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Our next Monthly Gathering is on September 21st.
The September Monthly Gathering will be held at the
Benedictine University,
5700 College Rd., Lisle, IL 60532

The locations of the MGs vary.

Monthly Gathering

The Chicago Area Monthly Gathering is open to the public. So anyone interested in finding out more about Mensa is welcome to attend. The September Monthly Gathering will be held at the Benedictine University at 5700 College Rd. in Lisle. The gatherings are held each month at one of five locations. So check this site to ensure you’re heading to the correct venue. Members can also check the latest issue of ChiMe, Chicago Mensa Meetup, and/or can sign up for the Event E‑Mail List to get e‑mails about upcoming events, including any last minute changes. (Note: You should be getting the e‑mails about upcoming events already, provided your profile on American Mensa includes your e‑mail address. If you want to opt out, you can do so via the same link: Event E‑Mail List.)

Typical Monthly Gathering

4:00 p.m.
Mensa Admissions Test (for anyone who wishes to become a member) — Preregister to reserve a space for this session or for a different test location/date. To see if any of your past tests qualify for membership, see what you need to qualify.
5:00 p.m.
Business Meeting — Our five board members and any other interested members discuss various topics and issues. Members are welcome to attend and voice their opinions, but only the Board of Directors can vote.
6:00 p.m.
Games Room opens for any early-arrivers and game enthusiasts. At recent gatherings members have played their favorite games such as Chess, Scrabble, Set, and Boggle, as well as current hit games. Our game collection is pretty extensive, so if you have a favorite, there's a fair chance we'll have it on hand. Here’s the list of our entire collection (minus a couple of oldies for which the Geek has no entry) over on Board Game Geek, although not all games are conveyed to every Monthly Gathering (there are just too many). Contact our Game Warden to ensure a specific one is available.
7:30 p.m.
Speaker Presentation — The gathering usually begins with announcements from our Local Secretary (LocSec), followed by a guest who speaks on an interesting topic for about an hour. A short description of the topic may be available on the September events page. Members can view the full article about this month’s topic in the September ChiMe.
8:30 p.m.
Refreshments, Socializing, and Games — After the speaker presentation, our hospitality volunteers provide an assortment of party food and beverages, and people browse and mingle. Conversation and games continue into the night.

The majority of the people start arriving around 7:00 PM. Usually about 60-100 people attend the Monthly Gathering. If you prefer a smaller group, try a one of our many restaurant gatherings hosted at various locations throughout the metropolitan area. Check out the latest monthly calendar of events for dates, or, for more information, call the Membership Chair.

Babysitting is no longer available unless we get some volunteers willing to do so or to arrange it. If interested, contact our LocSec../images/email-regular.s.gif. In the meantime, we encourage parents and kids to hang out together in a separate room where their children can play together under their parents’ supervision. Also please contact our Gifted Youth Coördinators../images/email-regular.s.gif, who may be restarting the Gifted Youth MG activity held in conjunction with the regular MG.


Admission
Fees *		 Ages
18-∞ 8-17
Members $7.00 $3.00
Guests $10.00 $5.00

* Children under the age of 8 are free provided they under the supervision of an adult attending the gathering.

Directions to

The September Monthly Gathering will be held at the Benedictine University’s Campus - Daniel L. Goodwin Hall of Business (Building 8 on the Campus Map) - located at 5700 College Rd. in Lisle. The building is near the southern end of the campus. Note that the campus is only accessible from College Rd. which runs along the eastern edge of the campus.

The business meeting, games, and hospitality will be in room 411. Testing and the parent-child play will be in room 212. The speaker will be in room 317. Note: The rooms tend to be a bit chilly, so you may want to consider bringing a sweater/sweatshirt. Please note that we have this venue only until midnight — plan accordingly.

Benedictine University is located at the southwest corner of Maple Ave. and College Rd. The campus is only accessible from College Rd.

The closest parking to Goodwin Hall (Building 8 on the campus map) is the parking garage (Building 7) and the parking lot NW of the garage, both of which are accessible via the campus road which runs parallel to College Rd. So after turning west onto one of the campus entrances* on the west side of College Rd., turn south (left) and follow that road as it curves west along the southern edge of the campus and eventually curves to slightly north (see maps). There are also three large parking lots along College Rd. (the southernmost parking lot is the closest of the three to Goodwin Hall). Parking is free.

If coming east or west on I-88 (north of the campus):

  • Exit onto onto Interstate 355 Tollway S toward Joliet.
  • Continue on I-355 S for ~3.3 miles to the Maple Ave. exit.
  • Turn west (right) onto Maple Ave.
  • Head west on Maple Ave. for ~2.4 miles to College Rd.
    (Note: At the stop light, it's College to the south and Yackley to the north).
  • Turn south (left) onto College Rd.

