Jon Gruebele Regional Vice Chair Local Group Newsletter Articles from 2022
June 2022 – Having Fun with Mensa
Surveys show most members don’t participate in Mensa activities, preferring to get their entertainment from the Bulletin and reading wonderful articles in their Local Group newsletters – maybe even this column? OK, perhaps not that.
Over a span of just over three months, I personally intend to attend:
Sadly I won’t have time to attend the Colloquium on “Giftedness Across the Lifespan”, not to mention a whole bunch of other local group events including those posted on the national website. Really, there’s only so much fun one person can have.
Many of us also read Mensa’s electronic offerings. To see what’s available, you can review your communications preferences on the national website by navigating to My Mensa -> My Membership Profile -> My Communications Preferences. Among others, I enjoy Mensa Brainwave. It offers news about interesting scientific developments. Some people love seeing content posted in Mensa Connect, others not so much. In each of your subscribed Connect communities, you can elect to get notifications every time something is posted, a daily digest, or turn off notifications entirely.
Hopefully at least something here will prompt you to have more fun with Mensa, and I hope to have you join us at an event soon!
May 2022 – Acts Inimical
At this year’s Academy Awards, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock. Had one of our members slapped someone at a Mensa event, the police could have been called. We could have also initiated a hearing to determine if that constituted an act inimical to Mensa.
Like the U.S. legal system, Mensa’s hearings process is adversarial. First someone needs to bring a complaint. Then a regional or national hearing may be held where both the complainant and respondent present their viewpoints. An impartial panel decides if sufficient evidence exists to sustain the complaint, and if so, which sanctions to impose. If expulsion is recommended, the Board of Directors (AMC) must concur.
It’s an imperfect system, although I haven’t seen a better suggestion. While it protects the accused’s rights, it may force a victim to relive a very unpleasant event. The victim may therefore choose not to initiate a hearing. Even if others bring charges on the victim’s behalf, getting sanctions may be difficult without the victim’s cooperation. That leaves the perpetrator to potentially reoffend.
Our Actions Still in Effect (ASIEs) list only nine members who have been expelled over the years. While not every bad act merits expulsion, that number seems low. Historically, we – along with much of society – have collectively tolerated bad behavior. The cliché of a male boss chasing a female secretary around a desk was a “joke”, not something to be condemned. Times have changed. Such behavior was never OK and must not be tolerated.
At a recent St. Louis Area Mensa monthly meeting, representatives from Alcoholics Anonymous spoke about their organization. I asked what they did about people who did bad things. Interestingly, they have no formal mechanism to kick anyone out of the organization. Someone stealing money from the coffee fund might instead be shunned or at least subjected to a very pointed discussion.
Perhaps we can learn something from them. If you see something, say something. If you are uncomfortable confronting someone directly, speak with an event host or your Local Group leadership. I’m not shy about protecting our members either, and my contact information is below. We need to cultivate a culture where people feel welcomed; accordingly, our national events and many Regional Gatherings now have formal and enforceable codes of conduct.
We continue to debate other aspects of member safety. What, for example, should happen if a member is convicted of a violent criminal offense? Which specific offenses might disqualify someone from membership? We have members whose offenses were many years ago and who have apparently been rehabilitated. Should they be refused membership? What if a conviction is overturned on appeal? Should becoming a member require a background check along with an IQ test?
None of these are easy questions. If anyone has answers, I’m all ears.
April 2022 – More Complaints
In my June, 2019 newsletter article, I wrote about people who complain – and why I liked to hear those complaints. People who complain still care about Mensa and want to make it better.
Unfortunately, most complaints come in the form of: “Somebody should do something about this!” “Somebody”, of course, means: “not me”.
There may well be good reasons for this. Some people may not have the time or skills to help. They may perceive – perhaps incorrectly – that because they’re not in a leadership role, they can’t make changes. They may have tried to help in the past but were met with resistance. We’ve all heard the excuses from “We’ve always done it this way” to “That’ll never work” – among many others.
If you have a complaint about Mensa, instead of dashing off a scathing social media post or e-mail, consider:
There are many other possibilities, so get creative! To misquote John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what Mensa can do for you; do something for Mensa.” Volunteers are much happier with their Mensa experience – and themselves.
Finally, when you see a volunteer, please take a moment to say “thank you”. Toward that end, I’d like to say “thanks” to all our volunteers in Region 4 and specifically to:
And of course all the board members, editors, proctors, testing coordinators, membership officers, treasurers, secretaries, ombudspeople, webmasters, scholarship chairs, area coordinators, and everyone that helps in other ways.
Sadly there isn’t enough space to name you all, so if you don’t see your name, please know that I’m grateful for what you do too.
March 2022 – Mensa Trivia
Because the CultureQuest® trivia competition is coming, below are a few Mensa related trivia questions as a warmup.
