From the LocSec
By
November 2008
Writing a monthly column as LocSec is, for me, one of the harder parts of the position. I have to pick topics to write about that I think will interest a large portion of the membership. Sometimes, the columns write themselves; more often, I'm scrambling for ideas. I write for a living, but writing legal briefs with a specific purpose is easy compared to this. So here goes!
Depending on when this Mencinnatian reaches you, you may still have time to vote in Cincinnati Area Mensa’s annual Executive Committee election. We won't send out another ballot, but you can download one of CAM’s website. Election Committee Chair Barry Austern must receive your ballot by US Mail no later than Saturday November 1.
The 2009 Cincinnati Regional Gathering is almost here! This year it will be December 5-7 at the Doubletree Suites Hotel on Kemper Road, at I-275 and Reed Hartman Highway. You can come for all or part of this cross between a convention and a weekend long party. This is a great opportunity to meet other Mensans from Greater Cincinnati and around the region. New members may attend for free on Friday, and local members who volunteer get a free hour of attendance for every hour donated (usually in 2 hour shifts). Or bring your family member or friend who can take the qualifying test Saturday morning. RG Chair Misty Richmond and her committee are putting together a great event, this year on the theme "Winter Wonderland." Among other roles, the RG is our single largest fundraiser; we use a large portion of the profits to fund scholarships each year. (Applications for the 2009 scholarships, for students who will be in post-secondary education in 2009-10, are due back by mid January, and are available on our website.)
Next year, all three national events will be held within 500 miles of Cincinnati. First, there will be a colloquium on the weather, to be held in Atlanta (home of cable television's Weather Channel) February 27-March 1. Cincinnati Area Mensa is hosting Mensa Mind Games in Ft. Mitchell, KY the weekend of April 24-26, where around 200 Mensans and guests will test (by playing, of course!) new board, card & word games. And American Mensa's biggest event of the year, our Annual Gathering, will be held July 1-5 in Pittsburgh, co-chaired by CAM's own Mary Lee Kemper. Plan now to attend one or more; details are available on the American Mensa website.
If all goes according to plan, you'll find a printed roster in this issue of the Mencinnatian (note that many members have suppressed parts of their directory information, and we've respected those choices). Who are we? The statistics dont summarize our diversity, but here are some that I can provide. We have 355 members currently. 275 members have ages listed, ranging from 21 (ages for all children are suppressed on my report) to 80; there are 21 members in their 20s, 37 in their 30s, 56 in their 40s, 85 in their 50s, 57 in their 60s, 14 in their 70s, and 3 who are 80. The median age is 52. Two of our members joined in September 1964, and 7 joined in September 2008; altogether, we have 7 members who joined in the 1960s, 27 who joined in the 1970s, 75 who joined in the 1980s, 49 who joined in the 1990s, and 198 who joined in 2000 or later (the median join date is March 2001). We have 54 members with 410 zip codes in Northern Kentucky, 59 members with 450 zip codes (western Hamilton County, Butler County, part of Warren County), 47 members with 451 zip codes (Clermont County, Brown County, Clinton County, Highland County, and parts of Warren County and eastern Hamilton County), 184 members with 452 zip codes (Cincinnati mailing address, including most of Hamilton County and portions of Butler and Clermont Counties), 8 members with 470 zip codes in southeastern Indiana, and 3 members by preference with zip codes beginning 402, 456, & 472. Our members have last names beginning with every letter except I, Q, & X, and have first names beginning with every letter except O, Q, U, X, Y, & Z.
--Rick Magnus