| Hello and welcome to Mensa's 2021 World Gathering! Years in the making, this commemoration of Mensa's 75th anniversary brings together Mensans and friends from around the globe to celebrate the myriad fascinating aspects of our multifaceted minds. |
| We hope you're able to take advantage of all the World Gathering has to offer: hundreds of engaging programs, meetups with friends old and new, and a city teeming with culture. We want you to have a safe and exciting time while you're in Houston, but before you hit the event, a brief(ish) explanation of this unique gathering of ours is in order. |
| Finally, a special thank-you to the event committee, the hundreds of attendees who will volunteer while they're here, and our event sponsors, GEICO, the Mensa Foundation, and Sky-Watcher. Without any of you, this event would not be possible. |
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| Your Well-being Is Important |
| Our goal for the World Gathering is a safe and enjoyable event. Covid-19 has been a moving target for almost two years and remains so. To keep everyone safe, we need your help. Familiarize yourself with the Covid safeguards we've put in place, which include frequent speaker room disinfecting. And please avail yourself of other measures we've provided, such as prevalent hand sanitizer, service precautions in Hospitality, and masks for Spark! participants. |
| Currently, masks are required in all program rooms and while moving around the event space, including in Hospitality, Games, and Tournaments rooms. If you feel sick with Covid symptoms, stay in or return to your hotel room and call (817) 523-1845; someone will be in contact to assist you. |
| It Takes a Village |
| In addition to our tireless event committee, the World Gathering simply would not be were it not for Mensans' unrivaled volunteer spirit. To make this an unforgettable experience for everyone, we need your help. A few hours of your time make a big difference, and volunteering is a great way to meet fellow M's and share in the event's success. |
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| Having trouble signing up? Contact Volunteer Chair Jeff Dommenge. Not quite ready to commit? Find the Volunteer Desk near Registration to sign up for volunteer opportunities on-site. |
| The Event in Your Pocket |
| Plan and organize your WG experience with the official event mobile app. Preview, save, and rate your favorite sessions and speakers, navigate the hotel with ease, and receive event updates with in-app notifications. |
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| Still rocking a flip or running a specialty homebrew? Check out the web app. |
| It's Time to Get Social — IRL |
| Get event updates your way and connect with other attendees — through the WG Facebook Event, by following us on Twitter, or in the Mensa Connect Community. Share what you're up to (and give your friends back home some serious FOMO) using the #MensaAG hashtag on Twitter and Instagram! |
| Hotel, Transportation, and Parking |
| Located in the heart of Houston's bustling downtown, the Hilton Americas-Houston will serve as the official event hotel for the World Gathering. |
| Airport transportation options from Houston Hobby include taxis (~$30) and rideshare services (follow the signs to Curb Zone 5 marked "Ride App"). George Bush Intercontinental has similar transportation options — taxi (~$60) and rideshare services (designated pickup spots in each zone) — but also public bus service to the tune of $1.25 and an hour- to 90-minute-long ride. Follow these steps for catching a bus. |
| For those Driving to the WG, overnight self-parking at the Hilton Americas-Houston is $19.50/night. Daily valet for up to three hours is $18/day. And overnight valet is $45/night. |
| A special Covid-precautionary note about housekeeping: Hilton housekeeping will be performed on the fifth day of a stay of 5 days or more. If you'd like to have your room serviced before the fifth day, call down to the front desk to request and they'll sort you out. And, of course, if you're staying more than 5 days, you can also forgo service upon request. |
| Packet Pickup and Registration |
| This should be one of your first stops after checking into the hotel because your badge is required for entrance into Hospitality, program rooms, and all other WG-related events. Registration is on the second floor of the Americas PreFunction space. Go here, too, for any adds or changes to your registration. |
Registration Hours- Monday: 5-9 p.m. (pre-registered packet pickup only)
- Tuesday: Noon-9 p.m.
- Wednesday-Thursday: 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Friday: 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m.
