mensa international journal january 2012 mensa international journal /EXTRA/ 05 irty-five repre- sentatives from 29 National Mensas around the world sat in conference at the thirty-fifth meeting of the International Board of Directors (IBD) of Mensa International, held at the Kempinski Hotel, Sofia, Bulgaria, from October 14-16. Also at the table were Sherman Chui from Mensa China, Executive Director Michael Feenan, and Administration Manager Christine Cousins. Observers included International Ombudsman Martyn Davies, Inter- national SIGHT Coordinator Rich Kingston, IJ Editor Kate Nacard, Honorary President Abbie Salny and MERF CEO Greg Timmers. e Agenda was extensive, covering updated re- ports from national chairmen, discussion items, pres- entations, appoint- ments and tabled motions. Presen- tations included the development of Mensa China (Sherman Chui), American Mensa’s Gifted Youth Program (Pam Donahoo), the current status and possible future direction of the Leadership Exchange Program (Elissa Rudolph), how to maintain membership growth by keeping re- tention rates high (Matthias Moehl), when national Mensas have internal problems (Willem Bouwens), and a status update on the revised Strategic Plan of Mensa International (Willem Bouwens). Dan Burg (on behalf of the Gov- ernance Papers Advisory Commit- tee) led discussions on the status of direct international members (DIMs) residing in an emerging (ENM) or provisional national Mensa (PNM), sanctions of DIMs in ENMs and PNMs, and the progression from an emerging to provisional to full national Mensas. ere was also considerable discussion on the funding of national programs for the Gifted and Tal- ented. Decisions made by the IBD included that a Media Advisory and Creation (IMAC) committee be established, that the Leadership Exchange Program be continued, that IBD delegates authority to the ExComm to appoint members to many non-elective positions and committees, and that the IBD sets the component for the fiscal year ending 31st March 2013 at 4%. e IBD accepted the audited financial statements for Mensa International Ltd for the year ended 31st March 2011 as presented. Amongst other appointments, Sara Henrysson Eidvall (Sweden) was reappointed International Su- pervisory Psychologist, Jean-Marc Rakotolahy (DIM from Madagascar) appointed Constitutional Review Officer, Martyn Davies (UK) was reappointed International Ombuds- man, and Cinthia Reyes (Mexico) and Vesper Burnett (USA) were appointed to the newly-established International Media Advisory and Creation com- mittee (IMAC). Mensa Bul- garia was a host extraordinaire - everything ran seamlessly from the accommo- dation, to the sound equip- ment needed, to the media interviews, to the city tour - a much-needed and appreciated respite after three days of intensive debate. ank you, Mensa Bulgaria. Next year’s IBD meeting will be hosted by Mensa Croatia in Du- brovnik, October 10-15. Kate Nacard IBD Meeting 2011 morning tea
Transcript
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Thirty-five repre-sentatives from 29 National Mensas around the world sat in conference at the thirty-fifth meeting of the International Board of Directors (IBD) of Mensa International, held at the Kempinski Hotel, Sofia, Bulgaria, from October 14-16. Also at the table were Sherman Chui from Mensa China, Executive Director Michael Feenan, and Administration Manager Christine Cousins. Observers included International Ombudsman Martyn Davies, Inter-national SIGHT Coordinator Rich Kingston, IJ Editor Kate Nacard, Honorary President Abbie Salny and MERF CEO Greg Timmers. The Agenda was extensive,
covering updated re-ports from national chairmen, discussion items, pres-entations, appoint-
ments and tabled motions. Presen-tations included the development of Mensa China (Sherman Chui), American Mensa’s Gifted Youth Program (Pam Donahoo), the current status and possible future direction of the Leadership Exchange Program (Elissa Rudolph), how to maintain membership growth by keeping re-
tention rates high (Matthias Moehl), when national Mensas have internal problems (Willem Bouwens), and a status update on the revised Strategic Plan of Mensa International (Willem Bouwens). Dan Burg (on behalf of the Gov-ernance Papers Advisory Commit-tee) led discussions on the status of direct international members (DIMs) residing in an emerging (ENM) or provisional national Mensa (PNM), sanctions of DIMs in ENMs and PNMs, and the progression from an emerging to provisional to full national Mensas. There was also considerable discussion on the funding of national programs for the Gifted and Tal-ented. Decisions made by the IBD included that a Media Advisory and Creation (IMAC) committee be established, that the Leadership Exchange Program be continued, that IBD delegates authority to the ExComm to appoint members to many non-elective positions and committees, and that the IBD sets the component for the fiscal year ending 31st March 2013 at 4%. The IBD accepted the audited financial statements for Mensa International Ltd for the year ended 31st March
2011 as presented. Amongst other appointments, Sara Henrysson Eidvall (Sweden) was reappointed International Su-pervisory Psychologist, Jean-Marc Rakotolahy (DIM from Madagascar) appointed Constitutional Review Officer, Martyn Davies (UK) was reappointed International Ombuds-man, and Cinthia Reyes (Mexico) and Vesper Burnett (USA) were appointed to the newly-established International Media Advisory and Creation com-mittee (IMAC). Mensa Bul-garia was a host extraordinaire - everything ran seamlessly from the accommo-dation, to the sound equip-ment needed, to the media interviews, to the city tour - a much-needed and appreciated respite after three days of intensive debate. Thank you, Mensa Bulgaria. Next year’s IBD meeting will be hosted by Mensa Croatia in Du-brovnik, October 10-15.
