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ANNUAL COMMITTEE / APPOINTEE REPORT

FOR THE 2012 IBD MEETING IN DUBROVNIK

General

Name of committee / appointee Leadership Exchange Ambassadors Program (LEAP)

Current chair (committee) Elissa Rudolph

This report is prepared by (inc role)

Elissa Rudolph with input from 2010, 2011, and 2012 LEAP participants and LEAP committee members

Reporting period 2011 IBD – August 28, 2012, addendum to follow after the 21-24 September Asian Mensas Annual Gathering

Appointment(s) expiration date 2011 IBD meeting

Members of the Committee Ben Nemenoff, Beth Anne Demeter, Cinthia Reyes, Cinzia Busi, Isabella Holz, Jacqueline Bonkenburg, Jacek Cywinski, Zabeda Abdul Hamid, Cyndi Kuyper, Roman Slovenc, Grethe van Geffen, Azrai Skymmar

Development, Policies, Successes, Struggles See longer document attached that includes reports from two 2010 LEP participants,

reports from three 2011 LEP participants, reports from the five 2012 LEAP participants, a 2012 LEAP application, which lists criteria, and a listing of all those who applied for LEAP 2012.

Committee meetings

The LEAP committee communicated only by email with documents to be shared through DropBox.

Was the Committee/Appointee approached / consulted on topics?

Not really. We had a charge to fulfil and did not have to consult or be consulted except within the committee and with our selected participants.

Were there any problems? What went well?

There was diversity (U.S., Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, The Netherlands, South Africa, Croatia, Germany) in the committee which worked well for the charge and for the eventual selection of the participants. Cinthia came up with the scoring sheet we used, Isabella suggested a Doodle survey when we were faced with a difficult choice, and others all lent their expertise to make the process fair and equitable. This is not the final report for the 2012 LEAP – the 5 participants have yet to do their presentations in Bali, Indonesia. I will present an addendum to this report at the IBD meeting or before.

What are your plans for the future? Hope that the program continues. Do you need help or assistance from ExComm and / or IBD ?

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Yes, need them to support the program and enthusiastically promote it to their members.

Do you have advice for ExComm/IBD regarding your charge, the Constitution and/or ASIEs? Yes, while the IBD should certainly be aware of the progress of this committee

each year as it develops criteria, selects participants, and gives guidance and advice to the finalists, I do not believe the IBD should be the final arbiter in what the criteria for participants should be nor should it be involved in the selection of the finalists. Once a committee has a clear charge, as this one does, and enough experienced committee members – experienced as in former LEP or LEAP participants or as officers in their national Mensas – to serve on the committee, then the IBD can trust that the charge will be carried out.

Other Here is the final report of the LEAP Committee, to be illustrated with a

PowerPoint presentation at the IBD meeting.

Leadership Exchange Ambassadors Program (LEAP) Committee Report

Including Two-Year Reports from 2010 Participants, One-Year Reports from 2011

Participants, and Initial Reports From 2012 Participants

LEP 2010 Reports ......................................................................................................................3

LEP 2011 Reports ......................................................................................................................5

2012 Application Form (includes criteria & timeline) ............................................................10

List of 2012 LEAP Candidates ................................................................................................13

LEAP 2012 Reports .................................................................................................................16

Sample of Evaluation Form .....................................................................................................34

Comments from Chairs/Presidents of 2012

Participants’ National Mensas .................................................................................................35

Public Awareness of LEAP .....................................................................................................36

Comments from 2012 LEAP Chair

Future of LEAP

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LEP/LEAP. The acronym was changed because it became obvious that the participants of this

leadership development/ transnational training program were not just presenting their topics to

audiences, they were the faces of various Mensa groups around the world. In that respect they

were also “ambassadors,” bringing knowledge, good will, and the desire to further their own

skills through this cross border opportunity. As we have seen in the past 3 years, bonds have

been created and a sense of real community exists among the alumni of LEP/LEAP. Another

reason for the acronym change was that 2012 is a Leap Year. It seemed an obvious, relevant

connection to “leaping forward” with the 2012 edition of the program.

LEP 2010

In 2010 this program was administered by the Director of Development (Bibiana Balanyi) and

the Director of Smaller National Mensas (Christine Warlies). The participants for that first year

of the pilot program were selected by the two directors from a field of 12. The 7 chosen were:

Jay Menon (Malaysian Mensa), Karin Kaill (Mensa Sweden), Jeroen Komen (Mensa The

Netherlands), Tomáš Kubeš (Mensa Czech Republic), Beth Anne Demeter, Lori Norris, and

Greg Kontz (American Mensa). The group sent in their initial reports shortly after EMAG in

2010, then 6 months later in January of 2011, one year later in 2011, and now two years later.

Although the call went out to all seven participants, only two sent in reports – Tomáš Kubeš and

Karin Kaill. What is known about the others is that: Jay Menon is now chair of Malaysian

Mensa; and Beth Anne Demeter is now National Membership Officer for American Mensa. The

others continue to contribute to their national groups in other ways.

Original goals of LEP

Multiply learning/teaching experiences globally

Network with other national Mensas in order to share ideas

Build transnational relationships

Mentor/guide new leaders within national Mensas

Comments/Reports From the 2010 Participants

Comments/Reports from the

2010 LEP Participants

Name: Tomáš Kubeš Mensa Group: Czech Republic Email: tomas.kubes@mensa.cz Year of Participation: 2010 Major gatherings attended where presentations were given: AMAG 2010 in Detroit and EMAG 2010 in Prague as part of LEP 2010; Mensa Germany national gathering 2011 in Passau; Autumn 2011 gathering of Mensa Czech Republic (I gave Czech presentation about LEP topics there and on other occasions too – to the board and to local groups); I also attended gathering of Swiss Mensa in 2010 and EMAG 2011 in Paris but no formal presentation was given there. I am planning to attend EMAG 2012 in Stockholm.

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Since your participation year, please briefly describe your accomplishments in your native Mensa group. Use additional pages if needed: I launched many small initiatives aimed at opening Czech Mensa to newcomers – giving it more welcoming and positive face:

I have revamped most of the new-member letter and email templates.

I edited and co-wrote 36 page booklet “Manual to Mensa Czech Republic”.

I programmed IT support for people who welcome new members.

I programmed tools for identifying lost members.

I initiated a discussion about our member registration process. In addition:

I co-ordinated creation of new membership card and programmed IT support for it.

I promoted recognition program for volunteers (so far only special badge holders were made).

I improved several parts of Czech Mensa intranet (especially parts for the internal administration, internal database optimisation and general maintenance).

I coordinated security audit of the Czech Mensa intranet.

I added 32 different statistics into our intranet revealing more about our membership base and its behaviour.

I am preparing new sandbox module for new intranet developers.

I continued to edit Czech Mensa journal. I am currently preparing two case studies describing our experience with printed journal and new membership card with QR code, which I would like to circulate between chairman on IBD as a tool to share the experience and lessons learned. Since your participation, what offices or positions have you held in your Mensa group?

Czech Mensa vice-chairman (until now)

Member of the Board of Mensa Czech Republic (until now)

Czech Mensa journal editor (until now)

Member of the IT board of Mensa Czech Republic (until now) What were some of the “lessons learned”? Meeting devoted Mensa volunteers worldwide was a very strong motivation in itself. I also learned, that our “little” Czech Mensa, we built in our little country is doing very well by international standards; whereas we might be lagging in formalities and standardised processes, we have many creative and motivated members who get many great things done. And I have of course seen that many Mensas are solving the same problems and that we rediscover the well again and again and that something should be done about it. In what way(s) was your understanding of Mensa changed? The LEP program motivated me to attend many more international gatherings. This helped me in my search for the essence of Mensa – to articulate the common ingredient, which draws and keeps active members in the organisation. This was invaluable for the “new-member” communication activities

Name: Karin Kaill Mensa Group: Sweden Email: karin.kaill@mensa.se Year of Participation: 2010

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Major gatherings attended where presentations were given:

EMAG – 2010

American AG - 2010. Since your participation year, please briefly describe your accomplishments in your native Mensa group. Use additional pages if needed:

While being the activities officer I worked to create better structure to the position and did other board work.

Together with another member I arranged a national weekend party in the fall 2011.

I was responsible for the planning and execution of the Gala dinner at the EMAG in Stockholm 2012.

I have also as a part of my psychology masters made my thesis on the subject of the well-being of gifted adolescents.

