London was chilly. Our Thai dinner, on the other hand, was lukewarm, and came with a minor drama as a waitress spilled two bottles of beer over a lady in our midst, and later we could see and smell a woman’s long blonde hair catch fire from a lit candle only two tables away. “Let’s call it a night,” we said at that point, and went back to the hotel.
The meeting itself was good, though. You see, it had been two and a half years since the Executive Committee of Mensa International last met in person, in real life, viscerally, co-locatedly, or whatever adjective best describes the opposite of online Zoom calls, where nobody will hear you scream because you’re still on mute. There’s a refreshing dynamic to being in the same room, that allows also for difficult conversations to be rewarding; misunderstandings can be dealt with, and private, one-on-one conversations during coffee breaks make the joint talks around the big table easier.
ExComm is made up of five elected people and the chairs of the three national Mensas with more than 10k members (US, UK, Germany), and we carry out the day-to-day work, together with our staff at the International Office.
We handle quite a lot of minor issues that would bore our readership, but which are our job to take care of, so you can happily ignore them (you can always read our detailed meeting minutes on mensa.org). We discussed issues of member administration, volunteer management, compliance, keeping our financial reserves safe, and so on. Then there were the more profound questions that come back over and over again.
What’s the point of Mensa International to begin with? First of all, to guarantee that Mensa remains recognizably similar, regardless of where in the world you are; that it’s the top 2%, not 5% (and on a proper IQ test, not some cheap personality quiz); with the same purpose of identifying and fostering intelligence; and, in a democratic, round-table society where all members are equal. All famous franchises have to make sure their local branches do not veer off in weird directions, and Mensa is no different. Also important is to expand Mensa to new countries: we have members in 100 countries, but established groups in less than half that number. For the individual member, the 7% of your membership fee paid to MI ensures your membership does not end at your border. Whether it’s Canada or Japan, if you’re a Mensan somewhere, you’re a Mensan everywhere. Also, you get access to our international online community, activities and services.
Examples are: Special-Interest Groups (SIGs). If you run a SIG in your national Mensa, and you want foreign members to join, make sure you have it listed on mensa.org. To do that, contact Nancy McMahan Farrar,the International SIGs coordinator. If you want to create a SIG that’s international from the start, directly under MI, that works, too.
Communications. Time-sensitive announcements will increasingly be made through our e-mail newsletter, in order to shorten lead time. In addition, we will use our Workplace community to keep members updated on what’s going on through the group, “Mensa News”.
International member database. Following the policy decision made by the IBD last year, work is underway to create an international member database. We are currently
investigating possible CRM systems that can be used for this purpose, and expect to have a first version ready before the end of this year.
Charity. The paperwork for our new Mensa International Charitable Foundation is being submitted to the UK Charity Commission. Meanwhile, we’re exploring ideas for fundraising, as well as charitable initiatives to support.
Conflicts. We often deal with diverse complaints against national boards, which can be quite time-consuming, and it’s well known that conflicts sprout all the time in Mensa, whether that is intelligent or not. The assumption is often that Mensa International should step in to correct a national board when they stray; in reality, Mensa International is the very last resort – when all else fails. The first step is always to resolve trouble internally; e.g. with an ombudsman or a supervisory committee. Ultimately, a board has to answer to the membership, who can always elect new people.
Litigation. This is another hazard because when members take Mensa to court, it can end up costing a lot of money, not only for the member (or, as is mostly the case, the ex-member) who sues, but also for Mensa. By our Constitution, taking legal action against Mensa before exhausting the internal avenues of redress can be an act inimical to Mensa in itself. However, we should not assume that a Mensa board is always right, and that complainants are always wrong. Any board can make mistakes, and without vigilant members keeping a watchful eye, boards would make even more mistakes and never correct them.
Mensa International is always ready to help clarify the rules of Mensa, and to guide boards and members on appropriate measures and procedures. It is not, however, Mensa International that should correct errors or hold board members accountable in the first instance. That is the job of the members of the national Mensas themselves. Of course, if a national Mensa does not correct an error or persists in violating the Constitution, it is the International Board of Directors that, at the end of the day, derecognizes the wayward group and appoints a new board to start over again.
However, it is always better if problems can be resolved internally at the national level at an early stage before something escalates that far.
These were among the topics discussed at our London meeting. Next, we look forward to the first real IBD meeting in three years, in Budva, Montenegro, from 6th to 9th October. If you’d like to join the meeting as a member of the audience, you’re more than welcome to come along.