Kate Nacard
IBD Meeting 2011
morning tea
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members. As a regular of the quiz-zes each week, I appear on TV, and we do much publicity work such as manuscript offers, the TV show, and
have made a movie advertising the quiz in cooperation with the puzzle company.
“We hold a regular meeting in Tokyo and Osaka every month. We perform various promotions and continue to make an effort to increase the mem-
bership from now on. We’d like to hold the IBD of meeting 2016 in Japan if possible!
“Thank you to the Director of De-velopment Ms Bibiana Balanyi and to all of those world members who have welcomed us.”
Hisashi Niizuma
Mensa Japan - our newest Full National Mensa
“I came across Mensa approximately 35 years ago. It was in Tokyo at a lively monthly meeting. However, at the time, with the only commu-nication being a printed bulletin and no internet, just a few volunteers carried the burden of making Mensa work and the members gradually decreased.
“There was a ‘glacial epoch’ of Mensa for years, but activity started again in 2006. We started advertising with the Internet and a magazine,and the members gradually increased.We were approved as an Emerging Mensa in Hong Kong IBD in 2007.
“I write articles in the magazine every month, we work on a quiz show on TV, and our membersship is still increasing with now over 600
Mensa Japan became a Full National Men-sa in September, 2011. Chairman Hisashi Niizuma tells of its history...
At the first ever conference for international SIGHT coordina-tors (October 15-16, 2011 in Sofia, Bulgaria) there was full agreement on spotlighting that SIGHT was a vehicle to connect travelling Men-sans. While accommodation was often offered, this was not the main purpose of SIGHT. Getting travel-ling Mensans in contact with other Mensans, 1) for information, 2) to discuss world politics, 3) to play games, 4) have a lunch, etc. are the SIGHT goals and this applies both internationally and nationally. At home in Sweden, we have been trying to increase the ease with which members from one part of Sweden can more easily get in contact with Mensans in other areas when they are travelling within the country. This can be done partly by looking at the calendars for local activities, but there are often smaller things that don’t make the calendar, and in addition, it can be beneficial to have an individual to contact. Since only Mensans can log into the member area of our web site, besides access to our local calendar, they can get access to a map with SIGHT contacts in different areas. These are people that can be contacted for more local informa-tion and even sometimes for a place to stay. Some of the same type of efficient contact could be arranged internationally if we had a single sign in. Therefore a major point in our presentation to IBD, was the importance of being able to access both the international Mensa web
Connecting Mensa Travellers: SIGHT
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“I’ve spent most of my career in marketing communications working in several international advertisingagencies. However, I gradually came to realize that what I truly loved do-ing was writing. I followed myheart and now I am a freelance writer for different lifestyle maga-zines and websites. But you know uswriters – we are always underpaid (except for the Paulo Coelhos and Danielle Steels of course), so I tryto keep an open eye for job opportu-nities in marketing as well. “Apart from writing, travelling is my greatest passion, as it gives me an unparalleled feeling of freedom and being one’s truest self. I also love sports and practice different kinds of them. My other keen interests include music, cinema, politics and various social issues. It’s no wonder all of them have been present in my articles. “Like many other good things in my life, joining Mensa happened somewhat by chance. I had always thought of doing it but it had been more of an idea than a conscious effort on my side, until this summer when I saw an announcement about an upcoming test. Apparently I did well enough to become a member. “Things have been moving really fast for me since then – just a month after joining I took part (albeit avery small one) in organizing the IBD meeting, held for the first time ever in Bulgaria. It celebrated the
65th anniversary of Mensa Interna-tional and marked the 20th year of existence of the Bulgarian chapter.It was a memorable experience indeed to meet so many different people from all corners of the globeall sharing the same curiosity and thirst for knowledge. There was also a sense of pride that we could show our guests at least some of the natural splendour and fascinating culture that our country has to offer. “The start has been great but what do I expect to get out of my Mensa membership in the long run?Above all, personal enrichment and the unique opportunity to meet amazing people from diversecultures. And who knows, maybe from these interactions might spring new and exciting writing projectsfor me. “My friends keep asking me if joining Mensa has been worth it. My answer is always the same: “Every second of it”.”
The 2011 International Board of Directors (IBD) meeting was held in Sofia, Bulgaria. One of Bulgaria’s newest members, Svilen Georgiev, 36, tells us a little about himself.
site and at least some information on the web sites of other countries, directly after signing in to our own national web site. (Mensans needn’t proliferate the need for multiIDs and security codes.) There were, of course, lots of other inspiring discussions at the SIGHTconference. One of the most interest-ing concerned a web site for Men-sans being developed in Hungary by among others, Eszter Chrobacsin-szky, who was at our conference. The site is at present on sight.netstudio.hu. I believe that we all went home very glad for the support of IBD through ExComm, financial support of many National Mensa Organisa-tions, and the personal financing of many of the participants that made our conference possible. Despite the importance of modern technology including, for example, Facebook, nothing can match the occasional face-to-face meeting with immediate feedback and personal contact.
Bob Kaill,SIGHT Coordinator
Mensa Sweden
Delegates to the SIGHT Confer-ence held in Sofia in October 2011 enjoy a break in the sun-shine.