There are other vaguer things like trying to give support to the current board and discussing the development of different areas in Mensa. Like today I was in a meeting discussing the possibility for Mensa Sweden to start intelligence testing for minors.

Since your participation, what offices or positions have you held in your Mensa group?

Activities officer on the national board

Proxy in the IBD for Mensa Sweden

Appointed to lead other small projects. E.g. to develop a questionnaire and distribute it to the national members (in cooperation with a company owned by a Mensa member

What were some of the “lessons learned”?

That it is very hard to overcome the problem with passing on what is learnt from former volunteers to the new. Documentation is important. (Still no guarantee that the next person will read it though)

There are major cultural differences that make some areas very different in various countries. For example in some places intelligence testing is very controversial and in some places it is not. The good thing is that even when there are huge differences between countries it is still valuable to sit down and discuss the procedures etc. It gives a wider view of how things can be done. Some things can be copied from others, some cannot, and some can be altered and used in other places as well.

In what way(s) was your understanding of Mensa changed? Rather than changed, it has deepened. I now know a lot more about the way the organisation works on both national and international levels. There is also the constant process of realizing what value different members get from Mensa.

Comments/Reports from the

2011 LEP Participants

At the 2010 IBD meeting, the administration of the LEP was changed. Instead of the Director of

Development and the Director of Smaller National Mensas handling the selection process and

various details, an LEP committee was formed. There were 8 committee members including 3

who were 2010 LEP participants and 3 chairmen of national Mensas (plus the chair and one

other person).

Seven Mensans applied (the 3 U.S. participants had already been selected) and 4 were

selected by the committee. The final group of 7 included Jacqueline Bonkenburg (Mensa The

Netherlands), Heather Booton (American Mensa), Thierry Brunel (Mensa France), Vesper

Burnett (American Mensa), Zabeda Abdul Hamid (Malaysian Mensa), Isabella Hotz (Mensa

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Germany), and Ben Nemenoff (American Mensa). Heather, Thierry, Vesper, and Ben did not

send in reports. Thierry was to do a presentation at the 2012 EMAG, but had to cancel for

personal reasons. Ben wrote an article for the International Journal extolling the value of LEAP,

and he included quotes from two 2012 participants while they were attending the American AG.

See copy of article following reports from Jacqueline Bonkenburg, Zabeda Abdul Hamid, and

Isabella Holz.

Name: Jacqueline Bonkenburg Mensa Group: The Netherlands Email: jcbonkenburg@mensa.nl Year of Participation: 2011 Major gatherings attended where presentations were given:

- AG US in Portland, July; - EMAG in Paris, August; - Volunteer Weekend Dutch Mensa, September (see also below); - Volunteer Weekend German Mensa, November (see also below).

Since your participation year, please briefly describe your accomplishments in your native Mensa group. Use additional pages if needed:

- Used gained LEP-knowledge in further development of the Dutch Volunteer Academy (Leadership Development Committee):

o Presentation by Mensa Malaysia on Knowledge Transfer was used to set up Dutch LDW Database;

o Presentation by USA Mensa on Customer Service was used to set up Dutch LDW evaluation form;

- Used gained US Leadership Development information in further development of the Dutch Volunteer Acadamy (Leadership Development Committee);

- Used gained US LDW-knowledge to set up Dutch LDW evaluation form; - Used gained US LDW-knowledge to set up Dutch LDW database; - Got the first Dutch Volunteer Weekend succesfully organised; - Presented on my LEP-participation in the Volunteer Weekend of Dutch Mensa; - Formed a solid team of the Volunteer Academy Committee (VAC); - Met board deadline VAC Action Plan 2012, plan got approved; - Posted on the Volunteer mail list about my stay in Portland and in Paris as LEP-participant; - Posted on the Volunteer mail list about my visit to the Volunteer Weekend of Mensa Germany

and created a positive discussion; - Was awarded a Token of Appreciation by Dutch Mensa.

Since your participation, what offices or positions have you held in your Mensa group?

- LocSec, since July 2009 – present; - Chair Volunteer Academy Committee, from the start in January 2011 – present; - Represented Dutch Mensa on the Volunteer Weekend of Mensa Germany in November 2011 and

presented on the report “Dutch Mensa 5000+” being the road to prepare the organisation for 5000+ members;

- Helped out twice as test assistant in 2011, but I am not an offical officer; - Assisted at the registration desk of the New Years Reception gathering. International - Member LEAP committee 2012, applied for committee membership 2013.

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What were some of the “lessons learned”? - How I am regarded within Dutch Mensa in general and to behave accordingly; - More practise in presenting; - The need to visit the US AG in 2012; lot’s to learn (still) + networking; - The need to participate at EMAG; same motivation.

In what way(s) was your understanding of Mensa changed?

- Being involved in an international committee enlarges my knowledge of Mensa International;

- Being involved in an international committee enlarges my knowledge of other National Mensa

Name: Isabella Holz Mensa Group: Mensa in Deutschland e.V. / Germany Email: isabella.holz@mensa.de Year of Participation:2011

Major gatherings attended where presentations were given: American Mensa Annual Gathering, European Mensa Annual Gathering

Since your participation year, please briefly describe your accomplishments in your native Mensa group. Use additional pages if needed:

In 2011, the major goal (and achievement:-) our Chair and I pursued last year, was to get more than 10,000 German members. I have developed and successfully implemented strategies and campaigns to

- - increase the number of test participants - - increase the quota of qualified people joining Mensa - - decrease exit rates dramatically - - start new PR concepts - - strengthen our social media communication

In addition,

- - I have introduced evaluation procedures and KPIs for marketing/PR - - I have extended the education of our proctors with PR/marketing know-how - - I increased the number of Intelligence Day participants from 19 (2010) to 27 (2011) - - as Vice Chair for Finance, I have started to introduce very detailed financial and liquidity

planning - - I have improved and introduced workflows to simplify processes like material sourcing for

volunteers - - I worked in the LEAP committee with the new LEAP generation of 2012, developed an

evaluation sheet for selecting participants

Since your participation, what offices or positions have you held in your Mensa group? I have continued to work as marketing manager(2010-2012), assisting our national board, as well as project leader for Intelligence Day (www.intelligenceday.org, since 2010) and supported our national journal (2009-2011). Since 2011, I am proctor for Munich, I have tested 200 participants in 2011.

- But my election to the German board has been the biggest change. Since April 2012, I am Vice Chair of Mensa Germany, responsible for marketing, PR and finance. On the international level, I have been a member of the LEAP committee 2012 and have already applied for the new one.

What were some of the “lessons learned”?

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It was great to see all kinds of Mensa groups – from the large American Mensa and their fantastic Annual Gathering, to small and even smaller groups with complete different structures, possibilities and strategies. As I got in touch with their volunteers holding various positions, I got so much inspiration from them and learnt so much about their groups. It was fascinating to see how other people deal with challenged and problems, how volunteers from all over the world try to improve Mensa, to get people into Mensa. For my future work as Vice Chair, the contacts established and strengthened by my LEP participation are beyond price. For example, it was great to see the American organisation, structures etc., to get a first impression of the challenges Mensa Germany will face in the future, due to its continuing growth.

In what way(s) was your understanding of Mensa changed? The most important thing I saw was the amazing diversity of group sizes, structures, strategies, cultures. The national groups are as diverse as the Mensa members – but nevertheless, we are big family all over the world. I am always impressed by the hospitality and open-mindedness of Mensans, wherever you go. Soon after I had become a member, I have started to volunteer, taking over more and more responsibility each year. I enjoy investing my time because of all those great teams on national and international level. And I really look forward to the next years as Vice Chair - and probably to new tasks in international projects!

Name: Zabeda Abdul Hamid Mensa Group: Malaysian Mensa Email: zabeda01@gmail.com Year of Participation: 2011 Major gatherings attended where presentations were given:

American Mensa Gathering (2011) in Portland, Oregon, USA. European Mensa Gathering (2011) in Paris, France. Asian Mensa Gathering (2011) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Since your participation year, please briefly describe your accomplishments in your native Mensa group. Use additional pages if needed: Honestly speaking, I’m not sure if I’ve accomplished much since my participation and I do apologise for that. I did help to organise and help with the hosting of the first Asian Mensa Gathering (AMG) in Kuala Lumpur in September of 2011. During this AMG, I helped with the day-to-day running of the activities, events and talks. I also presented my talk that I did at the AG in Portland and the EMAG in Paris, along with a summary of all the other LEP 2011 members’ talks. I have also written a few articles for the Malaysian Mensa Magazine (Triple-M) related to the LEP 2011 as well as the AMG 2011. In one of the articles was a summary of the talks presented by the other LEP 2011 members. I was hoping that through my articles, I can promote the Leadership Exchange Ambassador Programme for 2012 as well as attendance at the various AGs, EMAGs and the next AGM in 2012. I had hoped that through the AMG in Kuala Lumpur as well as the articles about it, other Malaysian Mensans would be more motivated and enthusiastic about joining in more activities. We’re still working on that. Since your participation, what offices or positions have you held in your Mensa group?