If coming east or west on I-55 (south of the campus):

  • Take the Interstate 355 Tollway N/Interstate 355 Tollway S toward Northwest Suburbs/Southwest Suburbs exit.
  • Stay right to merge onto I-355 N.
  • Head north on I-355 N to the Maple Ave. exit.
  • Turn west (left) onto Maple Ave.
  • Head west on Maple Ave. for ~2.4 miles to College Rd.
    (Note: At the stop light, it's College to the south and Yackley to the north).
  • Turn south (left) onto College Rd.

From College Rd. (no entrance from Maple Ave.):

  • The campus is on the SW corner of Maple and College so turn west (right) onto the campus from Maple.
    Warning: There is no entrance onto the campus south of the main entrance (1 on the Campus Map) even though it looks like there is one on the map.
  • Turn south (left) onto the campus road that runs parallel to College and continue along as it curves to the west along the southernmost edge of the campus and then slightly north.
  • Enter either the parking garage (Building 7 on the Campus Map) or the nearby narrow parking lot just past the garage, both of which are on the right and are closest to Goodwin Hall (the first building north of the parking garage and east of the parking lot). Otherwise you may park in the NW region of the southernmost parking lot near College Ave. and it is still a short walk NW to Goodwin Hall.
  • Walk to Goodwin Hall (Building 8 on the map).

Warning*: Although the map seems to show an entrance from College Rd. south of the main entrance (1 on the Campus Map) at the very southern edge of the campus that feeds into the road to the parking lot, some people have said it isn't always accessible.

Attention, city-dwelling Chicago Area Ms! Until further notice, there will be a taxi service for our suburban Monthly Gatherings, between the closest Metra station and the meeting site. For the Benedictine University site, we will have a taxi pick you up at the Lisle station at 6:31 PM (Burlington Northern (BNSF) Railway line — it leaves Union Station at 5:40 PM). A taxi will then leave the Goodwin Hall by 11 PM to return you to the Lisle station in time for the 11:38 PM train, which is the final train of the evening. Use of this service must be requested in advance by e‑mailing Jorge../images/email-regular.s.gif by September 18th. Note: CAM will cover the cost of the taxi, but you are responsible for your own train ticket.

The November Monthly Gathering will be held at the Rolling Meadows Community Center at 3705 Pheasant Drive in Rolling Meadows. The Community Center is located just east of IL-53, just north of the Algonquin exit and south of the Euclid exit. Find directions on the Rolling Meadows Park District’s website or use the map on the right.

We will have games and hospitality in their spacious auditorium with overflow space in the lobby. The speaker event will be in the Card Room. There will be a Parents-Kids Play Room available. Please note that we have this venue only until midnight — plan accordingly.

Parking is plentiful and free.

Attention, city-dwelling Chicago Area Ms! Until further notice, there will be a taxi service for our suburban Monthly Gatherings, between the closest Metra station and the meeting site. For the Rolling Meadows site, we will have a taxi pick you up at the Arlington Park station at 6:30 PM (Union Pacific–Northwest line — it leaves Ogilvie Station at 5:40 PM). A taxi will then leave the Park District building by 10 PM to return you to the Arlington Park station for the 10:32 PM train, which is the final train of the evening. Use of this service must be requested in advance by e‑mailing Jorge../images/email-regular.s.gif by September 18th. Note: CAM will cover the cost of the taxi, but you are responsible for your own train ticket.

There is no Monthly Gathering in October nor in November. Instead, CAM hosts HalloweeM, the largest Regional Gathering (RG) in the country. It's a wonderful, fun, and informative event that runs Thursday, October 31st through Sunday, November 3rd. Expect games, dances, programs, costume parades, and excursions. Get the most up-to-date information about WeeM by visiting our website. Our great RG will be held at the Westin-Chicago North Shore Hotel at 601 North Milwaukee Avenue in Wheeling. The hotel is located on the east side of Milwaukee and the main entrance is at the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Wolf Road (just south of Lake-Cook and north of Dundee Road).

Book your room today! The hotel is offering a WeeM room rate of $117 through October 10th. The rooms facing east enjoy a great view of the Forest Preserves. The hotel is located just west of the Des Plaines River and is steps away from the Des Plaines River Trail leading into the Potawatomi Woods Forest Preserve.

There’s plenty of free parking both on the north and the south side of the hotel. The south lot is closer to the meeting rooms.

The hotel offers a shuttle service from the nearby METRA stations. Please call them well in advance to arrange a pickup.

Monthly Gathering Schedule

2019
September 21st
Benedictine University
5700 College Rd.
Lisle, IL 60532
October 31st–November 3rd
 HalloweeM
Westin North Shore Hotel
601 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Wheeling, IL 60090
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HalloweeM


November
No Gathering
December 7th
Rolling Meadows Community Center
3705 Pheasant Dr.
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
2020
January 25th
 AGOG
Westin North Shore Hotel
601 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Wheeling, IL 60090

A Gathering of Gamers
(January 24th – 26th)

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AGOG


Mensa Testing

The test is administered at 4 PM at every Monthly Gathering. Get more information about taking a proctored test to join Mensa including different dates and locations. You must preregister to take advantage of any special offers from American Mensa. Or check out if any of the tests you’ve taken in the past can be used as prior evidence to join.



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