If you haven’t participated in CultureQuest® before, give it a try. Teams of up to five people meet virtually and answer pesky questions about things that don’t matter. It’s a lot of fun – and rather humbling. Apparently, there are many things I don’t know. Registration closes March 31st and the event is on Sunday April 24th at 4:00 PM Eastern, 3:00 PM Central. The top teams get cash prizes.
Questions:
Answers:
P.S. CultureQuest® is more fun than this quiz was!
February 2022 – How the Sausage is Made
Definition: com·mit·tee. noun. /kə-ˈmi-tē/. The place where good ideas go to die.
“I’ve searched all the parks in all the cities and found no statues of committees.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton
Change in American Mensa comes in many ways. Some is unofficial, simply the product of changes in society and reflected in our organization. Behavior that once may have been tolerated is now roundly condemned. Some egregious enough can become grounds for disciplinary hearings or even expulsion from Mensa.
Officially, changes to Mensa’s international constitution may impose new requirements on American Mensa. Changing American Mensa’s bylaws requires a two-thirds affirmative vote of our membership at a special or regular election. Putting a bylaws change on the ballot can happen via:
Changing the International Constitution and our bylaws are intentionally difficult and hence are generally only used for high level issues. Changes to our Actions Still in Effect (ASIEs) are much easier. Here, all that’s needed is a majority vote by the AMC at a scheduled meeting. Any AMC member – including appointed officers – can write a motion. If a seconder approves, the motion will be put on the agenda. Then voting AMC members can approve it, defeat it, or send it to a committee for further consideration.
Interestingly, proposals made by individual AMC members tend to fare poorly compared to proposals coming from committees. Perhaps that’s because committees have multiple people considering potential ramifications before they’re submitted. Sometimes the AMC will find a motion objectionable and attempt to “fix” it by amending the language during the meeting. This seldom goes well.
Bottom line, working through committees is the best way to accomplish ASIE-level change. I currently participate on three: Strategic Planning (as Chair), Name & Logo, and Research Review. I’ve written about the first two in previous newsletter columns. Research Review was established to consider proposals – usually from academics or governmental agencies – to use our members for studies. One recent example was a state wanting to survey Mensa members about gifted education. We do have exacting criteria to approve these proposals, including confidentiality and adherence to the Federal Policy for Protection of Human Subjects.
We currently have 28 volunteer committees and a couple of task forces helping to make Mensa better. Some work with an appointed officer (such as Marketing); many also work with the National Office. A listing of the committees is on the website under Lead -> Board of Directors (AMC) -> Committees. Members are always welcome to apply to help with these teams.
January 2022 – Yellow Postcards
I have seen many members’ comments about Mensa’s oral history project. Some were favorable; many were not.
The project was initiated by our national office. American Mensa’s former Chair and the History Committee Chair were consulted although didn’t make the final decision. I and the other AMC members were not consulted. We were only informed that a third-party company, PCI, would be collecting members’ stories. They would sell the compilation to recoup their investment. Mensa would neither pay nor receive money. PCI apparently does this work for many organizations.
Unfortunately, many members were surprised to receive PCI’s solicitation. The e-mails and postcards seemed scammy. After the initial outcry, the national office worked with PCI to improve the wording for subsequent communications.
Many members felt Mensa ignored their communication preference set on the national website to exclude them from external promotions. Initially, we were told this was a “project” that would benefit members, not an external “promotion”. Given that PCI was selling something, that’s a distinction without a difference. We should respect members’ preferences. Belatedly, a separate preference to opt out of oral history solicitations was added to the website.
Here were the early November statistics:
At the August AMC meeting, our Executive Director expressed his deep regret for how the project was rolled out and apologized for our members’ frustration. He worked with Communications Officer Robin Crawford to craft corrective motions for the AMC to consider. Concerns about some wording prompted us to refer them to our Membership Committee. They should submit updated motions for our March meeting. Meanwhile, we have requested external projects be put on hold.
We must still partner with outside organizations to keep dues affordable. If you’re over 50, you can join AARP for $12 yearly. They accomplish that by getting revenue from companies selling everything from life insurance to cruises. We don’t want to turn Mensa into the marketing machine that AARP is, but $12/year dues sounds a lot better than $79/year. Perhaps there’s a happy medium somewhere?
Our other challenge remains – as always – communication. This project was widely advertised through advance e-mails, inclusion in Mensa Wired and Mensa Leader e-newsletters, and even in the Bulletin. Yet people still said they hadn’t heard about it when they started getting postcards. I’m not sure there is a solution to that one, but ideas are always welcome.
Feedback? Please contact me at rvc4@us.mensa.org or via phone/text at +1 309 693 1359. Region 4’s Facebook group is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/695847670490858.
Copyright © 2022 Jon W. Gruebele. All Rights Reserved.