensa meeting for local groups as well. Then to cap it all the hospitality hall, where food and drinks were free (included in the Registration fee). What a show!

There were puzzle contests, armchair detective challenges, life improvement presentations, a Fishbowl on relationships, great lunches and dinners, followed by belly dancing and folk dancing entertainment, and salsa music.

The Coronado was a great resort, with plenty of helpful staff, beautiful landscaping, and a Mexican theme restaurant. Kudos for Elissa our Local Vice President for the outstanding organization of this exiting and entertaining event. It could not have been put together without the help of many volunteers, thanks to all of you who volunteered to help. Especially the folk who kept the coffee, drinks juice and snacks coming in the Hospitality Hall (HH). Between presentations and contests the HH was a refuge and stimulation simultaneously.

Membership

I sent out "Please stay letters to local members whose membership lapsed April 1st 2006. I have had a few responses, some have rejoined, while several have complained there are not enough meetings, especially in their areas. We need to get more things going, and now we are lucky to have a volunteer Program director, Phyllis Godofsky. Phyllis is a Boca member, but her responsibility is for the whole county and beyond because we have members in Palm Bay, Stuart, Port St Lucie, and Okeechobee. She cannot arrange meetings over this vast area by herself; she needs local area coordinators to set up meetings in their local areas. So.... all you energetic enthusiastic members who would like to have more meetings, how about becoming a local area volunteer? We can assist you in getting started, and you will be making a significant contribution to building Palm Beach Area Mensa.

Programs

Some of the kinds of meetings we would like are speaker presentations and talk back. Mensans rarely agree for long, and always want to propose alternatives to the ideas they hear. Picnics are a great way to get families and especially young Mensans involved. We have some 32 young Mensans but no meeting for them to attend with their families and meet each other. Pot luck dinners have worked well in the Delray Beach area, courtesy of Elissa Rudolph and Patrick.

Broward Mensa has weekly pub gatherings which especially appeal to the younger generation X crowd, who we need to encourage because they are Mensa's future. I mention Broward Mensa because some of their meeting styles can work for PBCM. Take a look at our website and review the activities in the calendar. Miami, Broward and PB Mensa events are listed. If you think you can arrange an event for PBCM on the pattern of one of the other groups meetings pleas let Phyllis know. She is listed with the other Mensa contacts in both the news letter and the web site.

If you do not feel like arranging a meeting, perhaps you can host one at your home or condo recreation center. Hosting meetings in your home need not be an expense for the host, PBCM can assist with financing the snacks and sodas, we need receipts however.

Below is a list of some of the programs I have found in other mensa groups.

Group	Program
New York	Science Fiction and Fantasy SIG
New York	Scavenger hunt
New York	Game SIG
Chicago	Beach Blanket Bingo
Chicago	Poetry SIG
Los Angeles	Boomer Barbeque
New Orleans	Coffeehouse SIG
New Orleans	Eclectic SIG
San Francisco	Math Lovers Lunch
San Francisco	How Money Works SIG
San Francisco	Sex Politics and Religion SIG

Competition

The Palm Beach Mensa Newsletter needs a name. Why you say? Well, as Locsec I get Mensa newsletters from all over, and I will share with you their names. It would also be nice to have a name that includes those outside Palm Beach County who are in the group because National Mensa assigned them. Inclusiveness builds involvement and commitment, which is why we want a name that does not exclude out of county members. I propose a competition open to all Palm Beach Area Mensans of any age to suggest a new name our chapter's news letter. Be creative, be witty, be cute, but please let it be inclusive of those living outside Palm Beach County, otherwise it will be rejected. The Excomm members will judge the names and select the winner. The winner will get a prize which will be a $25 gift certificate to the store of their choice. The proposed names should be submitted to the Locsec by email or mail, by November 15th. They will be judged at the Excomm meeting later in November, and the winner will be published in the December newsletter. To help stimulate your grey matter, and give you some sort of profile, I have listed some of the local chapter newsletter names below.

