Monthly Gathering
Our next
Bi-Monthly Gathering
occurs on
February 14th.
AGOG will be held Feb. 13th – 15th. Both are at the
Westin North Shore Hotel
601 N. Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling, IL 60090
Our Chicago Area Bi-Monthly Gatherings are open to the public. Anyone interested in finding out more about Mensa is welcome to attend. A Gathering of Gamers (AGOG) and the February Bi-Monthly Gathering will be held in Westin North Shore Hotel located at 601 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wheeling. Starting in 2026, our Gatherings will recur only during even months (see our Schedule below). During odd months, we may have special outings, so stay tuned and check our Schedule. Check this site to ensure you’re heading to the correct venue. Members can also check Chicago Mensa Meetup or the latest issue of ChiMe. The website will supersede information in ChiMe should there be a discrepancy.
Typical Bi-Monthly Gathering
5:00 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. Walk-ins are welcome but you cannot be late; it’s best to contact the test coordinator in case the session is cancelled. To see if any of your past tests (ACT, SAT, LSAT…) qualify for membership, see which tests qualify. Or arrange for an approved private test.
5:00 PM
Business Meeting — Our five elected ExComm members and any other interested members discuss various topics and issues. Members are welcome to attend and voice their opinions, but only the Executive Committee can vote.
6:00 PM
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 Gathering (there are just too many). Contact our Game Warden to ensure a specific one is available.
Kids Room opens under the supervision of volunteers and parents. The Youth Program has been relaunched. We’ll have hands-on activities, often shaped by the kids themselves.
7:30 PM
Officer Nominations — Nominations will be taken from the floor prior to the speaker presentation.
Taskmaster Challenge
Prepare yourself for an interactive experience with this month's speaker—Jason Brooks—as five participants will become contestants in a Taskmaster challenge. Based on the British comedy game show Taskmaster, contestants will demonstrate their wit and creativity as they're challenged with and perform a series of tasks in front of our MG/AGOG audience. Cheer on your favorite contestants as they attempt to cleverly carry out each task in the hopes of earning the favor of (and more importantly—lots of points from) the Taskmaster.
Jason Brooks (Brookspun Games) has designed and published tabletop games for nearly a decade with his first game—Legacies—successfully funding on Kickstarter and sold out of its first print run. His second board game—Clandestine—came out in Fall 2025. Prior to board game design, Jason's primary hobby was competitive Scrabble® where he ran clubs and tournaments in Chicago and reached expert status on the tournament scene before moving on to play (and eventually design) a wide variety of games.
For his day job, Jason has spent ~30 years as a process and technology consultant helping companies find better ways to get things done and solve problems. His wife and four children love his hobby and how busy it keeps him, but have grown weary of always being asked to be the initial play-testers for new designs.
~7:35 PM
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.
8:30 PM until midnight
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 PM. Usually, about 40-80 people attend the Monthly Gathering. If you prefer a smaller group, try 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, contact 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 . In the meantime, we encourage kids to hang out together in a separate room where the children can play together under the supervision of volunteers and parents.
Fees
| Admission Fees * |
Ages | |
|---|---|---|
| 18-∞ | 8-17 | |
| Members | $10.00 | $5.00 |
| Guests | $12.00 | $7.00 |
| Check-in starts at 7 PM. CAM is now accepting major credit cards at the MGs. |
||
MG fee included in AGOG registration fee.
* Children under the age of 8 are free provided they under the supervision of an adult attending the gathering.
Venue Info for
Most Mensans enjoy playing games and Chicago Mensa loves to throw a party. Come join us for a long, fun weekend at A Gathering of Gamers (AGOG ), which runs from Friday, February 13th through Sunday, February 15th. AGOG and the February Bi-Monthly Gathering 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).
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 also a pool and workout equipment.
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 given staff shortages have increased wait times. Otherwise use one of the ridesharing services like or Uber .
Ultimate Entertainment Center,
at 2 PM on Sunday, March 22
Schedule
2026
Add CAM Bi-Monthly Gathering@Westin North Shore Hotel
A Gathering of Gamers (aka AGOG)
Add AGOG Weekend @ Westin North Shore Hotel
Add ExComm Business Meeting via Zoom
Bi-Monthly Gathering
Add ExComm Business Meeting via Zoom
Bi-Monthly Gathering
301 S. Prospect Ave.
Wood Dale, IL 60191
Bi-Monthly Gathering
301 S. Prospect Ave.
Wood Dale, IL 60191
Bi-Monthly Gathering
ExComm Business Meeting
Bi-Monthly Gathering
‡ If a Gathering or Business Meeting is tentative, both the location and date may change. Please check this site, ChiMe or Meetup about a month before the event for any changes, although the info on this site supersedes the information in ChiMe.
Mensa Testing
The test is administered at 5 PM at every Bi-Monthly Gathering. Walk-ins are welcome, but you cannot be late. Get more information about taking a proctored test to join Mensa including preregistering to guarantee a spot or to view different dates and locations. You must preregister at certain sites and to take advantage of some special offers from American Mensa but we recommended you do so regardless. Or check out if any of the tests you’ve taken in the past (ACT, SAT, LSAT…) can be used as prior evidence to qualify to join. Or arrange for an approved private test.
