Our Chicago Area in-person
Monthly Gatherings are open to the public.
The April Monthly Gathering will be held via Discord featuring audio/video channels (similar to Zoom breakout rooms); it will not be open to the public.
Anyone who has used our CAM
Discord server can simply open the Discord app. Those who haven’t can find an Invitation Link
on our Contacts page.
The gatherings are held each month, except for November.
Mensans, if you don’t have Discord already, here are the Discord setup instructions.
We recommend you sign up at least 30 minutes before the event; it’s free.
Also, check out the
CAM Discord FAQ
especially about setting your push-to-talk key(s),
a requirement to speak in the MG Speaker channel.
If you’d like to play games with your fellow Mensans, follow the setup instructions for
Board Game Arena
a few days before the MG, and checkout the FAQ for the list of other games for which you must register.
Typical Monthly Gathering
4:00 PM
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.
Cancelled for April!!
5:00 PM
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.
Find us in the Business Meeting channel.
The Discord Invitation Link,
needed only by new Discord members, is now available.
April Discord Event!!CAM Discord FAQ
7:00 PM
Socializing —
Join the Monthly Gathering event and experiment with interacting with other Mensans via Discord.
BYOB and
snacks .
There will be various voice channels
(aka rooms) so people can have conversations with a smaller group of
people (before and after the speaker presentation) and people can easily move themselves
from one channel to another channel and see who is in each of the channels.
Drop in any time to see how you like it. Open Discord app to join the fun. Mensans who
haven’t joined our CAM
Discord server yet will need the Invitation Link.
April Discord Event!!
Election Results —
Our Election Committee Chair, Deb J. will announced the results of
the election (online or mail-in ballots only).
April Discord Event!!
~7:35 PM
Speaker Presentation for April
Flipping a Switch: Action Steps for 20 Later Life Transitions
Light switches are a useful metaphor for transitions in later life. Some changes are sudden
“on/off” switches while others are like “dimmer switches” that happen
in gradual stages. At perhaps no other time in life do more “switches get flipped”
than when people leave a long-time career after working for decades. This is especially true
for Baby Boomers who may have never experienced adult life without a full-time job. Many need
to stop or reverse activities they have been performing for decades since their 20s. Happiness
and financial security in later life often require a 180 degree turn from the way that people
managed their time and money previously. Some switches are voluntary (e.g., spending
accumulated savings) and some are mandatory (e.g., taking required minimum distributions).
This webinar will share action steps for twenty “flipped switches” described in
presenter Barbara O’Neill’s
recently published book Flipping a Switch about later life financial and lifestyle
transitions. Members, see the full write-up in our
April ChiMe.
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.
We meet in the MG Speaker channel.
The Discord Invitation Link,
needed only by new Discord members,
is now available.
April Discord Event!!
8:30 PM
More Socializing plus Games —
Converse or play games. Our customized-version of Discord
offers great flexibility to move yourself between groups, plus much more.
People can play various games including using Board Game Arena
while talking with one another in Discord .
Visit the find-a-game
channel on our CAM
server for a list of the many other games for which you have to register in advance.
See the instructions for more information. The Discord Invitation Link,
needed only by new Discord members,
is now available.
April Discord Event!!
CAM 2021 Election Electronic or Mail In Only
Once again, due to the continuing pandemic,
we will be holding our election remotely.
This year we will be offering electronic voting in addition to mail-in voting.
Electronic voting will be held using this online ballot. All ballots must be
submitted/received at or before 5 PM on Saturday, April 17th.
To cast an electronic ballot, click on
this link.
Fill out your member number (required) which is listed as part of
your profile on the American Mensa website.
Cast your vote for officers. Candidates will appear in random order.
Use “Other” if you want to vote for a write-in for Local Secretary,
Business Manager, and/or Treasurer. If you wish to vote for a write-in
candidate for Gen Rep please vote for write-in (1 or 2) and fill in the
name below. The form will not allow you to vote for more than the allowed
number of Candidates. You do not need to vote for every office to submit
your ballot.
Mail-in ballots are available in the April ChiMe
and on our website.
Please print out the
ballot
or, if you get a paper version of ChiMe, use the one in the April issue.
The Election Notice can be found in
Appendix B.
Your ballot(s) must be received by Saturday, April 17th,
so mail it today!
In the case multiple ballots are received from a member, only
the most recently received ballot will count. For mailed ballots, the postmark will
be used as the date of submittal.
The candidates’ statements are available on
our website
as well as in the
April issue of ChiMe.
The results will be announced at 7:30 PM at the April Monthly Gathering.
If you have questions,
please
contact Deb Johnston, our Election Procedures Committee Chair.
Instructions for
The AprilMonthly Gathering is being held via video
conference!
Before the MG:
The CAM
Discord Invitation Link,
needed only by new CAM Discord users,
is available on
our website.
If you don't have Discord already, we recommend you download the app
and register at least 30 minutes before the event (see setup instructions);
it’s free. A large list of online games available can be found
here, including on which platform.
Visit our FAQ webpage to get an idea of what our
customized version of Discord offers, including a list of some of the online
game websites which require advance registration. For example, if you’re interested in
playing online games using Board Game
Arena ,
the initial
setup is a simple process; please sign up
and add the CAM game hosts a day or two before the Monthly Gathering. After the setup, allow time to
practice to familiarize yourself with Board Game Arena
.
If you plan to attend the presentation and you wish to talk in the
MG Speaker channel,
follow the instructions to define your push-to-talk key(s).
During the MG: At 7 PM you can
open the Discord app (new CAM
Discord users will need to use our
Invitation Link
to join the event) and start socializing
until 7:30 PM when our Election Committee Chair, Deb J., will be announcing
the results of the election. After the election results, there will be more socializing in any of the voice channels listed under
Hospitality. At 7:30 PM join the
MG Speaker channel, listed under Events. Announcements of interest to the group will be made.
Stay to listen to this month’s presentation.
After the presentation, people
can choose to move themselves into groups to any of the
voice channels
listed under Hospitality or Games.
Anyone more interested in playing games may want to start in the
find-a-game
channel to see the list and join the Find Game Partners
channel to find people interested in playing the same game they are interested in and then agreeing to join the
voice channel corresponding to the name of
the game to converse while playing.
It’s always an interesting experience and aren’t you ready to try something fun and new?
BYOB
and snacks .
Drop in any time to see how you like it and provide feedback.
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.
Cancelled for April!!
Thanks for being our 12,835th visitor to the Monthly Gathering page.
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Discord
a few days before the MG, and checkout the 