- Saturday: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Walk-in Colloquium registration is open on Monday from 7-10 a.m. |
| If you arrive after registration hours but before midnight, the registration lead on-call will be posted at the Registration desk. Call the number listed and wait at the desk, where they will meet you with a temporary badge for the evening. |
| If you arrive after midnight but before the registration desk opens in the morning, and you need a badge for access to Hospitality or other events, find a White Hat on duty to issue you a temporary badge for the evening. If you do not plan on attending any events that evening, just stop by Registration when it opens the following morning. |
| Hospitality and Dining |
| Hospitality is the place where food and fellowship commingle, the place to rehash the program or tour you just attended, the place for a card game with old (or new) friends. It's good times and good meals — several meals, in fact: five breakfasts, four lunches, three dinners, and lots of snacks and a selection of beer and wine. All are included with your registration. |
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| Open 24 hours, Hospitality will officially open at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Ballroom of the Americas D-F. It will close at noon on Sunday. |
| With health concerns in mind, Hospitality meals will be served by hotel staff. Snack stations will have disposable plastic gloves nearby, and attendees are expected to use these gloves when getting snacks. Some tables near the food service line will be reserved for those with mobility issues. |
| Wine and beer will be served from 2 p.m. until "last call" at 1 a.m. by hotel personnel, who reserve the right to refuse service to underage attendees or guests who appear to be intoxicated. |
| Friday Gala Dinner: In addition to the meals and snacks served daily in Hospitality, a limited number of tickets will be available for Friday's Gala Dinner featuring special guest speaker Frank Abagnale. Tickets are $105, while they last, and can be purchased at Registration. |
| Mensa Foundation Colloquium |
| On Aug. 23, right before the World Gathering officially kicks off, the Mensa Foundation will host its annual symposium-like event, Colloquium, whose topic this year is Advances in Food Science. A handful of experts from varied disciplines will take deep dives into some of the more intriguing recent insights in crop sustainability, food safety, bioinformatics and gut health, and alternative meat nutrition. Tickets will be available on-site for $99 (members) and $124 (nonmembers). Ask about the student discount! |
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| Tour Pick-up and Registration |
| Tour tickets are priced separately from WG registration and are in limited supply. Available tickets may be purchased from the Registration Desk located on the second floor. Tour-goers should check in 30 minutes before start time (i.e., bus-leaving time). Assemble in the hotel lobby near the entrance closest to the Convention Center (street name: Avenida De Las Americas). |
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| World Gathering 2021 Highlights |
| The programming lineup at a Mensa Gathering is a bit like the menu at The Cheesecake Factory: There's something to appeal to every taste, and providing a representative "sample" isn't easy, other than to say that whatever you order will be delicious. |
That said, here are some tasty morsels we think you won't want to miss:- An annual favorite, the Misster Mensa Pageant pits Mensan men and women in a competition that's equal parts prowess, parody, and pandering, proceeds from which directly benefit the Mensa Foundation. Join us Thursday night at 8 for an evening of delightful shenanigans.
- Former three-term Houston Mayor and Mensan Annise Parker, the first openly LGBTQ mayor of a top-10 American city, will share humorous anecdotes that bring you behind the curtain at city hall.
- Meet Miss Texas 2021 Mallory Fuller, who will display her talent, and talk about her passions and experience in the pageant circuit.
- Peter Stout, CEO and president of the Houston Forensic Science Center, will share the inner workings of the nation's first independent crime lab.
- Dr. Subinoy Das will explore the remarkable specificity of our sense of smell and how SARS-CoV-2 manages to damage our sense of smell despite olfactory neurons lacking a binding site for the virus.
- Enjoy a live reading of Texas Poet Laureate Laurie Ann Guerrero's latest work, I Have Eaten the Rattlesnake: New & Selected Poems, including a special book-signing afterward.
- Grab your snifters and learn how simple ingredients and a similar process can lead to an enormous diversity in taste from whisky educator and Mensan Franck Mounier.
- Norm Pattis, First Amendment attorney and counsel for polarizing clients such as Alex Jones, the "Millionaire Madam," and Fotis Dulos, will lay out the common techniques both trial lawyers and comics use to connect with their audiences.
For final dates/times and a complete listing of events, check the AG program or the Mensa WG event app. |
| Misster Mensa |
| It's a favorite at each AG! Rebranded Misster Mensa, this year's parody pageant will feature the men and women of Mensa being cheered on as they showcase their talents, brains, and physiques in this major fundraiser for the Mensa Foundation. Audience members help make up the judges, and the entire evening's events are hosted by M's Terri Lee and Tom Schnorrenberg. Doors open Thursday at 8 p.m. in Lanier Grand Ballroom D. |
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| World Gathering Test Sessions |
| Not yet a member? Take the official Mensa Admission Test at our special event fee of $30 (50 percent off) and receive a free one-day registration to the World Gathering. All test sessions are in Room 340. |
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| Mensa Foundation at the WG |
| Celebrate the Mensa Foundation's 50th anniversary with activities serious to silly. It starts with Colloquium 2021, where we'll learn about the staggering developments in food science. All donors are invited to mix and mingle in the Foundation Lounge in Room 332. (Haven't donated? Contribute and get your donor ribbon by texting #UNLEASH to 44-321.) And don't forget to play Trivia Hunt by finding our daily questions on signs around the event space or alerts on the Mensa WG app, then bringing your answer forms to the Foundation Lounge. |
| Mensa Select® @ WG 2021 |
| Tabletop games are a prominent feature at many (okay, most) Mensa events, but like everything else about the 2021 World Gathering, we're leaving ordinary behind. Take part in the 2021 Mensa Select Board Games Competition — play the latest new-to-market tabletop games and choose your favorites. Play and score any game and you'll be automatically entered for a chance to win one of the amazing games we're bringing to the event. We'll also be giving out gifts to the first 200 attendees to play and score any title. Stop by the Mensa Store in Room 333 to learn more. |
| Mensa Store and Mensa Makers Market |
Need a uniform for trivia night? Wear your brain on your sleeve like it's the latest fashion with our exclusive licensed apparel. No shipping necessary — bring home your Mensa gear, including several special WG 2021 souvenirs, straight from the Mensa Store, located in Room 333 and open during the following hours:- Tuesday: Noon - 7 p.m.
