(Written and posted 2/8/07)
Northwest Passages
RVC Column for March Newsletters in Region 8
by John Recht, Region 8 RVC
rvc8@us.mensa.org
Right now it's the wee, small hours of a Thursday morning, and Linda and I are both wide awake, tapping at our respective keyboards. This is actually a good thing. Both of us are deadline driven, and for both of us the time has come. So, let us speak of many things.
That is, in fact, what I am happily anticipating: speaking of many things Mensan, this weekend, at the long-awaited Leadership Development Workshop (LDW) in Portland. At least 30 Mensa members are expected to attend, including five of the eleven LocSecs in Region 8. Fully half of the registered attendees have not yet served as elected or appointed officers in their local groups, and thus it will be an ideal opportunity for our more experienced leaders to share their knowledge and love of Mensa with a group of folks who are likely to become members of the new generation of leaders at every level of American Mensa. Next month, I'll tell you what happened, and what we might expect to see as a result of our get-together.
After the LDW, I will try to finish the first draft of the Gatherings Handbook, which I would like to have ready by the next American Mensa Committee meeting. That meeting will be in Chicago on March 26, right after Colloquium 2007: Aspects of Humor. If you haven't been to a Colloquium, this would be a good time to see another sort of Mensa gathering, one that is more intellectually focused than an Annual Gathering (AG) or a Regional Gathering (RG), and maybe find a few belly laughs to boot. Check the American Mensa Web site at http://colloq07.us.mensa.org/ for more information. As for me, I guarantee you that if I get that handbook draft finished by then, I will be beside myself with glee all weekend.
The LDW and the Colloquium will each be terrific, but for maximum fun, I am most excited about Oregon Mensa's BeaveRG X in May. In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm the RG chair, but it's true nevertheless. Our theme is "Sheer Decadence," and full disclosure is part of the bargain. Come join us and find out! Click on http://www.oregon.us.mensa.org/rg/index.php for information and registration. And whatever you do, don't miss the Official Region 8 Texas Hold 'Em Poker Tournament on Friday night at the RG.
Finally, I will put this to bed with a plug for the AG in Birmingham in July. My teenage daughter, Marissa, went to her first AG last year, and declared afterward that she wants to go to every AG from now on. How cool is that? I feel the same way. It's the biggest and best party of the year in American Mensa, it has an LDW track, it offers intellectual stimulation, and most of all, well over a thousand Mensa friends and family from all over the U.S. and around the world. Try it for yourself if you haven't been there before, and you may very well find yourself agreeing with Marissa and me that you want to go to every AG from now on. Hope to see you there! And now, it's bed for me. Linda beat me there, but at least I beat the deadline....
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