The organizers of the events listed on this calendar have expressed willingness for members elsewhere in the world to join in. Please don’t give them a bigger crowd than they can handle, and do be careful about time zones. The displayed time zone is GMT! If you add them to your own calendar, the time zone should convert to your specified time zone.
To have your virtual event added to this calendar, contact Matt C., the CAM International Calendar contact.
There may be other virtual events, as well as in-person events, which may be of interest to CAM members, hosted by various local groups listed on the American Mensa Calendar of Events.
1/ Friday
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ChiMe Activity Bulletin and Advertising Deadlines. Last day for these submissions to the December ChiMe. Interested in organizing and hosting a virtual or in-person event? Find out how by checking out our guide to hosting events.
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ChiMe Editorial Deadline. Last day for editorial submissions to the December ChiMe. Please submit original articles, insights, puzzles, brain teasers, or short poems. Your fellow Chicago Area Mensa members would love to hear from you.
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HalloweeM 48: Road Trippin’ Continues! all day. It’s Halloween weekend and you want to dress up and go to a party tonight, or you just want to pretend to be someone else for the night. This is a fun opportunity to attend the largest Halloween party by coming to the RG today. See great costumes, participate in the contest (best & worst pun, traditional, best group, best theme-related, etc.), enjoy a delicious meal, imbibe if you like, meet Mensans from all over the world, and dance the night away. It’s the perfect party, so preregister today! Volunteer now!
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Voter Registration Info
Illinois early voting is now open. Find your location; if you see someone blocking access to a voting site, report it at 1.866.OUR.VOTE
Illinois Vote By Mail Application
Many Illinois Counties have online applications so search for yours.
Cook County Mail Ballot Drop Box Locations
Chicago Early Voting Polling Locations and Drop Boxes
Check Your Judges
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Annual Gathering (AG) Rate Increase Alert!
Register in November for the AG, held Wednesday, July 3rd through Sunday, July 7th in Chicago, Illinois, in the Hilton Chicago on south Michigan Avenue, by Saturday, November 30th, for the best rate. Due to all the 4th of July and weekend festivities in the area, it may be best to book a room.
2/ Saturday
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HalloweeM 48: Road Trippin’ Continues! all day. The program offers something for everyone and there are always games and tournaments. Check out the PAAG for the starting times of today’s events. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to be stimulated by everything WeeM has to offer. Evening events include Pretentious Drinking, the Epicurean Experience, dancing and more. And please consider donating an hour or two of your time especially in hospitality — it’s the volunteers that make this RG so great. Can’t decide where to go for dinner — there are a lot of dining options near the hotel.
3/ Sunday
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Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 AM. Remember to reset your clocks back and sleep a bit longer.
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HalloweeM 48: Road Trippin’ Continues until 3 PM. Join us for the program, games, awards and more. By participating in the fun, sometimes silly, tournament “Amazing Race: WeeM Style” scheduled in the morning, perhaps you can be the star. Attend the CAM Business Meeting. Find out which of the volunteers won monetary awards (it could be you!). And please consider donating an hour or two of your time to help pack up — we really need your help and it’s the volunteers that make this RG so great. For those interested in visiting some local sites — check out Things to Do Nearby.
Our next
Monthly Gathering
occurs on
December 7th.
at the
Rolling Meadows Community Center
3705 Pheasant Drive, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
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The October Business Meeting is being held at 10 AM on Sunday, November 3rd in Wheeling.
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CAM ExComm Business Meeting 10 AM at the Westin North Shore located at 601 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wheeling.
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Mensa Testing 2 PM at the Westin North Shore located at 601 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wheeling. If you are or someone you know is interested in joining Mensa, see our Testing Information for contact details and additional dates/locations. For October tests, the fee will be only $30, a 50% discount, when you take our in-person test. Don't delay! Latecomers will not be admitted.
5/ Tuesday
RSVP for MELT held on Wednesday, November 6th no later than Tuesday, November 5th. RSVP via Meetup preferred.
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Voter Registration Info
Illinois early voting is now open. Find your location; if you see someone blocking access to a voting site, report it at 1.866.OUR.VOTE
Illinois Vote By Mail Application
Many Illinois Counties have online applications so search for yours.
