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From the director of development

Column for Mensa World Journal

Congratulations in order

First, some good news. I want to congratulate Mensa Romania and Mensa Slovenia on achieving Full National Mensa status. This important milestone is the result of hard work and great efforts by many volunteers over a long time. Well done! Becoming a FNM means that the group now runs itself and has representation at the International Board of Directors.

Mensa and Opinions, revisited.

A quick follow up on my previous column, in which I wrote about Mensa and opinions. I received some interesting feedback, thank you very much! To dispel any misunderstandings, let me reiterate the core idea: Mensa does not need to borrow the worthy causes of other well-meaning organisations out there. We will not throw the weight of our name behind either side of dividing issues unrelated to Mensa. For our own cause is as clear and important as they come, and plainly spelled out in the Constitution of Mensa: “Intelligence should be used for the benefit of humanity”.

This is indeed our opinion, and our activities are centered around this theme. Hence testing, hence the gathering of intelligent members. This is why we work to promote the idea of intelligence as a thing to recognize, identify and promote; among adults and children. It is this cause that motivates a lot of volunteers in many countries, who understand that the social club is just one part of Mensa's purpose, albeit a fun part. We are getting better at fulfilling the core mission, but more work needs to be done, and good programs such as the American Mensa Foundation with its scholarships or the Czech Mensa IQ Olympiad, to name a few, should be studied and copied internationally.

A meeting in London

The Executive Committee of Mensa International recently met at the first of our two annual face-to-face meetings. This time in London, for two days of deliberations. Important issues included preparations for the grand IBD meeting in Japan in October, with the 70th anniversary celebrations; trademark registration issues; an updated graphical profile; ways of cutting costs for the international website and the IBD meeting; how best to spend limited resources in the development field; the status of social media in relation to the 'Mensa' name; and other things. Minutes will be availble at www.mensa.org. You can also follow us on Facebook

Portugal and other countries

We get lots of e-mails and requests for help in starting Mensa, but have to focus on a few countries at a time. Next week I will visit Portugal together with our executive director, mr Michael Feenan, to meet with local members. Portugal is one of few remaining European countries without a Mensa group, but this will likely change as there is plenty of interest among the direct international members living there. We will train new test supervisors and discuss the steps ahead to the formation of a society. Hopefully it will not be too long before Portugal succeeds with what Romania and Slovenia just did. Other countries on the same path include, among others, the growing groups in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Uruguay and Argentina, where there is plenty of enthusiasm. A very interesting project is currently underway in Tunisia, starting from scratch with several testing sessions carried out by a group of French members, with support from Mensa International.

A word on China

China is another very special group. Since my last column, I spent Christmas visiting the emerging Mensa China at their annual gathering in the overwhelming megacity of Shenzhen, home to more people than my entire country. All volunteers in China go through a leadership training program; on this occasion, I also gave a presentation on the Constitution of Mensa. Mensa China is still very small, with less than 200 members. The potential is enormous though. If they reach the same penetration rate as Mensa Sweden, we could be looking at 700.000 members. With this in mind, the Chinese volunteers know that starting Mensa is a long term project, requiring a solid foundation.

The AG itself was very well organized: a balanced blend of lectures, dinners and entertainment, all in Chinese of course. Interestingly, there is something instantly recognizable about Mensa gatherings regardless of country. I can tell, because I always feel at home when I am there, and it is good to be home. So – if you want to feel at home in China, then travel to the Asian Mensa Annual Gathering, this year hosted by China in Guangzhou, September 9-11. It will be amazing