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I’m now one of the committee members of the current Malaysian Mensa natcomm. Some of the duties I have is to oversee the publication of the Mensa Magazine (Triple-M) i.e. I work with the Editor of the Triple-M regarding the article submission, editing as well as the publication of the magazine – both on paper as well as online bulletins. I am also responsible for the Education portfolio of Mensa Malaysia and I’m trying to find speakers for talks focusing on education and training for Mensans as well as the general public. I was also one of the committee members for the LEAP 2012 where I assisted in the review of applications and selection of the next batch of LEAP ambassadors. I hope I also helped in making these ambassadors feel a bit more comfortable during the recent AG in Reno. What were some of the “lessons learned”? One of the main things I have learned when attending the various annual gatherings – either in the US, Europe or here in Asia – is that the concept of Mensa is bigger than I had expected. It’s more than just personal goals or achievements. There is a sense of global community that I can find – even if you might not personally agree with a particular person’s philosophy of doing things or way of thinking, we all have a sense of connection because we’re Mensans. Also, even though we may have disagreements about what needs to be done within the Mensa chapter, we hope that each member is doing their best for the betterment of the society above personal goals. I also learned that people generally want to give advice and help. Lord knows how Mensans like to give their opinions ;-) but most of them genuinely want to help when you have a problem in the running of your country’s Mensa chapter. I personally gained a lot of advice on how to deal with difficult people – committee members and ordinary members alike, the first steps in setting up a volunteer system, considering the various options of activities for the different age groups, being more considerate towards the gifted adults who may face difficulty in interacting with the general public as well as considering my own emotional intelligence and how I would deal with what is important to me. That was one of the main reasons why I attended the AG in Reno this year and why I would most likely attend as many AGs, EMAGs and AGMs as I can – due to camaraderie that exists at these gatherings. Another thing I learned was to take the initiative to organise events and activities. I should not wait for others to organise the events if there’s something I would like in Malaysia Mensa and that I could organise it myself. When before I would wait for something interesting to be organised, the LEP 2011 made me realise that I had the opportunity to organise activities for myself and others like-minded Mensans. It really was a liberating epiphany. Therefore, now, not only am I thinking of different activities that I can organise for my own interest but I’m also encouraging others to organise activities for their interest groups as well. Who knows, something someone else organises for the first time might draw a large crowd and become an annual activity. In what way(s) was your understanding of Mensa changed? From the talks, activities, and most of all the responsibilities that I had as a LEP 2011 representative as well as the LEAP 2012 committee member was that we each have a role to play in developing our own local Mensa chapter. At the same time, what we as Mensans do should also benefit humanity. It should not just be about intelligence but more on how our intelligence can help others. During the LEP 2011 in Portland, that’s when I actually realised the impact of the Mensa Education and Research Fund and its journal. In Malaysia, most of our Mensa activities tend to be socially oriented. We do have a couple of educational talks but our social gatherings were better attended. I realised that we can make an impact on the education of the future generation by helping to contribute towards their development. Currently, the Malaysian natcomm is trying to find ways in which we can assist the Ministry of Education as well as the Ministry of Higher Education so that we can help in this endeavour of developing our youths.

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Most of all I understand that I may be one person, but with the support and teamwork from other Mensans, here in Malaysia or from around the world, I can make a difference. The opportunity of participating in LEP 2011 was a blessing in which it opened up my world to beyond Malaysian Mensa. It gave me the confidence to socialise with other Mensans as we already have something in common. It also gave me access to a wide network of knowledge. There’s a global community where I can ask for help, support, advise and help. More than that, it gave me the opportunity to form friendships with other Mensans from around the world and that truly is the best thing I gained from the LEP 2011.

Leadership Exchange Ambassador Program 2012 Information for Chairmen/Presidents of National Mensas

AIM OF THE PROGRAM All too often, different Mensas develop independently of each other; why not profit more from the Mensan international context and wisdom? The Leadership Exchange Ambassador Program aims to organize leadership development in a transnational structure characterized by learning, sharing of experiences, ideas and existing leadership programs (such as the one in American Mensa), and networking, building transnational relationships. The participants of today will be the potential Mensa leaders of the future; this is a program to support the next generation of leaders! REQUEST FOR NOMINATIONS

1. Members of all National Mensas may participate (FNMs, PNMs, and ENMs). 2. The nomination process in every country is up to the board of that National Mensa. 3. Nominations must be submitted before 10 March 2012 to leapcomm@mensa.org using the

form, LEAP 2012 Nomination Form (last page of this document). Materials should be forwarded by email only.

SELECTION PROCESS The candidates whose nomination form and other materials were received by the deadline of 10 March 2012 will be considered along with some or all of the following criteria:

1. Candidate has been officially nominated by his or her national Mensa board. 2. Candidate has participated in at least one major international event to show interest in

international cooperation. 3. Candidate has achieved a major goal or has been active in a certain field in an national

Mensa, judged by material sent in. 4. Candidate should be willing to travel and communicate with other Mensans. 5. Candidate develops and is able to present a topic related to leadership in Mensa groups

to Mensa audiences at the American AG and the Asian AG in 2012. 6. Candidate should possess foreign language skills. Besides their mother tongue, the

candidate should be fluent in the English language. More languages are a plus. 7. Candidate should be aware of cultural differences or have experience in cross-cultural

learning or business. 8. Candidate should be willing to transfer their workshop/seminar information in written

form to their national publication, the International Journal, and an individual report to the IBD at their 2012 meeting in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

9. Candidate should be willing to transfer and multiply the information in different forms such as seminars, discussions, podcasts, films or other creative means on their own and, if feasible, to other Mensa groups.

10. Candidate should submit a 5- to 10-minute YouTube video, showing how he or she will present the topic of interest to their audiences. Link to the YouTube video introducing

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yourself (If this is your first YouTube publication, please see:Video creation: http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=57409 Video upload: http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/static.py?hl=en-GB&guide=1719823&topic=1719825&hlrm=de&page=guide.cs) Assistance is available for any candidate who wishes it. Members of the LEAP committee are very willing to help any candidate.

Note: We know that no one can match ALL criteria and that will be taken into consideration.

DECISION PROCESS Decisions by the LEAP Committee will be based on the criteria listed above, the Nomination Form filled out by the candidate, and the YouTube video. FINANCIAL ASPECTS Mensa International will cover most of the expenses of this program. Specific questions concerning expenses will be handled by the LEAP Committee.

TIMELINE

January 2012 - Distribution of information to Chairmen/Presidents of National Mensas Simultaneous distribution through social media channels and Mensa.org February 2012 - Publication of LEAP 2012 information in International Journal, more news on social media

outlets January through February 2012 - National Mensas officially nominate candidates 10 March 2012 - Deadline for receipt of official nominations along with relevant material for

each candidate as noted in the Nomination Form 25 March 2012 Decision by LEAP Committee: 6 or more candidates will be chosen 25 March 2012 Inform participants of LEAP Committee’s decision From 25 March 2012 Participants work on topics for seminars, join together on LEAP elist and FaceBook page

to meet each other, get material from Mensa International to claim expenses, develop communication plan for the duration of the program, and exchange details about the two major events: American Mensa Annual Gathering (USAG) in Reno, Nevada, 4 to 8 July 2012 and Asian Mensas Annual Gathering (AMAG) in Bali, Indonesia, late September 2012.

April 2012 Details to USAG and AMAG organisers about topics and materials needed for workshops, seminars (video projectors, flip charts, etc.). Descriptions of seminars and presenters need to be nearly final so that program booklets carry full details of LEAP participants. June 2012 Participants continue to work on seminars. Travel plans finalized. Questions answered. July, September 2012 Participation at USAG and AMAG September 2012 Participants send individual reports to leapcomm@mensa.org for compilation to be part of agenda for IBD meeting in October 2012. Reports from participants form the foundation for the following year’s participants.

