The Mensa I knew was unstructured and spontaneous. Almost a continuation of college. Free-thinking people who would gather to play guitars, pull off crazy stunts in AG hotel lobbies, debate, learn and have fun.

While the AMC was sometimes contentious, it was generally peopled by accomplished individuals for whom being a Mensa officer was not an end in itself. The National Office operated in the background. The mileu was freewheeling and loose.

It would appear that times have changed. Successive recent AMCs have increasingly tightened the organizational structrure and, with the largest office staff-to-member ratio in the history of the organization, are turning American Mensa into a bland, repressive bureaucracy.

One of the fundamentals of business is to pay close attention to the marketplace. It seems that the management of American Mensa has forgotten this.

The result? Members are not particularly leaving or rebelling. They are simply doing their own thing.

I can think of two leadership seminars, having run afoul of the bureaucracy, that proceeded on their own and drew huge crowds. There is the gathering happening this year at the same time as the AG. There was the private gathering at Asilomar. And many more such gatherings have occurred across the country.

For a lot of us, Mensa is becoming a convenience through which we can stay in touch. But, it is not providing the free-wheeling, fun and stimulating medium we want.

American Mensa is not the Rotary where we make business contacts. It is not the Shrine doing good deeds for the community. It is not the American Marketing Association where we hone our professional skills. It is a social organization. This is what we buy with our dues. And this is what the AMC and National Office are inhibiting.

— Jon Lundeen
    Central Oklahoma Mensa