The organizers of the events listed on this calendar have expressed willingness for members elsewhere in the world to join in. Please don’t give them a bigger crowd than they can handle, and do be careful about time zones. The displayed time zone is GMT! If you add them to your own calendar, the time zone should convert to your specified time zone.
To have your virtual event added to this calendar, contact Matt C., the CAM International Calendar contact.
There may be other virtual events, as well as in-person events, which may be of interest to CAM members, hosted by various local groups listed on the American Mensa Calendar of Events.
24/ Friday
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Gallery Talk - AI in Astrophysics 7:30 PM. Part of the Fermilab lecture series, this one given by Doctor Aleksandra Ciprijanovic, Fermilab Wilson Fellow. Read the full write-up (when available) on the Fermilab Events website. This event is free but registration required. Also view previous event recordings.
Public Virtual Event!!
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DAMNations 34. The Dayton Area Mensa RG, themed Going Global, is being held today through Sunday, March 26th, at the Double Tree Suites in 6300 E. Kemper Rd., Sharonville, OH 45241. Visit the Dayton Area Mensa RG Event on the AML website for details.
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CultureQuest® XXXIV Registration. On Sunday, April 30th, at 3 PM CDT, all across the country as well as Canada, all at the same time, teams of Mensa members will participate in a 90-minutes-long contest to test cultural literacy administered by American Mensa. Prizes will be awarded to twenty “Classic” (no age restrictions) teams and one “Next Generation” (youth) team with the highest scores! Submit your team registration information to American Mensa by Friday, March 31st. Get all the details including how to get the registration fee covered by GOBS funds and, if you want your team to meet virtually, how to request your own Discord channel.
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March Special
Free Evaluation of Prior Evidence
Click on image to take advantage of this offer!
25/ Saturday
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Monthly Gathering
The location of our March Monthly Gathering is Benedictine University
5700 College Rd. in Lisle.
CAM March Monthly Gathering @Benedictine University
The gathering is being held in Goodwin Hall (building 8 on the campus map) which is near the south-center end of the campus. The parking garage (building 7 on the campus map) is closest to Goodwin Hall. The business meeting, games, and hospitality are on the fourth floor in room 411 (aka Sorenson Hall of Leaders). Testing is in room 212, which serves as the Parent-Child Play Room afterwards. Our speaker is in room 321. Note: The rooms tend to be a bit chilly, so you may wish to bring a sweater or sweatshirt. The Monthly Gathering venue section has more detailed information about parking and driving instructions. Please note that we have this venue only until midnight, so plan accordingly. This gathering is open to the general public. So if you’re interested in learning more about Chicago Mensa, come join us. There is an admissions fee to help cover costs (major credit cards accepted).
Test:5 PM.Business Meeting:5 PM.Game room opens:6 PM.Program:7:30 PM.Refreshments:8:30 PM - Midnight.The CAM Board of Directors has allocated GOBS funds to be used for the reimbursement of either or Uber ridesharing services from/to the . Details are on our Monthly Gathering page.
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Volunteer
Get involved! Hone your leadership, organizational, or web skills. We’re looking for volunteers to fill some of the open positions listed both in the back of ChiMe or on the List of Officers. Try your hand as the Gifted Youth Coördinator, Communications Officer, website programmer, or as a MG Hospitality Volunteer. You can view the job descriptions and the required qualifications for all the open positions and ones you may be interested in. Or consider supervising the children at the MG for some extra cash.
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Express Yourself
Try your hand at writing an article for ChiMe, submitting a photo, or creating a puzzle; see our Submission Guidelines for contact information and deadlines. Host your own event or your own virtual event using Discord!
If there is a spike in Covid cases, the in-person MG may become virtual & testing would be cancelled!!Program Topic: Travel to Extreme Latitudes: The North and South Geographic Poles
Ken Levine, a Mensan for over 35 years, will discuss his experiences traveling as a tourist to extreme latitudes, including both geographic poles. For this presentation, he has completely recreated his “Travel to Extreme Latitudes” program.