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Nomination Form 2012 Leadership Exchange Program

By 10 March 2012, please send this form and all other material by email to:

leapcomm@mensa.org Nominating National Mensa: Nomination by national board/committee: ________Yes (If not, why?)

What do you want to achieve in the program and for Mensa? Which topics will you be able to provide in a seminar (name them and give an explanation of why you may be an expert)? Which topics are of interest for your National Mensa? Please attach as well the following documents to your email: Description of how the candidate meets the criteria of the nominating board Description/profile/CV of the candidate (maximum 2 pages) Link to YouTube video (contact LEAPComm@Mensa.org, if you need help with

this item).

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List of 2012 LEAP applicants

Date Rec’d Name Country/National Mensa YouTube

Link

Board

Appr. Comments

3 March Athanasios

Kosmopoulos Greece/Hellenic Mensa EM Y Y

Christos Apostolidis

[chairman@mensa.org.gr]

3 March Alexandros

Papandreou Greece/Hellenic Mensa EM Y Y

4 March Eszter

Chrobacsinszky

Hungary/Mensa HungarIQa

FNM Y Y

nagylantos@gmail.com

Balázs Nagy Lantos

[elnok@mensa.hu]

5 March Frauke Rieken Germany/Mensa in

Deutschland FNM Y Y

Matthias Moehl

[matthias.moehl@election.

de]

6 March

Jessica Kelley

Jessie Cat

[be.good.cat@gmai

l.com]

Australia/Australian Mensa

FNM Y Y

6 March Aleksandra

Borovic

Serbia/

Mensa Serbia FNM Y Y

7 March Juho Kilkku Finland/Suomen Finland FNM Y Y Kaj Lindholm

[kaj.lindholm@mensa.fi]

7 March Jim Mourgelas Canada/ La Société Mensa

Canada Society FNM Y Y

millienorry@gmail.com

Millie Norry

[millynorry@sympatico.ca

]

8 March Vicki Herd Canada/ La Société Mensa

Canada Society FNM Y Y

millienorry@gmail.com

Millie Norry

[millynorry@sympatico.ca

]

9 March Hana Dojcanova Slovakia/Mensa Slovensko

PNM Y Y karci [karci@seznam.cz]

9 March Jan Fizel Slovakia/Mensa Slovensko

PNM Y Y karci [karci@seznam.cz]

9 March Katarina Frost

Nielsen

Slovakia/Mensa Slovensko

PNM Y

YouTube link not included,

requested it

karci [karci@seznam.cz]

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Date Rec’d Name Country/National Mensa YouTube

Link

Board

Appr. Comments

9 March Roeland van Zeijst The Netherlands/ Mensa

Nederland FNM Y

Link works, 12 March

Secretaris Vereniging

Mensa NL

[secretaris@mensa.nl]

10 March

Shannon Moody

[shannonul165@ya

hoo.com]

U.S/ American Mensa FNM Y Y

10 March

Dana Spinney

[dana.spinney@gm

ail.com]

U.S./ American Mensa FNM Y Y

10 March

Daniel Kilov

[daniel.kilov@gma

il.com]

Australia/Australian Mensa

FNM Y

Approv. per Kymberley

W., 12 March

Kymberley Wilson

[chair@mensa.org.au]

10 March Jenny Akerman Sweden/Mensa Sverige FNM Y Y

mensakaillan@gmail.com

Karin Kaill

[proxy@mensa.se]

10 March Hampus Soderberg Sweden/Mensa Sverige FNM Y Y

10 March Louise Steenekamp

[pr@mensa.org.za]

South Africa/Mensa South

Africa FNM Y Y

10 March Jan Terje Botten

Bakler Norway/Mensa Norge FNM Y Link works

10 March Petr Mazal Czech Republic / Mensa Czech

Republic FNM Y Y

10 March Joel Teixeira Brazil /

Mensa Brasil - FNM Y Link works

10 March LaRae Bakerink U.S./ American Mensa FNM Y Y

10 March Na Young Kwon South Korea/

Mensa Korea FNM Y Y

10 March Daphne Oon Malaysia/Malaysian Mensa

FNM

Board has approved,

YouTube still missing

10 March Sue Ryearn Sheen South Korea/

Mensa Korea Y Y

Shaded rows denote finalists.

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The 2012 LEAP Committee There were 13 members of the 2012 Committee who developed the application, the timeline, the criteria, and eventually selected the finalists – Azrai Skymmar, Ben Nemenoff (2011 LEP), Beth Anne Demeter (2010 LEP), Cinthia Reyes, Cinzia Busi, Cyndi Kuyper, Grethe van Geffen, Isabella Holz (2011 LEP), Jacqueline Bonkenburg (2011 LEP), Jacek Cywinski, Roman Slovenc, Zabeda Abdul Hamid (2011 LEP), and Elissa Rudolph, chair. The deadline was 10 March, and most of the applications arrived on that date or just before. In all there were 26 applications from 18 countries, a very good turnout, we thought. We were hampered by budget constraints. After selecting the finalists, those with top scores, we predicted air travel for the top 6, then factored in hotel, meals, and incidental expenses. It became obvious with the very high expenses in air travel that we would not be able to send 6 people to the two large Mensa gatherings that had been advertised. We decided after much consideration to send 5 people with 1 as a backup. Also we noted that the next LEAP application should not specify locations and the Committee should instead see where finalists are located then choose the Mensa gatherings to which they would travel. In this photo taken at the American Mensa AG in Reno, Nevada, are the five finalists with Willem Bouwens, International Chairman. From left: Eszter Chrobacsinszky, Aleksandra Borovic, Louise Steenekamp, Willem, Roeland van Zeijst, and Vicki Herd.

Their reports follow…

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The Leadership Exchange Ambassador Program (LEAP) 2012 Report Name: Aleksandra Borovic

Affiliation: Mensa Serbia

Introduction Being a long term assisstant at the Embassy of Canada in Belgrade, I felt a bit bored for not having new

chalenges and tasks at work. So I was looking for some change and that's how Mensa entered in my life. Very

soon I discovered that there are so many possibilities for self-development and also for the developmnet of the

pretty new organization, that Mensa Serbia was at the beguinning of the 21st century. So I started my

envolvement and tried many new activities and organized many projects and learned a lot about myself through

Mensa. Through all this work, Mensa got a very important place in my life, it simply entered under my skin.

After a while, facing constantly the problems that are so usual in Mensa world, I felt that I came to the point that

I needed some push in order to gain more energy and enthousisam for my future Mensa work. I feel that the

LEAP was exactly what I needed at this moment.

Why You Applied for LEAP 2012 (Mensa related and Personal)

For last 7-8 years I have done a variety of jobs within Mensa Serbia, so I thought I could be the right person for

this program. I thought I knew the functioning of Mensa Serbia in deep and I could provide many information

on the Serbian way of doing things in Mensa. On the other hand, my previous international gatherings showed

me how things are different in NMs worldwide, so I knew I could learn a lot from other participants and that

they can show me how to see things from different prospectives.

Like every human been and every Mensa volunteer, I was getting into a crysis of enthousiasm because of ever

repeting problems within my NM. I knew that the attendence of the international gathering always brought me

the additional wind into my sails , so I hoped I would get an injection of enthousiasm through this program.

And to be honest, another personal reason was the fact that I have never been to Bali, and I wished to see that

place

LESSONS LEARNT

From Other Presentations From Eszter's presentation: Idea on Gamification / creating Mensa games with levels; Idea to have a card for

different discounts for Mensa members; teach members of what it means to be a volunteer;

From Vickie's presentation: I got the idea on giving prizes for long term membership (10 years - 20 years…);

When we have members proposing different options and activities - give them the responsibility and the task; I

heard about the Appolo team and the "Shooting starts"; The team has to have 9 different roles fulfilled in order

to be successful;

From Louise's presentation: Importance of using social networks Tweeter and Linked-in; Calendary of events

and testings on the website; Mensa news script to collect news about Mensa world from all public web sites.

From Roeland's presentation: Idea of the committee for dispute resolution; International Ombudsman has no

power over the decisions of the NM. Being right does not mean that you'll get what you want.

Cinthia's presentation: I learned about Mensa Mexico, how old and how big it is; althogh small it organizes

brainstorming for enterpreneurs; connecting the ideas of Mensans through www.animusm.com. About the

projects of Mensa Singapore - helping autistic & other disabled people; UK Mensa providing manual for

teachers on how to treat and what to do with gifted children; Mensa Czech Republic has gifted children clubs

and summer camps;

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From Your Own Presentation It was from the reactions of the audience on my presentation that I learnt about other possible ways I can

organize the system of rewarding the volunteers. Instead of doing the evaluation publically, we can do it within

a team and provide gift cards or certificates instead of services free of charge to reward the volunteers, or even

to provide free membership (?). We can also make a form on our website, where the volunteers can enter their

hours of work by themselves and do the self assessment, but the approval must be done by a team leader.

