Monthly Gathering
Our next
Monthly Gathering
occurs on
February 15th.
AGoG will be held Feb. 14th – 16th. Both are at the
Westin North Shore Hotel
601 N. Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling, IL 60090
Our Chicago Area 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 Monthly Gathering will be held in Westin North Shore Hotel located at 601 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wheeling. Gatherings are held each month, except for every November. 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 Monthly Gathering
5:00 PM 2:00 PM (for Feb.)
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 coördinator 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 Monthly Gathering (there are just too many). Contact our Game Warden to ensure a specific one is available.
7:30 PM
Officer Nominations — Nominations will be taken from the floor prior to the speaker presentation.
Board to Pieces: The Journey of Board Game Creation
Are you a board game enthusiast who’s ever wondered how those captivating games make their way from a simple idea to your tabletop? Get ready to embark on a journey through the exciting world of board game creation with our witty and insightful session, “Board to Pieces: The Journey of Board Game Creation", hosted by Jason Brooks. From brainstorming to play-testing, graphic design to manufacturing, Jason will give you a peek behind the curtain to share all of the magic that goes into getting your favorite game (or possibly one of your ideas) to the table!
During the session, we’ll navigate the twists and turns of bringing game concepts to life — complete with examples of games in various design states. You’ll learn about the importance of theme vs mechanics, eye-catching prototypes, and the long, yet important, process of gathering invaluable feedback through play-testing. Discover how collaboration with talented graphic designers and artists give games a visual identity that pops. Plus, we’ll dive into the world of crowd-funding and manufacturing, sharing tips, trials, and tribulations that have the potential to buoy or bust any game design along the way before reaching eager players everywhere. Whether you’re a seasoned gamer or a curious newbie, this talk promises to be a treasure trove of information, sprinkled with humor and practical advice. Join us to learn how your favorite board games ultimately make it to your table. See you there!
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 — just funded on Kickstarter and will arrive on tabletops 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 60-100 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 parents and kids to hang out together in a separate room where the children can play together under their parents’ supervision. Also please contact our Gifted Youth Coördinators , who may be restarting the Gifted Youth MG activity held in conjunction with the regular MG.
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. |
||
* 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 14th through Sunday, February 16th. AGoG and the February 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).
Book your room today! The hotel is offering a special AGoG room rate of $122 through Friday, January 24th. 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 .
Schedule
2025
Add CAM Monthly Gathering@Westin North Shore Hotel
A Gathering of Gamers (aka AGoG)
Add AGoG Weekend @ Westin North Shore Hotel
Monthly Gathering
Monthly Gathering
Monthly Gathering
Monthly Gathering
HalloweeM
Monthly Gathering
Mensa Testing
The test is administered at 2 PM during AGoG and at 5 PM at every 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.