In December 2022, he traveled to Antarctica for the fourth time. Ken became interested in polar exploration during his first trip to Antarctica in 2001/2002. In the Antarctic, his journeys included the Southern Ocean, Ross Sea, McMurdo Sound, and the Weddell Sea. He also visited South Georgia Island and the ice attached to Snow Hill Island. Ken has traveled north of the Arctic Circle four times and south of the Antarctic Circle twice. (Most trips to Antarctica do not cross the Antarctic Circle.)
Show all…On a trip to the geographic North Pole, he was on board a nuclear-powered Russian icebreaker. We will leave it to your imagination how the onboard swimming pool was heated.
He has lectured about his polar travels and about explorers in the “ Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration” at Mensa AGs and RGs including Chicago, Wisconsin, Los Angeles, San Diego, Reno, Houston and Indianapolis, as well as the Wheaton Public Library. His personal knowledge of the areas is supplemented by his library containing 6 shelves of books and videos about these subjects. He has examined exhibits on polar exploration at museums in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Norway, New Zealand and Australia.
Ken has visited over 80 countries. This is a conservative count, as he includes only countries that are members of the United Nations. He does not count countries where he was only in the airport for a connection and never went through customs.
Show less
26/ Sunday
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The Societal Foundations of National Competitiveness 2:30 PM. Nations rise and fall, succeed or fail in rivalries, and enjoy stability or descend into chaos because of a complex web of factors that affect competitive advantage. One critical component is the package of essential social characteristics of a nation. The ultimate story of the Cold War is that the United States was simply a more competitive society than the Soviet Union: more energetic, more vibrant, more innovative, more productive, more legitimate. See the full write-up and find contact info at the American Mensa website.
Virtual Event!!
28/ Tuesday
RSVP for Dinner Out West held on Thursday, March 30th no later than noon on Tuesday, March 28th. RSVP via Meetup preferred.
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Breakfast in Mount Prospect 10 AM. Breakfast or lunch and conversation at Jelly Café located at 1784 W. Golf Rd. in Mount Prospect (northwest corner of Golf Rd. and Busse Hwy.), featuring a large and diverse menu. Separate checks are available. Use Meetup, but if not on Meetup, RSVP to Ken L. via e‑mail. If you RSVP by e-mail, your reservation is not confirmed until you receive a confirmation e-mail.
30/ Thursday
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Conversation with London Mensans 8 AM. Join a video chat with our kin from across the big pond in London at 2 PM BDT. I [Carey] participated previously, along with a few other CAM members, and had a very nice chat with some of our “siblings” in the London area. RSVP (via Meetup preferred) to local host Carey S. to receive the Zoom sign-in information. The London host is Ian David Moseley.
Virtual Event!!
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Downtown Lunch: Virtual 1 PM. Perhaps the longest running Mensa event anywhere, Chicago’s Downtown Lunch is held every week, alternating between Tuesday and Thursday. Join us for conversation, laughs, and attempts to define words you’ll never use again. The Zoom id is 836 1178 6315 and the passcode is 190710; it is also included as part of your host Jon G.’s contact information if you prefer a link. Questions? Contact Jon via e-mail or call/text him. You may also RSVP via Meetup. We’d love to have you join us!
Virtual Event!!
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Dinner Out West: Indian 6:30 PM. We dine at Deccan Spice, located at 192 W. Gartner Rd. in Naperville. This is a GOBS-subsidized event, so every CAM member and one guest will be refunded up to $10 or ½ of your meal cost (including tax and tip), whichever is less. Limit 20 people. Reservations are required so guest host Matt knows how big of a table to reserve. RSVP via Meetup (preferred) or e-mail Matt C. no later than noon on Tuesday, March 28th.