Reward can be also presented through the raffle tickets, some pins that can represent certain number of points.

We can also provide list where different colours will represent the points awarded for professional work (such as

the work of a psychologist) and for other simple duties.

We may do a research on what the members would consider as a good reward/recognition/motivation for their

volunteer work

We should also define what would we consider to be a successful implementation of the ViN system.

From Other Presentations/Workshops during the AG and AMG How to work with almost anybody - how to treat a difficult Mensa member in order to turn him into a usefull

member.

Everybody wants to be right. If a difficult person knows that people would deny him and avoid him/her - show

him/her that s/he is not right!

When some unacceptable behaviour is notices it should be mentioned to that person right away. It should be

described very precisely and the person should be told what behaviour would be acceptable instead. If s/he

changes behaviour, show him/her that it was noted and appreciated.

When a person is angry - talk to him/her slowly and in low voice.

When replying to e-mails - live it overnight before sending.

Never say to an angry person what CAN NOT be done, but rather what CAN be done.

Mr Mensa election evening - how to collect money for the Foundation through fun

How These Lessons Could Help Your Respective Mensa Chapter I already started the implementation of some of the ideas I learnt from other presentations. I wrote an article

about LEAP and my experiences in Reno for our national Mensa magazine MozaIQ. I'll present all the new

ideas I got at the gathering of Mensa Serbia in early September at the Lake Palic, and we'll see how the

members react. I already started the negotiations with the National Board about making the Mensa Merchandise

and what to do with the potential income out of the sale. I plan to do my presentation at the Annual Meeting of

Mensa Serbia Assembly and to start the discussion about potential improvement and application of the ViN

system.

How the LEAP 2012 Has Impacted You Personally It helped me go through one of the most difficult situations I've lived in my life: In May 2012 I lost my good job

at the Embassy of Canada in Belgrade that I was working on for the last 17 years. But the focus on the

upcoming events relating to LEAP 2012 kept me busy and in the good mood, exactly when I needed it.

It gave me the possibility to enrich my international Mensa network.

It also gave me the idea to apply for an international Mensa post, so I applied for the LEAP committee.

BEST PRACTICES – what went well

American Gathering (AG) Everything went well at the AG in Reno. I just had to by my ticket and get the visa, everything else was done by

the organizers. I appreciate very much the attention that Elissa Rudolph provided us with. I also liked the fact

that the LEAP committee members were there all the time to guide us and introduce us to other AG participants.

They were very helpful.

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Asian Mensa Gathering Will provide reply later

Areas of Improvement (i.e what could have been improved in organising the LEAP, the AG &

AMG) -To have the schedule well in advance in order to schedule our arrival in time to attend all presentations.

- All LEAP presentations to be marked with special colour in the printed material so that other members can

easily see them among this great number of topics and presentations.

- Some kind of comon event - excursion, tournament, sport competition or so would be useful for the "team

building" of the LEAP participants

Advice for Future LEAP Participants - If possible, try to stay longer/come earlier to the event; communicate with other participants in advance to try

to arrange comon activities before or after the AG.

- Don't spend time on sleeping, just try to attend as many events as possible.

Future Plans for Yourself (in terms of involvement with Mensa) Participation in the MIL committees

Providing presentations on LEAP for Mensa Serbia members

Making first steps towards organizing some kind of Mensa Serbia Foundation

Conclusion This program is definitively useful for NMs as well as for MIL. For those of us who have done a lot of Mensa

work it can be seen as a kind of reward for all our energy and time. And once the entousiast is rewarded, he/she

gets even more motivation to go on with the hard work.

Last year I attended the International meeting of SIGHT coordinators in Sofia. After that meeting I did couple of

things to promote the SIGHT as service to Mensa members. The result was a multuplication of the interest of

our members for this service. I have now a network of SIGHT hosts in Serbia. I also got more requests from

foreign Mensa members for SIGHT services in last 9 months than in 5 years before. So the results are visible. I

am positive that the similar thing will happen after my participation at the LEAP 2012.

Prepared by: Aleksandra Borovic (Mensa Chapter: Mensa Serbia)

LEAP Report No. 1. – after the American AG

Eszter Chrobacsinszky, Mensa Hungary

Reasons for applying to the program

- opportunity to travel

I admit it’s not the best motivation, but because I work as a freelancer and have financial

incentives to work as much as I can, I probably wouldn’t have cancelled working days to go to

either to the US AG or to the Asian AG. However, the program went so well I will definitely set

aside days for these events!

- participation at an international Mensa event

One of the things I would like to do differently in Hungarian Mensa is the extraordinary

introversion and isolatedness of people. I would like to see my fellow Mensans open up towards

international horizons and make contacts worldwide. I though my example would give a

headstart to these activities.

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- thinking big

I come from a small Mensa, but I see Mensa as a place where it doesn’t matter how small you

start, what matters is how big you dare dream. So I though I had something to say even to

American members, and it turned out to be true.

- becoming a leader

The program was a fantastic opportunity to gain the skills I still need to be a good Mensa leader.

I also had it in mind that the participation might give the necessary justification for those who

would not vote for me at an election because I’m „too young” to lead Mensa. Now I’m the only

one in Mensa Hungary who has „learned how to do it”.

Ambitions within the program

- learn about the ways other Mensas do things (motivating volunteers, tackling conflicts,

attracting outsiders)

It was very interesting to see an organisation like American Mensa, which is, on one hand, a

large, well-developed Mensa, and on the other hand, consists of smaller regional and local

groups which are suffering from the same problems as my National Mensa. So it was a great

package: I could learn about the functioning of dozens of Mensas!

- build an international network

Due to the many invitations within the program, I was able to talk to Mensa leaders who would

otherwise never have approached a Gen Y girl they had never seen. Their input and opinion was

priceless to me. Also, such an exquisite environment is a large motivation for me to become an

international leader one day.

In addition to this, I made friends with Mensans my age, which is really rare in Hungary. I

became involved in the Gen Y SIG, and this urges me to found a similar thing in Mensa

Hungary…

- see what I am worth when compared to „professionals”

As you may see, I was searching more for learning opportunities than for teaching ones. This is

because I consider myself young, inexperienced, and I know I have a lot to learn. But I also

know I have studied and practiced Communication for years, so I was curious to see how my

presentation would be accepted. I had also had the impression that Americans are usually taught

to present at school, and self-confidence is more inherent to their culture than it is common in

Eastern Europe, so I was looking forward to being evaluated by Americans.

- provide an Eastern perspective

Most large Mensas are in Western countries, and that has several reasons. The problem is that

international leaders do not always understand the different problems and motivations of Eastern

European people (money is often an issue; collectivism equals communism; volunteering has no

traditions; speaking foreign languages is not an evidence etc.). I hoped I could make Westerners

see that however globalized we are in these small countries that make up half of the Old

Continent, we still have obstacles to overcome. I think this topic came up quite often during our

presentations, and the people who were there maybe now understand „us” better. What is more

important, I now absolutely feel part of the Mensa global family!

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The AG – PLUSes

- organisation

Badges, hospitality, merchandise – three things we don’t have at our AG’s, but which are

wonderful ideas. I lost my Speaker and Leadership Ambassador ribbons, but people approached

me anyway, which was very nice.

These things also create a feeling of belonging – such as the Gen X, Gen Y, Hell’s M’s and Gay

SIG suites and stickers. These make a community at AG’s.

- the presentations of my fellow LEAPers

I think it’s great to have several people in the program. I would encourage IBD (or whoever is

responsible for this) not to diminish the number of participants. Their efforts were very

stimulating to me and we learned a lot from each other.

- glamourous events

The Awards Luncheon, Gala Dinner and Mr. Mensa are great amazing ideas to appreciate each

other’s company, efforts and to make everyone enjoy themselves.

The AG – MINUSes

- lack of publicity for LEAP

Many people did not know about it. It would have been useful to promote it with a different

colour code in the schedule. Several members I talked to were fascinated by the idea but didn’t

learn about it in time. Since having attended an international event is a criterion for selection, it

would be a good idea to mention it in the journal, along with the ad for other AG’s (e.g.: „This

event is not only fun, it might be your entry to next year’s LEAP program”). Also, I would like

to see a dedicated page on the mensa.org website, because reading the reports of previous years,

I have found very good ideas, which are not distributed in any way.

