Monthly Gathering
Our next
Monthly Gathering
occurs on
July 27th.
at the
Rolling Meadows Community Center
3705 Pheasant Drive, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
Our Chicago Area Monthly Gatherings are open to the public. Anyone interested in finding out more about Mensa is welcome to attend. The July Monthly Gathering will be held at Rolling Meadows Community Center located at 3705 Pheasant Dr. in Rolling Meadows. The 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
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.
If there is a spike in Covid cases, the in-person MG may become virtual & testing may be cancelled!!
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.
Artificial Intelligence Promise & Perils
Are you worried about artificial intelligence? It seems to be everywhere. Lance Erlick will share with us his research into artificial intelligence.
As Lance says, “Leading scientific names have expressed concern about the risks posed by AI. Thanks to recent breakthroughs, many milestones, which experts viewed as decades away only seven years ago, have now been reached, making experts take seriously the possibility of superintelligence in our lifetime.
While some experts still believe human-level AI is centuries away, most researchers at the 2015 Puerto Rico Conference and 2017 Asilomar Conference guessed it could happen before 2060. Come join a discussion of the current state of AI, the promise, myths, threats, and what we should know about changes coming to our world.”
As the author of the Android Chronicles trilogy, about an advanced android with artificial intelligence who rebels against her creator, science fiction writer Lance Erlick has researched, written, and presented about AI since 2017. He worked with computers and programming since he was 18, and watched capabilities grow exponentially in spurts and pauses since.
Other than AI, Mr. Erlick has published a variety of science fiction about challenging issues facing our world, such as abrupt climate change (his Regina Shen series), a second American civil war (his Rebel and what happens if an assertive alien species uncovers our treasured retreat on the series), outskirts of the Milky Way Galaxy Galaxy (Xenogeneic: First Contact).
7:30 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
The Saturday, July 27th 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 IL-53 Euclid exit.
We will have games and hospitality in their spacious auditorium (straight back when you enter) with overflow space in the lobby. The speaker event will be in the Card Room (when you enter, to the right via the hallway, past the restrooms). There will be a Parents-Kids Play Room available.
Rolling Meadows Community Center
Parking is plentiful and free behind the building. The NW lot is closest to Entrance K, located near the inner corner of building.
Please note that we have this venue only until midnight — plan accordingly.
- Heading north on IL-53 north through the Northwest Suburbs, look for the Kirchoff Road exit.
- Exit right (east) onto Kirchoff Road.
- Continue east on Kirchoff Road for ~1 mile to Meadow Drive.
- Turn south (right) onto Meadow Drive.
- Continue south on Meadow Drive for two blocks to Martin Lane.
- Turn west (right) onto Martin Lane.
- Continue west on Martin Lane as it curves south into Pheasant Drive.
- Continue south on Pheasant Drive to the Community Center which is on the west (right) side of Pheasant Drive.
- Pull into the first (northern-most) driveway (white dotted line on detail map) and head for the rear lot.
- Park near Entrance K (see photo above; northwest inner corner slightly taller with an array of 4×3 windows just to the right).
- Exit at the Euclid Ave East exit.
- Continue east on Euclid Avenue a short distance to Rohlwing Road.
- Turn south (right) onto Rohlwing Road and continue south for a ½ mile to Kirchoff Road.
- Turn east (left) onto Kirchoff Road and continue east for 0.7 miles to Meadow Drive.
- Turn south (right) onto Meadow Drive and continue south for a ½ mile to Grouse Lane.
- Turn west (right) onto Grouse Lane and continue for 0.2 miles to Pheasant Drive.
- Turn north (right) onto Pheasant Drive and continue northwest for 295 ft. to the Community Center which is on the west side (left) of Pheasant Drive.
- Pull into the last (northern-most) driveway (white dotted line on detail map) and head for the rear lot.
- Park near Entrance K (see photo above; northwest inner corner slightly taller with an array of 4×3 windows just to the right).
Attention, city-dwelling Chicago Area Ms! Until further notice, you can request taxi service
or get reimbursed for the use of a ride sharing service
like or Uber
for our suburban Monthly Gatherings, between the closest Metra station and the meeting
site with prior approval from
GenRep Michael by Wednesday, July 24th.
The best location and time is the
Arlington Park station
at 6:30 PM
(Union Pacific–Northwest line
— it leaves
Ogilvie Station at 5:40 PM).
You should then plan to leave the Park District building by 10 PM to return you to the Arlington
Park station for the 10:29 PM train, which is the
final train
of the evening.
Use of any of these services must be requested in advance by emailing
GenRep Michael by Wednesday, July 24th.
Note: CAM will cover the cost of the taxi, , or Uber
but you are responsible for your own train ticket.
Double check the Metra Train schedule which may have changed.
Schedule
2024
HalloweeM
Monthly Gathering
Mensa Testing
The test is administered 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.
If there is a spike in Covid cases, the in-person MG may become virtual & testing may be cancelled!!
