Survey Results

We received more comments about events then on any other topic. These comments were both as answers to questions 14 "What activities NOT on the above list would you be interested in?" and as part of the "add any other comments" section at the end of the survey.

There seems to be a lot of confusion as to who schedules events and how to schedule one yourself. Many people just want to see events scheduled on their block, at the best time for them. Unfortunately, we need people TO schedule and run events. The ExComm officially runs two things a month: the ExComm meeting and the Monthly Meeting. The ExComm meeting is held at the house of an ExComm member, or a general member kind enough to offer his/her home, on the 3rd Sunday of the month. ALL MEMBERS ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND, although only ExComm members can vote.

The Monthly Meeting is held on the 2nd Sunday of the month. For the next six months it will be held in Center City, and then will be evaluated as to whether it should go back to a rotating meeting, and whether Friday or Sunday is more accessible to the membership. Please note, the Monthly Meeting is the only DVM function open to ANYONE. This is where people who are interested in Mensa can come and get a sense of the organization.

All other events are thrown by individuals at a time and place of his/her choosing. To everyone who said that they were interested in a certain geographic location, or a time of day, or a kind of event, we invite you to either schedule an event, or put out a feeler.

To schedule an event, you decide what you want to do, where, when, and how much it will cost. Write that information up and submit it to the Calendar editor by the 7th of the month preceding the event. (That is, for example, by the 7th of October for any event in November). It is that simple.

If you are not sure that there will be enough interest, post a feeler. Send a blurb to the Proteus editor by the 7th of the month which says what kind of event you are interested in getting feedback on, when it might be, and how much it will cost. Ask for interested parties to e-mail or call you, and include contact information. If there is interest, you can then post it as a calendar entry.

We evaluated question 13 ("Which of the following activities would you be interested in attending either as part of the Monthly Meeting or an as independent event?") in two ways: first, if there were more then 10 people interested in the event, and whether there were more positives or negatives to the choice.

The greatest interest was for Day Trips. Unfortunately, based on the list of "other", there might not be an incredible number of people interested in any specific day trip. That is, when you read the types of activities people listed by hand, they are quite far reaching!

The second highest interest was for mini-golf. While it is late this year to schedule any more mini-golf outings, the one we held earlier in the summer was very successful and we can plan them again for next year! Anyone interested in attending mini-golf can send their name and e-mail address to Jessica Weingarten. They will receive a computerized mini-golf game (courtesy of Harvard University) to keep them in shape over the winter, and will receive e-mail invites as soon as the season begins next year!

The next highest interest was in the Philadelphia Mural Tour. E-mail Michele Msterfano with your name and e-mail address, and you will be contacted with information. Once again, this will be a spring activity next year.

Many of the other activities had more then 10 people, anyone interested should either send out a feeler or just schedule an event and post it! Since we evaluated all the surveys anonymously, we have no idea who is interested in what!

The only activity which received virtually no support, and more negative responses then there were positive responses on ANY TOPIC was for kids programs.

On the write-in list, the largest support was for either seeing films, or film-and-dinner events. Some have already been scheduled for Center City and Bucks County.

The rest of the write-in list is shown below:

All you need to do is pick a time and place for the event, write it up, and submit it by the 7th of the previous month to the Calendar editor. We look forward to you setting up an event!

If you would like to see an event closer to Doylestown, just set one up! Also, you could contact the Bucks County subgroup coordinator Regine Brown to see about local Bucks County events.

Why not try setting up a day-time event and seeing if there are any others with free time in the day time? With about 1000 members, you may be surprised at the variety of schedules that people keep.

Please contact Steve Kaess, our Program Director. He would welcome your input.

This is a win-lose answer. For the next 6 months, monthly meetings will be in Center City, and then it will be re-evaluated. The day, however, will stay Sunday, for now, because it appears that more people prefer that day.

There are subgroups in all of the surrounding counties. The coordinators are listed in Proteus. Currently, Bucks County, Central Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Northwest Philadelphia, and West Jersey have events either every month at a set time, or every other month. They are all listed in the Proteus calendar. If you live in one of the other areas, contact your sub-group coordinator to find out about getting things scheduled in your area. In one case, earlier this year, one of the sub-groups had not had any events in a long time, and someone else stepped up to the plate, became the new sub-group coordinator, and now that sub-group is again active.

Inkslinger is the Mensa organization which works with book distribution for children. We have no local coordinator. Whoever submitted this response – please contact ExComm and we will tell you how to get in touch with the national Inkslinger people so you could set up a local sub-group. If anyone would like to form a SIG to donate time, we recommend putting out a feeler in Proteus to see if there is interest.

We at Proteus do everything we can do to encourage submissions. Like all aspects of Mensa, Proteus is a volunteer activity. We do not have paid staff that would go to events and report on them, as a local paper would. Therefore, the only way to know about what happens at events, or what is planned, is if interested parties attend, plan, and write it up for Proteus. We hope that you will attend the Central PA RG (which is in December) and let us all know about it!

Once again, we do not know if you are referring to the old or the new Proteus. There has been professional input in the new Proteus, and the format has changed extensively, as have the types of articles. The new editor will be taking over, you can send your contact info to the Proteus editor, and he will contact you to get your input.

We don't know if you are referring to the old or new Proteus. Currently, we are evaluating all sorts of format issues. Our biggest problem is that we need to keep the font small to accommodate the voluminous submissions we receive.

John Heiple is our Membership Director. He would be glad to help you with any questions you may have. As to the next point about cliques: the current ExComm is dedicated to the politics of inclusion. We are, as individuals, opposed to the "cliqueiness" that can plague organizations. You can e-mail or call ANY of us, and tell us that you are coming to a Monthly Meeting or ExComm meeting, and who ever you call will be happy to introduce you around.

See above. Also, we have considered "newbie" events, and hope to have them launched by winter.

Once again, we have no idea where or when this happened. We do not know if this was a Monthly Meeting or a sub-group event, or an off-calendar event. We at ExComm are committed to things like this NOT happening with the current ExComm, at functions we sponsor. While, of course, there are people who know each other and may have a few things to "catch-up" on when they see each other, that is not the point of any of these dinners. Once again, contact ANY ExComm member ahead of time and we will be more then happy to introduce you around.

By Charter and Mission Statement, Mensa IS a social organization. To undertake activities which are political (as societal problem-solving would be) is a direct violation of the National Organization By-Laws.

Currently, the by-laws do not address the issue of a mascot. However, the by-laws are currently being re-written. Proteus would not be the forum to raise this issue. Please contact our President to have the issue placed on the ExComm agenda as new business, and then attend the meeting to make your case.

The 2002 RG Chair responds: RG's are not the definitive venue for intellectual activities. The members of the RG committee have been committed to making this event "something for everyone". We have done our best to insure that the activities at the 2002 RG include intellectual speakers, as well as fun speakers, hand-on events, and, of course, hospitality. And as for the issue of a "name" speaker, we could do that if and only if we served no food, served no beverages, made the RG last one evening only, and raised the fee to about $100 per person.