- collision of programs

Very often I had to choose between lunch and a good lecture, or I had to go to a reception when

there was something very interesting going on. I know there are too many applicants it would be

a shame to turn down, but it was frustrating at the same time. Hopefully next year in Texas I will

have less obligations and will be able to attend everything I’m interested in.

I cannot really mention any more negative things about the AG.

Presentations and things I learned

Alexandra Borovic – Serbia: The ViN system

I was surprised the method didn’t work in Serbia. Then the comments from the audience shed

light on the difference between recognition and motivation. We did not notice this distinction in

Hungary. Another very interesting idea was that there is an Executive Committee alongside the

Board, which consists of avid volunteers, and whose opinion is listened to.

Vicki Herd – Canada: Team Dynamics

It was very funny to recognise the dysfunctional Mensa personalities we also have in Hungary,

and I learned a lot from the 9 roles people may adopt in a team. I seem to be a schyzophrenic,

though: sometimes I’m a shaper, and sometimes I love to mingle with details and finishing the

project.

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Louise Steenekamp – South Africa: Social Media for Mensa

As I am also responsible for the Facebook page of Mensa Hungary, I was delighted to see some

of the methods she is using. For example, the fast reaction capacity is amazing. It can be so slow

to convince the board to give green light to an idea; and things evolve very fast online. The

integration of blog, website, and social media was amazing. By creating an English website (for

a multilingual country) they have opened the possibility for real international contacts.

Roeland van Zeijst – The Netherlands: Conflict resolution

The first novelty in this amazing presentation was that where we have a „Disciplinary

Committee” aimed at punishing lawbreakers, in the Netherlands they have a „Dispute Resolution

Committee” which rather mediates between people. I believe the great atmosphere this creates in

the national Mensa results in having several thousand mostly happy members. And, of course, I

will forever remember the phrase „Gelijk hebben is nog niet hetzelfde als gelijk krijgen”.

And the most important phrase I learned through this whole AG was as follows: „It’s better to

ask for forgiveness than for permission”. And the best thing is when you don’t have to apologise

for an idea that worked, even if you had forgotten to ask for permission. In an ideal Mensa, this

would mean no problem for the leaders.

My plans for the near future – until the Asian AG

I contacted our designer in order to make special merchandise for the AG, based on the ideas

I’ve seen in Reno.

I contacted our webmaster in order to create an English website for international purposes.

I will give a presentation on LEAP at our AG at the end of August.

We hope to welcome Jim Werdell at our AG, and I would like him to give a presentation on MIL

too.

Rework my presentation based on the comments I got and the ideas that came to me while in

Reno.

Boost the Mensa Hungary blog with excerpts from our Journal (contributions by members) and

the best letter from the mailing list, in order to show outsider show fun Mensa can be.

Volunteer to represent Mensa Hungary at the biggest music festival in Hungary (Sziget) in

August; attract more young people.

Try to convince our chair to nominate me as a proxy to handle international mails, because like

many Hungarians, he is not comfortable with his otherwise totally fine English and chooses to be

silent, while I think sometimes it would necessary to communicate.

Leadership Ambassador Exchange Program 2012 Vicki Herd

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Motivation to apply for nomination

1. Mensa Canada The president of Mensa Canada phoned and asked me to apply to the LEAP program to ensure there was at least one Canadian applicant. I saw LEAP mentioned in Mensa literature but never made the connection that I would be eligible to apply. In completing the application I knew my Mensa experience and resume would probably be sufficient but I was uncertain about my ability to produce an adequate YouTube video. I was grateful for the instructions given with the application realizing I didn’t need fancy camera equipment or a camera crew and made the video sitting in front of my laptop computer in one evening. I was aware of the LEP program as I recall seeing exchange ambassadors at both the Dearborn AG in 2010 and the Portland AG in 2011 and thinking what a great cultural exchange it fostered. 2. Personal I strongly believe in the philosophy that one gets out of life what one puts into it. I viewed the entire LEAP program as a challenge. Could I assemble an adequate LEAP application? Would my application be successful? Who were the other applicants? Could I self-produce a compelling YouTube video? Could I capably represent Mensa Canada? Could I engage an international audience? My topic on Team Dynamics, and its relevance to Mensa, came to my attention at least 7 years ago. I always intended to research the topic in greater depth and perhaps publish an article in MC2 – Mensa Canada’s national newsletter. This is one instance where procrastination paid off. Being entrusted to present my topic at both the American and Asian AGs, plus having Mensa International invest in those efforts, motivated me to research my topic in depth and allowed me to share it with an international audience. My LEAP experience so far has more than exceeded any of my expectations.

Experience Gained - American Mensa AG – Reno

From other LEAP ambassadors

Aleksandra Borovic – Serbia

The ViN system

Aleksandra described the difficulty of recruiting volunteers in an economically depressed economy. Mensa Serbia developed a reward system which was obviously well designed detailing all possible volunteer opportunities within the organization. Aleksandra claimed the method didn’t work because Serbian members disputed the point allocations to individual

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volunteer tasks. Differences between recognition and motivation were suggested as the root cause of the issue by AG audience members. I found the ViN system to be a very sound idea and would encourage Serbia to try it again with minor adjustments after asking Serbian members for their input. My main takeaway from this session was the issues faced by Mensa Serbia are very similar to those facing Mensa Canada and perhaps Mensa internationally.

Eszter Chrobacsinszky- Hungary

A Mensa Volunteer’s Timeline – from outsider to ambassador

Eszter presented her personal rapid rise in 5 years from a new member to the national board of Mensa Hungary to an international leadership ambassador. Eszter is a prime example of an extremely capable person in their early 20s who is willing and able to make a huge contribution to Mensa. We can only hope that Eszter is a great role model for the future international leaders of Mensa.

Louise Steenekamp – South Africa

Social Media for Mensa

Louise described how she was so frustrated with the poor use of social media by Mensa South Africa she took the initiative to revamp the South African website and integrate it with social media and blog capabilities. Fortunately, Louise is an IT professional and was able to design a fabulous website herself. I will certainly share this information with Mensa Canada which is currently frustrated waiting for the overdue launch of its new national website. Louise also obviously is an experienced presenter as she demonstrated very professional presentation skills.

Roeland – The Netherlands

Conflict Resolution

Roeland is one of 3 members of Dutch Mensa’s Dispute Resolution Committee which plays a mediation role in members disputes. His description of personality conflicts and complaints within Dutch Mensa were familiar to all audience members from many different national Mensa groups.

Roeland added international flavour at the end of his presentation by teaching the audience an expression in Dutch “Gelijk hebben is nog niet hetzelfde als gelijk krijgen”. Still far from fluent I believe it translates as “Being right doesn’t mean getting your own way.”

Experience Gained - American Mensa AG – Reno

From my own LEAP presentation

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I had a lot of fun developing my presentation on Team Dynamics. Management theory can be boring if not presented with energy, humour, visual graphics and anecdotes of the theory in action. My intention was to incorporate all these factors into a topic that was very relevant to Mensa. I enjoyed fully researching the topic and made great use of selecting images from Google to illustrate my concepts.

My presentation in Reno was received very favourably. I was surprised to learn the Apollo Syndrome, which was published more than 30 years ago, was unfamiliar to any members in the audience when it is so relevant to Mensa. No one who has seen my presentation disputes the theory.

The best constructive advice I received was from Zabeda Abdul Hamid from Mensa Malaysia who told me to edit some of my photos before delivering the presentation in Bali as Indonesia is an Islamic country. Needless to say the 3 scantily clad photos which appeared in my presentation in Reno will not make an appearance in Bali. I also indeed to develop handouts so people can takaway description of the team roles.

From other AG presentations

Highlights of the AG for me were the VIP treatment given to the LEAP ambassadors plus:

The Buying and Selling of American Children Tiffany Short, an FBI Victim Specialist, presented shocking statistics on the instances of Human Trafficking in the USA.

The Stars Above Richard Manley, a Solar Ambassador for NASA, showed fabulous discoveries in deep space using images taken by the Hubble telescope.

TOPGUN Today CDR Steven “Sonic” Hejmanowski described the history and logistics of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School.

Mr Mensa Pageant

What went well?

The hotel and hospitality suite were fabulous and accommodated all AG programs very well.

Networking opportunities were stellar.

