1/Fri­day

• ChiMe Activity Bulletin and Ad­ver­tising Deadlines. Last day for these submissions to the June ChiMe. Interested in organizing and hosting a virtual or in-person event? Find out how by checking out our guide to hosting events.

• ChiMe Editorial Deadline. Last day for editorial submissions to the June ChiMe. Please submit original ar­ticles, insights, puzzles, brain teasers, or short poems. Your fellow Chicago Area Mensa members would love to hear from you.

4/Mon­day

5/Tues­day

7/Thurs­day

• Conversation with London Mensans 8 AM. Join a video chat with our kin from across the big pond in London at 2 PM BDT. RSVP (via Meetup preferred) to local host Carey S. to receive the Zoom sign-in information. The London host is Ian David Moseley.
  Virtual Event!!

Zoom Lunch

• Zoom Lunch 1 PM. Perhaps the longest running Mensa event anywhere, Chicago’s Zoom Lunch (formerly known as the Downtown Lunch) is held every week, alternating between Tuesday and Thursday. Join us for conversation, laughs, and attempts to define words you’ll never use again. The Zoom id is 836 1178 6315 and the passcode is 190710; it is also included as part of your host Jon G.’s contact information if you prefer a link. Questions? Contact Jon via email or call/text him. You may also RSVP via Meetup. We’d love to have you join us!
  Virtual Event!!

8/Fri­day

• Rock­ford-Area Dinner 6:30 PM. Join Dave and other Rockford-Area Mensans for dinner at Dos Reales Mexican Restaurant lo­cated at 5855 E. State St. in Rockford (on the south side of State St., west of Mulford, across from St. Anthony Hospital and next to Red Lobster). To RSVP , for more information, or to get on our email list, contact Dave L., our Rockford-Area Coordinator. RSVP required in case of cancellation, time, or venue change. Do not RSVP via Meetup. This event usually recurs on the second Friday of the month.

Poetry SIG

• Poetry Dis­cus­sion 7 PM. Our poetry group is using Zoom for meetings. Please send a poem or two to Joe D. by Monday, May 4th. Interested persons who are not currently members of the poetry group can contact Joe D. , and he will email the poems to be discussed. Contact Bill K. for the Zoom links or any help you might need. Do NOT RSVP via Meetup. This event is usually held on the evening of the second Friday of the month.
  Virtual Event!!

10/Sun­day

Ethnic Dining

• Ethnic Dining 1 PM. Join us for a GOBS-subsidized lunch at a venue TBA. Save the date. For Ethnic Dining notifications, updates, and all the details, join the Mensa Connect Ethnic Dining Group, but do not respond using Mensa Connect. This event usually recurs on the 2nd Sunday of the month.

• 

  Mother’s Day

12/Tues­day

13/Wednes­day

14/Thurs­day

16/Satur­day

• Conserv­atives Lunch 11:30 AM. Join other members of the Mensan cell of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy for lunch and civilized un-PC conversation. No forbidden questions, no unchallengeable answers. This lunch happens on the third Saturday every month. The venue will be The Patio, 2780 S. Highland Ave. in Lombard (NW corner of Butterfield and Highland, but you can enter only from Highland). RSVP by emailing Jim Z. the event coor­di­na­tor. You may also RSVP via Meetup. Open to non-Mensans; bring a curious friend.

• Beverly Area Saturday Salon (B.A.S.S.) ~Noon. Spontaneous conversation in far SSW Chicago, approx­i­mate vicinity of 107th St. & Western Ave. Please contact Rick E. the Beverly Area Coordinator, for this month’s lo­ca­tion and the exact time as well as more information; if emailing, put “BASS” in the subject line. This event usually recurs midday on the 3rd Saturday of the month.

Our next Monthly Gathering occurs on September 27th.
at the
Rolling Mead­ows Com­mu­ni­ty Center
3705 Pheasant Drive, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008

• Monthly Gath­ering
  (Date & Location Tentative)
  The location of our May Month­ly Gath­ering may be on a date TBD at the Rolling Mead­ows Com­mu­ni­ty Center
  3705 Pheasant Dr. in Rolling Meadows.

