Monthly Gathering

The Chicago Area Monthly Gathering is open to the public. So anyone interested in finding out more about Mensa is welcome to attend. The October Monthly Gathering will be held at the Westin North Shore Hotel at 601 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wheeling. The location may change for future gathering so please continue to check this site. Members can also check the latest issue of ChiMe, Chicago Mensa Meetup, and/or can sign up for the Event e‑mail list to get e‑mails about upcoming events, including any last minute changes. (Note: You should be getting the e‑mails about upcoming events already, provided your profile on American Mensa includes your e‑mail address. If you want to opt out, you can do so via the same link: Event E‑Mail List.)

September: Online Practice Test for under $10!
Through September 30 you can take our online Mensa Practice Test for only $9.99, an $8 saving! The Mensa Practice Test can be found here.

HALF PRICE TESTING IN OCTOBER
For October tests the fee will be only $30, a 50% discount. Don't delay!

Culture Fair Exams
We'll also be offering our nonlanguage (Culture Fair) exams at our Wheeling site on October 28. Preregistration is required!

Typical Monthly Gathering

4:00 p.m.

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.

5:00 p.m.

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.

6:00 p.m.

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 Monthly Gathering (there are just too many). Contact our Game Warden to ensure a specific one is available.

7:30 p.m.

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 p.m.

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 7:00 PM. Usually about 60-100 people attend the Monthly Gathering. If you prefer a smaller group, try a 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, call the Membership Chair.

Except for AGOG, 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, contact our Gifted Youth Coördinators who may be restarting the Gifted Youth MG activity held in conjunction with the regular MG, and encouraging parents and kids to hang out together in a separate room where their children can play together under their parents’ supervision.

*For children under the supervision of an adult at the gathering.

Directions to Rolling Meadows Community Center Westin North Shore Hotel

Location of the Rolling Meadows
Community Center

View Larger Map

The November Monthly Gathering will be held at the Rolling Meadows Community Center at 3705 Pheasant Drive in Rolling Meadows. The Community Center is located just east of IL-53, just north of the Algonquin exit and south of the Euclid exit. Find directions on the Rolling Meadows Park District’s website or use the map on the right.

We will have games and hospitality in their spacious auditorium with overflow space in the lobby. The speaker event will be in the Card Room. There will be a Parents-Kids Play Room available. Please note that we have this venue only until midnight — plan accordingly.

Parking is plentiful and free.

Attention, city-dwelling Chicago Area Ms! Until further notice, there will be a taxi service for our suburban Monthly Gatherings, between the closest Metra station and the meeting site. For the Rolling Meadows site, we will have a taxi pick you up at the Arlington Park station at 6:20 PM (Union Pacific–Northwest line — it leaves Ogilvie Station at 5:30 PM). A taxi will then leave the Park District building by 10 PM to return you to the train by 10:29 PM, for the final train of the evening. Use of this service must be requested in advance by e‑mailing Megan three days prior to the MG. Note: CAM will cover the cost of the taxi, but you are responsible for your own train ticket.

Monthly Gathering Schedule‡

2018
July 28th	August 25th	September 22nd
October 24th– 28th HalloweeM Westin North Shore Hotel 601 N. Milwaukee Ave. Wheeling, IL 60090	November (No Gathering)	December 8th Rolling Meadows Community Center 3705 Pheasant Dr. Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
2019
January 26th AGOG† Westin North Shore Hotel 601 N. Milwaukee Ave. Wheeling, IL 60090	February TBD	March TBD

Mensa Testing

The test is administered at 4 PM at every Monthly Gathering. See more information about taking a proctored test to join Mensa including different dates and locations, and 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.

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