Elissa clearly communicated what sessions LEAP ambassadors should attend so we could plan our schedules accordingly and not miss out on anything important.

The evaluation forms provided great feedback on the presentations.

Possible Improvements?

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Scheduling the LEAP presentations throughout the AG rather than 4 on the same day would be preferable for the LEAP ambassadors. Perhaps offering extra concessions to LEAP ambassadors from poorer nations would aid their ability to attend the gatherings.

Experience Gained - Asian Mensa Gathering – Bali Info to come... Extra Benefits

The international network of friends I have made in Reno and expect to make in Bali will be valuable resources I can consult in various personal and Mensa endeavours. Likewise, I will share Mensa Canada and Mensa Calgary experiences and learnings with them. I have learned about realities faced by Mensa in other countries and cultures.

Participation as a 2012 LEAP ambassador will add cachet to participants’ resumes for future jobs or speaking engagements.

I can act as a consultant to other Canadian Mensans wanting information about the LEAP program.

My LEAP evaluation forms asked for follow up sessions on Team Dynamics which I may present at future Mensa gatherings.

Attendance at the American AG has inspired me to become further involved in Mensa leadership activities and to recruit new leaders into the fold. General Improvements

The only difficulty I have experienced with LEAP so far was the lack of pre-planning for the Asian Mensa Annual Gathering in Bali. It has been difficult to get details of the event and to book rooms at the AMAG hotel. Activities So Far

In the 2 weeks since the Reno AG I attended the Mensa Canada AGM and board meetings in Halifax, Nova Scotia last weekend and reported on my experiences in Reno. The Mensa Canada board asked to hear my LEAP presentation which I delivered to them without a projector and screen.

I have forwarded my PowerPoint presentation in pdf format to a number of people who requested I do so in Reno. I also forwarded the presentation to the Mensa Canada board members.

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The Leadership Exchange Ambassador Program (LEAP) 2012 Report

Louise Steenekamp Mensa South Africa

Introduction The prospect of having a system in place whereby leaders can be mentored and coached to add even more value on a regional, national and international level, is very exciting. Leaders are not necessarily always in decision-making positions, and LEAP an opportunity for those leaders who have, up to now, stayed ‘below the radar’, to step forward and drive certain aspects over which they do have influence. Leadership is not confined to (and sometimes sadly lacking from) people in leadership positions, and I believe that LEAP provides an ideal opportunity to bridge this gap.

Why You Applied for LEAP 2012 (Mensa related and Personal) I believe that I have a lot to share form my own experience and from the collective experience of our member community. I also have a lot to learn, and I am excited about the prospect of bringing learnings from other Mensa Chapters back to my own country, and sharing them with fellow members of Mensa South Africa. It often happens that when we speak to people from a completely different environment, we find that we all share very similar challenges, concerns and scenarios. Combining our thinking can only speed up the process of finding creative and entrepreneurial ways of addressing these items. I’m also of the opinion that Mensa Chapters all over the world have very similar challenges. If we share our ideas around solutions to these challenges, not only do we fast-track our own growth, but it also sparks new creative ideas which result in even more exciting growth. Mensa is a transnational organisation, and we should utilise that to play a more significant role in the challenges that face the world today.

LESSONS LEARNT From Other Presentations Although wherever you find people, you find similar challenges, many of the solutions have a slightly different ‘flavour’ due to cultural diversity. The biggest eye-opener for me was that people’s attitudes towards wanting to contribute (for example volunteer workers) differs from one place to another – in some countries volunteerism is not the norm at all, and people are only moved to do things if they are compensated for it financially.

From Your Own Presentation Sometimes we forget that what seems obvious to ourselves, may be a completely unique concept to others. I believed that we were ‘catching up’ to the rest of the world in a big way from a South African perspective, and – as before – I was pleasantly surprised that a lot of the feedback my presentation received was around how sophisticated Mensa South Africa’s digital marketing strategy is, and that we’re actually part of the ‘front runners’ in this space.

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Also, our natural tendency in South Africa of looking for synergies in the way things integrate, seems to have been very beneficial in our transformation to the ‘digital age’.

How These Lessons Could Help Your Respective Mensa Chapter We’ll certainly spend even more time getting closer to our members to understand their needs even better, and to see where we can leverage off some of their individual strengths. When planning any initiatives locally, we’ll be much more aware of cultural diversity (as we also have a lot of it in South Africa). The topics in the other LEAP presentations were very useful to our own environments, and the fact that they were presented in front of audiences from various other Mensa organisations, means that many of the questions that were asked are very similar to those that would come from our own members. I would certainly like to get permission from the other LEAP participants to not only use their presentations at our own events, but to use the actual videos so that the presentations can stay true to their intention, and nothing gets ‘lost in translation’. Furthermore I’d like to share the ideas that come from our own audiences who watch these videos in a facilitated way, with the presenters so that these grow beyond LEAP presentations to become transnational workshops.

How the LEAP 2012 Has Impacted You Personally I enjoy interacting with people, and especially in roles where I get to interact with people from other countries and cultures. So far I’ve found LEAP very special in this sense, as not only do I get to interact with people from other countries and cultures on another level, but I also get to work in a team with them – across geographical and cultural boundaries, which is amazing in itself. Kudos to the organizers and management – I truly hope this programme will run for many years and help Mensa achieve great heights. I am certain that the LEAP participants over time will remain close, and that the exchange of ideas and solutions will, through discussion and various forums, continue. What has also been a pleasant surprise is that not only have I been working with the other 2012 participants, but some of the previous participants (especially those now part of the LEAP committee) are part of the team as well. It’s as if the team grows in numbers and strength with each year that it runs.

Although transnational interaction is entirely possible without LEAP (and something that I’ve personally been quite involved in with people from around the world in Mensa since 2010), LEAP facilitates a much stronger and more structured approach to getting synergy from leadership around the world.

BEST PRACTICES – what went well American Gathering (AG) Truly commendable organisation. I was extremely impressed with how well the whole event was organised, and how smoothly everything ran. No one had to wonder about anything at any given time.

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I particularly enjoyed the fact that the social media side of things was addressed with the online forum being available even before the event. I connected with just about everyone who was registered either before or during the event, and made a few very valuable connections. The fact that people could arrange to meet up, etc. was great as the LEAP team didn’t have much time in-between all the presentations and other functions we were expected to attend (which was also great in itself), so making the most of the ‘free’ time that we had was made much easier through the use of social media.

Advice for Future LEAP Participants Go for it! Also – make time to spend time (e.g. just a dinner, lunch, etc. inbetween scheduled events) with the other LEAP participants. The schedule can get quite hectic, and it’s really nice if you can get to know each other on a purely social level a little better.

Future Plans for Yourself (in terms of involvement with Mensa) I will continue in my role as PR Coordinator for Mensa South Africa for the time being, I enjoy it immensely. Beyond that I’ll continue to find ways to interact with members both on national and international level and to share ideas and initiatives – whether in an official or personal capacity.

Conclusion In closing, this is a truly amazing programme, and it is refreshing that Mensa has, on an international level, decided to open such opportunity up to Mensa members around the Globe in various levels of leadership, evaluating all the participants on an individual basis against pre-set criteria – rather than being part of a formally elected structure. This speaks of an organisation that is not only maturing in its own journey, but is also open to embrace new, innovative and creative thinking. Seeing this programme come to life makes me proud to be a Mensan, and energises me to do much more in my own country to facilitate a positive impact on the things and people around us, and to create more opportunities for our members to do so.

Prepared by: Louise Steenekamp (Mensa Chapter: Mensa South Africa)

Mensa Leadership Ambassador & Exchange Program 2012

Roeland van Zeijst (rovaz@rovaz.com)

First report (after the American AG)

1. Goals

1.1 Specific interests

As one of three members of the Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) of Mensa The

Netherlands, I applied for LEAP 2012 specifically to share and gain insights in conflict

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resolution with other Mensa chapters. I’ve observed that (some) highly intelligent people have

complicated ways of interacting during conflict, which can be a catalyst for personal and

organizational difficulties. I hope that we, as an international community, can learn how to better

manage these dynamics.

After I applied for LEAP, our national Mensa decided to instate a Mensa Education and

Research Foundation (MERF), similar to the one in existence in the US. A final decision on this

will be made next year. Because this is a bold new step for us, I decided to use this AG to learn

as much as possible about the background and approach of the American MERF. As a member

of the DRC, I’m not allowed to hold other positions within Mensa The Netherlands, but I could

(and would like to) contribute to the Foundation, it being a different organization.