31/ Friday
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CultureQuest® XXXIV Registration Deadline. On Sunday, April 30th, at 3 PM CDT, all across the country as well as Canada, all at the same time, teams of Mensa members will participate in a 90-minutes-long contest to test cultural literacy administered by American Mensa. Prizes will be awarded to twenty “Classic” (no age restrictions) teams and one “Next Generation” (youth) team with the highest scores! Today is the last day to submit your team registration information & payment to American Mensa. Get all the details including how to get the registration fee covered by GOBS funds and, if you want your team to meet virtually, how to request your own Discord channel.
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Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) through Sunday, April 2nd. This event promotes the latest and greatest from the worlds of comics, movies, television, toys, anime, manga and video games, and is being held in the South Building of McCormick Place in Chicago. For more information, see the C2E2 website.
Public Event!!
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Annual Gathering (AG) Rate Increase Alert!
Register for the AG held Wednesday, July 5th through Sunday, July 9th in Baltimore, Maryland by Friday, March 31st before the next rate increase tomorrow.
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1 April/ Saturday
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ChiMe Activity Bulletin and Advertising Deadlines. Last day for these submissions to the May ChiMe. Interested in organizing and hosting a virtual or in-person event? There’s bound to be an activity or a restaurant you want to try, but you just want some other people to experience it with you. So invite your fellow Mensans. Find out how by visiting our guide to hosting events.
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ChiMe Editorial Deadline. Last day for editorial submissions to the May ChiMe. Please submit original articles, insights, puzzles, brain teasers, photographs, or short poems. Your fellow Chicago Area Mensa members would love to hear from you.
Activities Bulletin
March 2023
Already a CAM Discord member?
Simply open up the Discord app, look for the
CAM 
icon on the very left, and tap/click on it. You’ll often find fellow gamers online
even when no official CAM event is taking place.
New?
A few days before the event, check out the Introductory Guide to Discord as well as our CAM Discord FAQ for instructions about downloading the Discord app on the device you’ll be using, and registering yourself. Read the doc and/or peruse the various questions and answers to familiarize yourself with our customized version.
About three days prior to the event, the Invitation Link, needed only by new CAM Discord users, will be available as part of the event host’s contact info as a button. Tap/click on the button, then tap/click on the Invitation Link, and it will open the Discord app you installed. You must acknowledge the displayed Code of Conduct to see all the rooms (aka channels). Do this by tapping/clicking on the emoji symbol at the bottom that best describes Your membership category. Once you’ve done that, you’re in and won’t need an Invitation Link again.
When you join a Discord event you won’t automatically see all the participants like in Zoom when the host lets you in or you join a meeting in progress. Instead you’ll scroll down and find the channel specified as part of the event info. You get to see the list of names indicating who is in the channel before you tap/click on it to join. And if there is someone presenting, you’ll need to tap/click on the presenter’s feed or double-click the Live button next to the presenter’s name to enlarge the feed.
It may feel weird at first but the learning curve is pretty short and chances are you’ll like it better than Zoom and choose to use it to video call a fellow Mensa member/group who is part of the CAM Discord community and definitely to play online games while chatting with everyone participating.
RSVPs - Always contact the CAM event host as specified in the event details — e-mail , phone , text , or Meetup .
Meetup
Chicago Mensa Meetup - All our events are listed; see who signed up, get notifications, and add the event(s) to your personal calendar. Check out the March calendar.
Facebook - The following CAM group has its own closed Facebook group which may have events not listed here nor on Meetup (contact them to join):
- Southwest Area Group (SwAG): Kevin & Steve - Coördinators
Meetup
Chicago Mensa Meetup - All our events are listed; see who signed up, get notifications, and add the event(s) to your personal calendar. Check out the March calendar.
Facebook - The following CAM group has its own closed Facebook group which may have events not listed here nor on Meetup (contact them to join):
- Southwest Area Group (SwAG): Kevin & Steve - Coördinators