Chapter	Newsletter
Broward	Browbeat
Miami	Flamenco
Northwest Florida	PensaMensa
Space Coast mensa	The SCAM (Space Coast Area mensa)
Tallahassee	Mentally
Jacksonville	Mensanity
San Francisco	Intelligencer
Los Angeles	L.A. Mentary
Chicago	ChiMe

Newsletter contents

I have been asked if we can have humor and puzzle sections of the newsletter. Yes we can, but we need contributors. Ed our ed. has his work cut out just putting it together, so puzzle lovers submit your favorites, and comics send us you best jokes. See Humor section on page 7...for this month's joke.

--- Brian Johnson, LocSec

Webmaster's Note: A version of the survey that can be submitted online is also available here.

 

The Tenth Story

As I write this, it is 48 hours before the start of the World Gathering. I am in awe of the immensity of the event. We have put in a lot of sweat equity to ensure that this is an outstanding event. In

48 hours, most of the 2100+ attendees will be swarming throughout the Coronado Springs Resort's Convention Center. By the time you read this, in the September newsletters, it will be well past the end of the World Gathering. I can only wish that many of you were able to squeeze at least a small amount of time from your schedules to attend, and that you had a memorable time. I hope that you made new friends and renewed old friendships, that the worst dilemma you had to face was choosing which programs to attend, and that you took some time to see your leaders at work, as both the AMC meeting and the IBD meeting are open to all members.

      Even though the next Mensa national election isn't until 2007, the Nominating Committee is busily finding candidates for all positions. They are hoping to have multiple candidates for each position this year.  I am choosing to run again for Regional Vice Chair for Region 10. I hope that I have done a fair and reasonable job representing you so far, and I hope to have the opportunity to continue to serve.

      Very few members have taken advantage of the Region 10 e-list as a way to discuss issues important to Region 10. I hope that will change as more Mensans in Region 10 sign up for the list. To subscribe to the list, send an email to region10- request@lists.us.mensa.org with the word subscribe in the subject line or visit http://lists.us.mensa.org/mailman/listinfo/region10.  If you have an issue you wish to bring to my attention - but not on the list - please don't hesitate to contact me, via email or phone as listed below.

      On to the World Gathering!  Maggie Truelove  rvc10@cfl.rr.com or  truluvs@cfl.rr.com

3333 Honeysuckle Lane Orlando, Florida 32812  407-855-9078 

 

Humor Courtesy of our LocSec

     A lady walks into a drug store and tells the pharmacist she needs some cyanide. The pharmacist said, "Why in the world do you need cyanide?" The lady then explained she needed it to poison her husband.The pharmacist's eyes got big and he said, "Lord have mercy, I can't give you cyanide to kill your husband! That's against the law! They'll throw both of us in jail and I'll lose my license."

     Then the lady reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of her husband in bed with the pharmacist's wife and handed it to the pharmacist. The pharmacist looked at the picture and replied, "Well now, you didn't tell me you had a prescription."

 

A Message from our New Program Director

Speaking as your new Program Director, I would like to enlist the aid and suggestions of all our membership, in order to best create programs that would be of interest and excitement to all -- different age groups -- different interests and needs.  But first and foremost, in order to implement any of your ideas or mine, I need anyone with free or inexpensive venues, to call.  Anyone with a clubhouse, willing to use an individual home to have an event, knowledge of an exciting restaurant, please call me personally at 561-893-0473 in Boca Raton.  Suggestions please!  Together, we can create new, exciting and stimulating events each month.  I look forward to working together with everyone.

--Phyllis Godofsky, Ph.D., Boca Raton, FL  

 

Member News

Here are the Palm Beach County Mensa brand new members, renewing or moving into our area. Welcome or welcome back to: MIKE DOWLING of West Palm Beach, RUTH KASS of Boynton Beach, MELISSA MILESWALLACE of Royal Palm Beach, NANCY DAVIS MCDONALD of Palm Beach Gardens, JACK P PHELAN of Wellington and MARJORIE GOODHELMLING of Port St. Lucie. Come on out to an event or organize one yourself. We’d like to meet you!

Have you renewed your membership yet?