  Games and hos­pi­tal­ity are in the spacious auditorium, with overflow space in the lobby. Every month, after the business meeting, we offer exciting, engaging workshops just for the kids while you enjoy the main meeting. The speaker event is in the Card Room. Park in the NW lot behind the building and use Entrance K (near inner corner). Please note that we have this venue only until midnight, so plan accordingly. This gathering is open to the public. So if you’re interested in learning more about Chicago Mensa, come join us. There is an admissions fee to help cover costs (major credit cards accepted).

  Test:

  5 PM.

  Business Meeting:

  5 PM.

  Youth Program:

  6 PM.

  Game room opens:

  6 PM.

  Program:

  7:30 PM.

  Refreshments:

  8:30 PM - Midnight.
  

  Monthly Gathering

  Volunteer
  Get involved! Hone your leadership, organizational, or web skills. We’re looking for vol­un­teers to fill some of the open po­sitions listed both near the back of ChiMe or on the List of Officers. Try your hand as a co-Program Officer, a website designer, web content creator, or a MG Hospitality Volunteer. You can view the job descriptions and the required qualifications for all the open positions and ones you may be interested in. Or consider supervising the children at the MG for some extra cash.
  * * * * *
  Express Yourself
  Write an ar­ticle, submit a photo, or create a puzzle for ChiMe; see our Submission Guidelines for contact information and deadlines. Host your own event or your own virtual event using Discord!

  Program Topic: TBA

  MG Date/Location is Tentative!!

• SEMM: Atheism…Living Without Religion: The Past, Present, and Future of Doubt 6 PM CDT. Come and explore the intellectual roots of atheism—from Epicurus to today—while addressing common misconceptions, highlighting key moments in American atheist history, and examining current trends and challenges. Chris McLaughlin’s talk will trace the intellectual and cultural roots of atheism from ancient Greece to the modern atheist movement in the U.S., while debunking myths and offering insight into who atheists are today.

  Chris McLaughlin, the State Director of the Secular Alliance of Michigan and President of Michigan Atheists, will lead us in our examination of atheism, secular identity, and the broader cultural and civic landscape of nonbelief in America. Chris is a lifelong atheist and activist who speaks regularly on atheism, secular identity, and the growing influence of nonreligious Americans in public life.

  See the full write-up and find contact info on the American Mensa Events website. All attendees must preregister by visiting the SEMM Monthly Gathering page and choosing "May 17, 2025 5:30 pm" from the dropdown. Due to rising Zoom costs, SEMM asks for a $5 donation, if you can afford it.
  Virtual Event!!

• SFRM: Escaping the Nazis: The Untold Story of the Kindertransport From Someone Who Was on the Train 4:30 PM. In the months prior to the Holocaust, 10,000 children left their parents and escaped the Nazis on the Kindertransport, a series of train rides to safe havens in Europe where good Samaritans took them in. One of those kids was 7-year-old Manny Korman who, along with his brother, made it to England and eventually to the United States. Korman will share his experience during those years away from his family, and the long journey it took to be reunited with his parents. Korman will be joined on the panel by Jason Camis, the grandson of another Kindertransport survivor, in a conversation moderated by journalist Benyamin Cohen.

  Manfred Korman was born in Hamburg, Germany, in December 1931. He attended the Talmud Torah School for Kindergarten and in October 1938, was deported, with his family, to Poland. In August 1939, after being selected for the Kindertransport program, Korman left Poland and arrived in England just prior to the German declaration of war on Sept. 1, 1939. He left England on Sept. 1, 1939 and arrived in New York on Sept. 10, 1939. Korman attended the New York City school system, graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School in June 1945. After graduating from Queens College, he was drafted into the Army and served for nearly two years. His teaching career began in 1956, and he retired as a principal of a junior high school in 1995.