- Wednesday: 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
- Thursday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
- Friday: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Located on the fourth floor in the Lanier Grand Ballroom Prefunction space you'll find the Mensa Makers Market, where members will be selling their own arts and crafts Friday and Saturday, from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. |
| Youth Programming |
| Sponsored by the Mensa Foundation, Spark! comprises three days of structured programming for kids ages 4-12, divided into age groups, enabling children to have their own AG experience. |
| Our Gifted Youth Programs Manager — a licensed, background-checked staffer — brings in professional educators from various fields to present fun, interactive programs where kids have the chance to learn through new experiences and explore a variety of topics and events. |
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| You have to register for Spark! in addition to the AG. It's $15/day, and there are limited slots for each age group. |
| Mensa Business |
American Mensa's Annual Business Meeting, the Foundation Board meeting, and the American Mensa Committee (AMC) meeting are open to any member interested in the inner workings of either organization. The schedule for Mensa's business meetings:- American Mensa Committee meeting — Thursday, 2 p.m., Room 335
- Annual Business Meeting — Friday, 9 a.m., Lanier Grand Ballroom L
We'll also be hosting officer- and interest-based meet-and-greets throughout the WG. Leadership workshops will be held on Friday and Saturday. |
| Weather and What to Pack |
| Houston can get pretty muggy in August, its hottest month. Temps regularly climb into the mid- or high-90s during the day, and the average humidity is 75 percent. We'd recommend you stay hydrated — get your daily eight cups of water, more if you venture out — and use sunscreen. Afternoon showers are fairly common this time of year, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to pack a small umbrella or raincoat if you plan on hitting the town. |
| Dress for the WG is casual, and informal attire is accepted in most venues. (Attendees at Friday night's Gala Dinner often dress for a fancy night out; this is encouraged but certainly not required.) |
| Hot as it might be outside, expect the air conditioning to be on blast in the hotel, with some spaces liable to get frosty. Don't let anyone side-eye you for packing a sweater or light coat for a trip to Texas in the summer. Indoors, you might be happy to have it. And, of course, don't forget to bring comfortable shoes. |
| Safety and Security |
| Mensa White Hats — yep, the ones in the white hats — help the WG run smoothly. If anyone of any age feels uncomfortable about any situation, they are urged to find a White Hat. In a true emergency, the White Hats will know how to alert security professionals most quickly. If you can't find anyone quickly, contact the hotel front desk for help, or contact police if appropriate. |
Further points to note:- All attendees are expected to follow the event Code of Conduct.
- 21 is the legal age to drink alcohol in the United States. Hotel staff will check IDs.
- Please wear your event badge in the hotel for security purposes. (It is not usually recommended to wear it outside the hotel.)
- When going out in Houston, use common sense. Protect cash and credit cards. Walk in pairs or groups whenever possible. Keep track of your hotel key. Close the door to your room securely, even if you are just going for ice. Make sure your family or friends have contact numbers for you while you are in Houston, and keep in touch with them.
- Responsibility for children at the WG rests with parents. Instruct them about White Hats, and make sure they know the name of the hotel, the phone, and room number. Make sure your children are familiar with the 911 system in case they become lost or separated.
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| WG Pet Policy |
| Only trained service animals are allowed in speaker rooms, Hospitality, the Games Room, and the other event spaces, and service animals should be leashed at all times. There will be marked animal-friendly tables near the food service areas; please sit at those tables if possible. |
| Annual Gathering 2022 |
| It's not too early to be thinking about next year's Annual Gathering, Sparks of Genius in Sparks, Nev., July 6-10. Watch for registration to open in the fall. |
| WG 2021 Event Sponsors |
| We'd like to say thank you to this year's event sponsors, GEICO, the Mensa Foundation, and Sky-Watcher, for supporting Mensa and the 2021 World Gathering. |
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