Cook County Mail Ballot Drop Box Locations
Chicago Early Voting Polling Locations and Drop Boxes
Check Your Judges
6/ Wednesday
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MELT at Southern Belle’s 11:30 AM. Join us for MELT (Mensans Eating Lunch Together) at Southern Belle’s Pancake House, 152 S. Western Ave. in Carpentersville. You can have breakfast or lunch—it’s up to you. Check out their menu. We can accommodate 12 people. RSVP by Tuesday, November 5th via Meetup (strongly preferred) or directly to Beth W.
7/ Thursday
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Conversation with London Mensans 8 AM. Join a video chat with our kin from across the big pond in London at 2 PM BST. 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!!
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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
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Rockford-Area Dinner 6:30 PM. Join Dave and other Rockford-Area Mensans for dinner at Gerry’s Pizza located at 7403 Argus Dr. in Rockford (on the NW corner of E. State St. and Bell School Rd.). To RSVP , for more information, or to get on our email list, contact Dave L., our Rockford-Area Coördinator. 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.
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Poetry Discussion 7:30 PM. Our poetry group is using Zoom for meetings. Please send a poem or two to Joe D. by Monday, November 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!!
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Windycon 50 3 PM through Sunday. Windycon is Chicagoland’s oldest science fiction convention. It will be held in Oak Brook. For all the details, visit their website.
Public Event!!
11/ Monday
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Veteran’s Day
(Federal Holiday)
12/ Tuesday
RSVP for DOW held on Thursday, November 14th no later than Tuesday, November 12th. RSVP via Meetup preferred.
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Zoom Lunch 1 PM. See Thursday, November 7th.
13/ Wednesday
RSVP for Northern Exposure no later than 10 AM. RSVP via Meetup preferred.
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Northern Exposure Dinner 6:45 PM. Ice road truckers cruising past your door? Then you should have dinner with us. Join us at Kabul House in Evanston for some truly exquisite Middle Eastern fare. Located at 2424 Dempster St. in Evanston. NOTE: This event will be capped at 12 people. Please RSVP on Meetup or via Janice’s email, jesser@chicago.us.mensa.org , so she can reserve a big enough table.
14/ Thursday
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Conversation with London Mensans 8 AM. See Thursday, November 7th.
Virtual Event!!
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Dinner Out West: Time Pie! 6:30 PM. Pizza Pie, that is. We're going to the Village Pub & Pizza, 2496 N. Randall Rd. in Elgin. Check their menu. This is a GOBS-subsidized event. GOBS will cover ½ of your meal cost, including tax and tip (rounded up to the nearest dollar), up to a maximum subsidy of $15, for each CAM member and their guest. Cash, Zelle, or PayPal for your portion. Limit 20 people. Reservations are required so Beth knows how big of a table to reserve. RSVP via Meetup (strongly preferred) or directly to Beth W. no later than Tuesday, November 12th.
15/ Friday
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Supermoon Viewing tonight. This is last of the four consecutive supermoons. For more information about supermoons, visit earthsky.org.
16/ Saturday
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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, but the location changes and can’t always be determined in time to make the ChiMe schedule. If you’re curious about the location at this month’s meeting place, email Jim Z. the event coördinator. You may also RSVP via Meetup. Open to non-Mensans; bring a curious friend.
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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 Coördinator, 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.
17/ Sunday
Timothy Bentley
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SFRM: The Enigma Machine 4:30 PM. During WWII the Germans used a machine that was supposed to encrypt communications beyond the possibility of deciphering. If the allies hadn’t obtained an Enigma machine and devoted considerable resources to decoding the German military communications, the outcome of WWII may have been very different. The Enigma machine may have shortened the European war by 2 years and saved millions of lives.
Timothy Bentley was born in England where he attended he Kings School in Chester, a school founded by Henry VIII in 1541. He emigrated to the US in 1976 and earned an MBA from CSULB. Tim has been a member of Mensa for 40 years, He is active in many discussion groups and is usually the MC for the SFRM Speaker Series.
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!!