  For more details, visit the SFRM Zoom RSVPs FB Group or the SFRM List of Presentations. To register, visit San Francisco Regional Mensa (SFRM)’s registration signup for this event.
  Virtual Event!!

• Irish Mensa Lecture and Discussion: Carbon Offsetting—Does It Really Work? 1 PM. Irish Mensa meets virtually on the third Monday of each month at 7 PM Irish Time; a discussion then follows the lecture.

  Offsets, politely called carbon credit markets, are essential to many net-zero strategies, yet remain highly controversial. They seem an efficient solution for &ldquot;unavoidable” emissions—but who decides what is unavoidable? In a net zero world, can you compensate for your own emissions by paying someone else to reduce theirs? This lecture explores potential offsetting strategies we could take. It asks, even if we need one that is effective, would setting up an ineffective strategy be the best place to start?

  Professor Myles Allen took his first degree in Physics and Philosophy, followed by a doctorate in Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, both at the University of Oxford. He has worked at Oxford for most of his career, with early stints at MIT and the UN Environment Programme in Kenya, and is currently Director of the Oxford Net Zero initiative. He was awarded the Appleton Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics in 2010, and in 2022 a CBE for services to climate change attribution, prediction and net zero. In 2023, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

  For the full write-up and to join, visit the American Mensa event. One does not have to register early for the event—simply click on the Zoom link before the session starts (check back here for that link on Monday, May 18th).
  Virtual Event!!

• SFRM: Many Modes of Mind 4:30 PM. Science fiction often describes our meetings with other intelligent species many times a universal communicator or an assumption of a common language bypasses the need to explain communication. In the real world we will have to establish a way to communicate even if we have no commonality to serve as a basis.

  • What senses could be used to communicate, one of the five we have or something we can’t even imagine.
  • Coiled there be no form of communication because there is no need? A hive mind or a colony creature like a jellyfish, Perhaps what appears to be a discrete creature actually parts of one being with no more necessity to communicate than you do when you move a limb.

  Our panel consists of four current science fiction writers who will discuss multiple possibilities in the realm of communication with beings sharing our world and those that we may meet in our future explorations. Please register early. To register, visit San Francisco Regional Mensa (SFRM)’s registration signup for this event. For more details, visit the SFRM Zoom RSVPs group on Facebook.
  Virtual Event!!

19/Tues­day

Northern Exposure

• Northern Ex­po­sure Dinner 6:45 PM. ZIP code fall within the Arctic Circle? Then you should have dinner with us. Join us for dinner at a venue TBD in Lake County. Recurs on the third Tuesday of the month.

• Irish Mensa Lecture and Discussion: The Maths of Board Games 1 PM. Irish Mensa meets virtually on the third Monday of each month at 7 PM Irish Time; a discussion then follows the lecture.

  Why are there chess Grandmasters, but not Grandmasters of noughts and crosses (otherwise known as tic-tac-toe)? It is because chess is “harder”—but what do we really mean by that? Answering that question leads us to develop the idea of mathematical complexity, which is a measure of how ‘big’ a game is. We’ll look at the complexity of popular games, and ask: what is the hardest game of all time?

  Professor Sarah Hart is the first woman Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, and was appointed in 2020. She is Professor Emerita of Mathematics at Birkbeck, University of London. She studied at Oxford and Manchester, gaining her PhD in 2000. Postdoctoral research and teaching followed, including a prestigious Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Fellowship, before she was appointed to a lectureship at Birkbeck in 2004. She became Professor of Mathematics there in 2013, and served in various management roles including as Head of Mathematics and Statistics, Assistant Dean, and Programme Director for the MSc Mathematics.

  For the full write-up and to join, visit the American Mensa event. One does not have to register for the event—simply click on the Zoom link at the appropriate date and time.
  Virtual Event!!

