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REPORT 2016

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

The development plan presented to the 2015 IBD meeting has been my main guideline. We decided to focus on a smaller number of countries, and to ask specifically for money to travel there. These countries are Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, Russia and Kenya. Additional travel and expenses proved necessary, so the 5000 GBP budgeted for 2016 was, as suspected, barely enough. There is a clear connection between development support by Mensa International, and development outcomes. In the early, fragile stages, close cooperation between the locals and MI is crucial, and this often means going there in person.

There have been requests for help from members to start Mensa groups in countries such as Jordan, Albania and Thailand. We have not been able to do much more there other than discuss possible future options, possibly for next year. Also, the executive director made an important journey to several south American countries, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. South America is getting even more attention next year, as my development plan will explain.

Some highlights: Portugal: The ED and myself arranged a very successful training day in Lisbon in June. All current members were contacted and asked to participate, and about ten people showed up. A handful of new proctors were approved, as well as an organizing committee (preliminary board). Mensa Portugal is now working its way toward legal registration and achieving Emerging Mensa status.

China: A country with enormous potential, and also particular challenges in its early years. I visited the Mensa China AG in Shenzhen in December, gave three talks and agreed to help arranging the first democratic elections in four years. The previous time, in 2012, the election was disqualified and Mensa International had to intervene and appoint an interim board (Thomas Chan, Sherman Chui and Russ Bakke).This time, though much had been accomplished since 2012, the election nonetheless had to be cancelled shortly after it was announced. The election committee, made up of volunteers from several countries with experience from the IEC, decided that several things had to be taken care of before proper elections could be held; having a constitution approved by the membership was one such thing. Meanwhile, the magnitude of a conflict between two factions of Mensa members (current and former) in China became evident. An opening appeared to try and heal the rift, so to speak, and unite all members in one single society; at the US AG in San Diego, many meetings were held with key players and following much discussion a new interim board was appointed. Mensa China now has an appointed Interim Board entirely made up of foreign, experienced members: John Recht (chair), Jim Werdell, Marina Tay, Teresa Wong and Vicki Herd. They have been tasked with overseeing the reassessment of the Emerging Mensa requirements and prepare Mensa China so it can govern itself in accordance with all MI rules. To help, a General Leadership Council of Chinese volunteers has been appointed, made up of people from both factions, to advise and help the MCIB with the many tasks ahead. As D-Dev, I am not part of the board, but remain in close contact with them and Mensa China will remain a very high priority for the foreseeable future.

UAE: Testing had been dormant in the UAE for over three years, and a new group of members wanted to move forward and set up a group. A training day with the ED was arranged in December and several new proctors were approved.

Taiwan: Testing is ongoing; the NSP Jizhen Ho is also the main coordinator member. Taiwan did not require a visit by a MI representative, but mr Ho went to the IBD meeting last year, and met with me in China in December.

Russia: It proved impractical for Mensa International to directly engage with the members in Russia, but help was offered from Mensa Germany. A couple of Russian-speaking members are undergoing proctor training and will, with assistance from MG, commence testing in St Petersburg later this year, it is hoped. Creating Mensa Russia will be a long-term project, requiring sustained focus.

Kenya: A collaboration has begun between MI and a school in Kenya, who will do testing on our behalf and serve as a focal point initially. The ED has had meetings with the people there, including a visit to Kenya, and while testing has not yet begun, early impressions are promising. The model of collaboration with a third party testing center is one we hope to employ in many of the remaining countries.

Macedonia: Following the demotion to Emerging Mensa status in 2013, the appointed board has had to catch up with many issues, such as the legal registration and an updated constitution. This process is now complete and only a democratic election remains, which is planned to take place before the end of this year.

Romania and Slovenia: These countries achieved Full National Mensa status this year, with many congratulations.

Moldova: Mensa Romania has, with permission from Mensa International (always necessary when testing across national borders), begun testing in Moldova, which has a similar language and culture.

Tunisia: Starting in 2015, the project to create a Mensa Tunisia has so far yielded some initial results. Extra funding (2000 EUR) was approved to support four visits there to test and recruit new members, as well as prepare the incipient group to become self-supporting. The proctors are members of Mensa France, but were trained and approved by the ED and are operating entirely on MI's behalf.

Having a development plan has been a very important improvement, as it has helped us focus on a smaller set of achievable outcomes rather than trying to do everything at once. For the next year, a new, updated plan will be presented at the IBD meeting.

A proctor instruction document has been prepared, based mainly on Mensa Sweden's training material and approved by the ISP. This has been shared with the volunteers in new countries before meeting with the ED, who provided additional instruction in person at the meetings (UAE, Portugal).

At the 2015 IBD meeting, I wrote and moved a couple of motions that all passed (see minutes). Most important, I think, was the new ASIE that makes it necessary for a member to be verifiable through Mensa International's member verification system, in order to be recognized as being in good standing by other countries. This allows for event organizers, membership officers handling transfers etc, to check in one single place when approving foreign members, and it gives an added incentive to national groups to ensure that their members all have access to Mensa.org. Also, a motion clarifying that the IBD encourages translations of MWJ material as long as the original English text is explicitly made available.

The Development Support Committee (Isabella Holz, Annika Thurlow) has continued to be very helpful. In general, I think it is a good model for the elected officers to engage with and appoint volunteers to help with specific tasks. Not all committees need to be formally structured ones with an IBD remit. There is too much to do in fields that require more flexibility. Past or current IBD members, LEAP participants, committee members, etc are all places to look for such helpers. The Mensa China Interim Board is, in its way, another committee of this type, with a more specific geographic remit.

I have, of course, also participated actively in the ExComm bi-monthly teleconferences and the London meeting in May, as well as answered plenty of minor questions coming to my mailbox. All in all, things are moving in the right direction. When we celebrate 100 years in 2046, I am confident that Mensa will be well represented around the world, where many groups are truly large, and all of them are great. Floreat Mensa.