19/ Tuesday
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NNW Dinner: Bistro Chen 6 PM. Join us at Bistro Chen 10 E. Miner St. in Arlington Heights. The menu contains Japanese, Thai and Chinese items. This is a GOBS-subsidized event where ½ the total cost (including tax plus a 20% tip, rounded up to the nearest dollar) —for a maximum of $20/person—of a CAM member’s and one guest’s dinner will be covered for a maximum of 15 people. Payment must be via PayPal or in cash; no coins will be accepted. RSVP Ken L. (Meetuppreferred; otherwise via email) by 6 PM, Sunday, November 17th. If you RSVP by email, your reservation is not confirmed until you receive a confirmation email.
21/ Thursday
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Conversation with London Mensans 8 AM. See Thursday, November 7th.
Virtual Event!!
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Zoom Lunch 1 PM. See Thursday, November 7th.
23/ Saturday
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Fibonacci Day honors Leonardo Bonacci.
Today’s date represents first 4 numbers in the sequence (1 1 2 3 5 8…).
26/ Tuesday
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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. 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.
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Zoom Lunch 1 PM. See Thursday, November 7th.
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MEANS (North Suburbs) Dinner 6:30 PM. Join us under our new acronym 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.
28/ Thursday
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Conversation with London Mensans 8 AM. See Thursday, November 7th.
Virtual Event!!
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Thanksgiving Day
30/ Saturday
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Annual Gathering (AG) Rate Increase Alert!
Register in November for the AG, held Wednesday, July 3rd through Sunday, July 7th in Chicago, Illinois, in the Hilton Chicago on south Michigan Avenue, by Saturday, November 30th, for the best rate. Due to all the 4th of July and weekend festivities in the area, it may be best to book a room.
* * * * *
1 December/ Sunday
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ChiMe Activity Bulletin and Advertising Deadlines. Last day for these submissions to the January 2025 ChiMe. Interested in organizing and hosting a virtual or in-person event? There’s bound to be an activity or a restaurant you want to try, but you just want some other people to experience it with you. So invite your fellow Mensans. Find out how by visiting our guide to hosting events.
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ChiMe Editorial Deadline. Last day for editorial submissions to the January 2025 ChiMe. Please submit original articles, insights, puzzles, brain teasers, photographs, or short poems. Your fellow Chicago Area Mensa members would love to hear from you.
Activities Bulletin
November 2024 (Tentative)
Already a CAM Discord member?
Simply open up the Discord app, look for the
CAM 
icon on the very left, and tap/click on it. You’ll often find fellow gamers online
even when no official CAM event is taking place.
New?
A few days before the event, check out the Introductory Guide to Discord as well as our CAM Discord FAQ for instructions about downloading the Discord app on the device you’ll be using, and registering yourself. Read the doc and/or peruse the various questions and answers to familiarize yourself with our customized version.
About three days prior to the event, the Invitation Link, needed only by new CAM Discord users, will be available as part of the event host’s contact info as a button. Tap/click on the button, then tap/click on the Invitation Link, and it will open the Discord app you installed. You must acknowledge the displayed Code of Conduct to see all the rooms (aka channels). Do this by tapping/clicking on the emoji symbol at the bottom that best describes Your membership category. Once you’ve done that, you’re in and won’t need an Invitation Link again.
When you join a Discord event you won’t automatically see all the participants like in Zoom when the host lets you in or you join a meeting in progress. Instead you’ll scroll down and find the channel specified as part of the event info. You get to see the list of names indicating who is in the channel before you tap/click on it to join. And if there is someone presenting, you’ll need to tap/click on the presenter’s feed or double-click the Live button next to the presenter’s name to enlarge the feed.
It may feel weird at first but the learning curve is pretty short and chances are you’ll like it better than Zoom and choose to use it to video call a fellow Mensa member/group who is part of the CAM Discord community and definitely to play online games while chatting with everyone participating.
RSVPs - Always contact the CAM event host as specified in the event details — email , phone , text , or Meetup .
Meetup
Chicago Mensa Meetup - All our events are listed; see who signed up, get notifications, and add the event(s) to your personal calendar. Check out the current calendar
Chicago Mensa Meetup - All our events are listed; see who signed up, get notifications, and add the event(s) to your personal calendar. Check out the current calendar