21/Thurs­day

• Inquiring Minds: Man vs Elephant 1 PM CDT. While author Kim Frank was travelling in the foothills of the Himalayas, she came across a dramatic story of ongoing intense conflict, sometimes deadly, between humans and elephants, who compete for resources. Up to 500 humans die each year in their efforts to save their crops.

  She was moved to write about this in her book: Elephants in the Hourglass: A Journey of Reckoning and Hope Along the Himalaya, which has just been published. Earlier this year Ms. Frank returned to Nepal to explore this issue further and will share with us fresh material and photos.

  See the full write-up and find contact info on the American Mensa Events website.
  Virtual Event!!

• Theodore Talk: Sweet Home: The Storied History of Chicago Blues 2:30 PM. In this Theodore Talk you’ll journey through the rich history and evolution of blues music, tracing its origins from the deep Southern fields to the bustling streets of Chicago, where it found its modern-day home. You’ll explore the socio-cultural forces that shaped the blues, its migration during the Great Migration, and how Chicago became a beacon for blues innovation, producing legendary artists and iconic sounds.

  Jacob Schulz, blues musician and historian, will discuss the current challenges facing the blues, including its fading mainstream presence and efforts to preserve its legacy for future generations. This talk will not only highlight the deep historical roots of the blues but also showcase how it continues to resonate as a timeless and influential art form today.

  You might even learn about a few joints to visit while at the AG! To register for this Theodore Talk, visit the American Mensa Events website or, on or after Saturday, May 23rd, tap/click on the Zoom link that will be available here on our website. See a list of all the Theodore talks on the American Mensa Events website. Even if you can’t attend the live talk, provided you register, you will receive a link to a recording of the event. Closed captioning enabled.
  Virtual Event!!

• Mensa Cares: Land & Waterways 2 PM. This month, naturalist and educator Karen Jensen will lead us as we walk along the Des Plaines River in the Lake County Forest Preserve. We will be participants in an open data citizen science project. The Marine Debris Tracker app helps to answer the question of what the different types and amounts of debris are in order that we may prevent such debris from happening.

  Karen will instruct us in what and how we will do what we will do, but this will involve walking on the forest preserve trails. Wear comfortable shoes, clothing and your citizen scientist hat (the winner of the best hat gets big kudos from Karen!). Also, bring a well charged phone, water and snacks to carry along with you. You will download the Marine Debris Tracker App and Karen will assign us our group (Chicago Area Mensa) by which we will track what we find. Some participants may want to only record what is found and some may want to pick up debris—that is up to you (bring gloves, we will provide the debris bags).

  The location is Edward L. Ryerson Welcome Center, 21950 Riverwoods Rd. in Riverwoods. The entrance is on Riverwoods Road between Half Day Road (Route 22) and Deerfield Road, just west of Interstate 94. Signs to the Welcome Center will be easy to see and follow. For more details, see the ChiMe (when it becomes available). If you have any questions or you wish to RSVP , email our Community Services Coordinator Jean D. .

25/Mon­day

26/Tues­day

• Break­fast in Mount Pros­pect 10 AM. Breakfast or lunch and conversation at Jelly Café lo­cated at 1784 W. Golf Rd. in Mount Pros­pect (northwest corner of Golf Rd. and Busse Hwy.), featuring a large and diverse menu. Dining might be indoors or outdoors, depending on conditions. Sepa­rate checks are available. Use Meetup, but if not on Meetup, RSVP to Ken L. via email. If you RSVP by email, your reservation is not confirmed until you receive a confirmation email.

• Zoom Lunch 1 PM. See Thursday, May 7th.

• MEANS (North Suburbs) Dinner 6:30 PM. Join Mensans Eating Around North Suburbs (MEANS) at Hackney’s on Lake located at 1514 E. Lake Ave. in Glenview. Free parking. Separate checks available. Limit 12. Please RSVP via Meetup (preferred) or email Brent B. Recurs on the 4th Tuesday of the month.

28/Thurs­day

* * * * *

1 June/Mon­day