1.2 General interest

Besides this specific exchange of knowledge and experience, I had more general reasons to

participate: learning from other participants, working on leadership development (both

personally and for Mensa), networking within Mensa International, gathering information for

fellow Dutch Mensans, travelling the world ;) and experiencing an American AG first-hand.

2. Surprises

2.1 Family

Though I hadn’t expected otherwise, I was overwhelmed by the way both the entire AG was

organized and the effort the LEAP committee and its staff put into welcoming, guiding and

supporting us. At several key moments, we were publicly welcomed into the family. This felt

really heartwarming. Not selling anyone short, I would like to thank Elissa Rudolph for her

continuing support, as well as Tracy Vecchio and Julie Clark, who have supported all five of us

logistically in the months before the AG. Also, the lovely welcoming committee: Jacqueline

Bonkenburg, Cinthia Reyes and Zabeda Abdul Hamid made me feel very.., well, welcome.

2.2 Lunch, anyone?

As LEAP candidates, we were a bit surprised to find that our contributions were somewhat

scattered throughout the AG. Some of our presentations had to compete with lunch, or even

dinner, which made me put some more energy into marketing my presentation. I’m not

complaining - the AG was jam-packed - but the LEAP program, being quite expensive, might be

even more effective if it got some extra attention, including a separate entry in the booklet.

2.3 Pride

In the Netherlands, it’s more widely accepted to come out of the closet as being gay than as

being highly intelligent. ‘If you’re not mediocre, your head gets cut off,’ we tend to say. I was

both impressed and pleased by the way the Mensa AG was embraced by the local community,

not just the hotels, but even the airport:

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3. Refreshing presentations

3.1 Aleksandra (Serbia): the ViN system

The lack of volunteers is a common problem for, well, volunteer organizations. In Serbia this is a

big problem, due to both the economic circumstances and what you might call cultural

prohibition. I found the idea of creating special incentives for volunteers refreshing, as well as

Aleksandra’s complete honesty in how and why the system had failed in its original design. I

noticed that she received a lot of feedback on improving the ViN system, and it seemed like

many participants were secretly thinking of introducing effective incentives themselves.

3.2 Eszter (Hungary): A volunteer’s timeline

Eszter shared her (and hopefully others’) positive timeline within Mensa, whilst explaining the

challenges her national chapter is facing, from technical to geographical. The significance of her

talk lies in the stress she put on what might hinder or help members of the new generation in

becoming more active members and, eventually, Mensa leaders. By using Facebook statuses on

screen, she managed to integrate the looks and the content of her presentation, giving it a very

fresh and authentic feel.

3.3 Louise (South Africa): Mensa’s evolving new social approach

South Africa’s national chapter has created an inspiring and flexible way to use social media to

engage members nation-wide, without the content maintenance becoming a burden. Having a

background in ICT, I was doubly impressed by the effort Louise put into (co-ordinating) the

design and development of their wonderful web site, which could be a role model for many other

Mensas (even Nelson Mandela has become a fan!). Refreshing was also the lighthearted ease

with which Louise talked about realizing such complicated data connections.

3.4 Vicki (Canada): Team dynamics – improving team effectiveness

Vicki used Belbin-based descriptions and research into personality types and how to (not) create

functioning groups out of them. The descriptions where hilarious. And unfortunately, a lot of the

problems were very recognizable... I loved to hear about smart, idea-minded teams completely

failing, including a NASA department being even unable to come to a decision on making an

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appointment on the matter. Underneath this fun part there lies an important truth about how

complicated it can be to form properly functioning committees. I think for many business

environments, this is a great lesson. For Mensa...probably more of a warning. ;)

4 My dime

4.1 Polder model

The fifth and final

presentation was my

own. I was happy to

find a relatively large

audience in front of

me, most of whom had

skipped lunch or

arranged for food by

other means. Besides

speaking about conflict

as such, I tried to

emphasize the

international exchange

part of LEAP by

relating the Dutch way

of conflict resolution

to our national history: consensus generally prevailing because we were always fighting water

together, also known as the polder model.

I added to this the dispute resolution procedures we have created in our chapter since 1963, as

well as some background discussion on how smart people process conflict. From this, I

introduced a generic toolbox one might use when trying to de-escalate a conflict, either

personally or as a dispute resolution committee.

4.2 Interaction

I loved how the American audience embraced my invitation to participate. They did this before

and after the presentation, by joining a discussion on social media, voting on the topic, asking

questions and offering their contact data for more information. But their co-operation during the

presentation was especially nice, useful and, well, fun. I had prepared a few core questions for

discussion, to which people responded briefly, with very relevant input. Also, I managed to get

them to pronounce a horribly sounding Dutch proverb, with lots of guttural sounds, and within

minutes, the group’s pronunciation sounded to me like I was at home.

4.3 Feedback on my presentation

After the presentation, 29 people filled out a feedback form (see sample form on p. 34). This is

how they responded

(average on a scale of 1-5):

1. How interesting was the topic? (4,5)

2. Was the speaker knowledgeable? (4,7)

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3. Was the speaker prepared? (4,9)

4. Will you incorporate some of the things you’ve learned in your group? (3,9)

I received several good pointers on improving my presentation skills, which I will adopt. Also, I

am looking for ways to make the ‘toolbox’ more relevant to all (see question 4).

4.4. LEAP Feedback

Out of 29 respondents, 15 had heard of LEAP before the AG. 14 hadn’t.

Out of 23 respondents, 5 indicated they would consider participating in next year’s LEAP (most

nay-sayers seem to consider themselves not to be eligible, due to several reasons).

5 Taking home

5.1 MERF

I was inspired learning about the many activities of MERF, meeting their board members and

seeing how the Foundation is run and embraced throughout American Mensa. Many fun ways of

raising money have been developed. Several of the activities are very eligible for a ‘transplant’ to

my country.

5.2 Suites and Rooms

At larger gatherings in The Netherlands we sometimes have a game room or a teens’ room. But

the Gay Suite and the Debate Room were new to me. And I loved the Snack Room!

When there are enough people present, it’s possible to create distinct atmospheres and interesting

interactions this way.

5.2 Friendships

I made a lot of new friends at the AG. I think this is what Mensa is about, and it is also what the

Leadership Exchange & Ambassador Program revolves around. Even though these relations also

have a ‘professional’ component, I suddenly found myself engaged to one of the committee

members...

6 Future activities This AG convinced me to squeeze in EMAG in Stockholm into my plans. I really want to

keep the international Mensa network going and growing, and be part of it.

I’m of course preparing my talk for Bali, for which we still have to find out how much of

the presentation time needs to be cut... I’m very much looking forward to learning from

it, since people in Asia tend to have a different style of conflict management.

After incorporating the Bali input, I’ll compile and share my findings on the topic. I will

investigate a number of specific bylaw-related issues I found out about, some of which

might have consequences for the approach of the dispute resolution committee.

I plan on offering my assistance in building and developing the Dutch MERF, bringing

home the knowledge and network on this topic I have built in the USA.

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I see now how important the role of the LEAP Committee is. Aleksandra pointed out, just

in time, that there were some vacancies for next year’s committee, and I applied.

If it’s remotely possible...I plan on visiting the AG in Fort Worth, next year!

7 Video & your feedback Thanks to my spouse, you can watch my LEAP

2012 presentation here:

http://animusm.com/why-conflicts-are-good-and-

how-we-can-get-better-at-them/

Please share your comments with me, both

regarding content and presentation:

rovaz@rovaz.com

Thanks!

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Leadership Exchange Ambassador Program (LEAP) EVALUATION FORM

Title of

Presentation:___________________________________________________________________

Name of

Presenter:_____________________________________________________________________

ON SCALE OF 1 TO 5 with 1 being “not” and 5 being “very much so”

How interesting was the topic? 5 4 3 2 1

Was the speaker knowledgeable? 5 4 3 2 1

Was the speaker prepared? 5 4 3 2 1

Will you incorporate some of what you learned in this

session when you return to your local/national group? 5 4 3 2 1

Before this AG, did you know about LEAP? ____Yes ____No

If yes, how likely are you to apply to be one of next year’s LEAP participants? Circle one:

Likely Very likely Not likely

What did you find most interesting or helpful in the presentation?

_____________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

What was the most surprising information presented?

_____________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Comments or Suggestions for the

speaker?_______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Suggestions for topics for future LEAP sessions

_____________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

General comments?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Your name

(optional)______________________________________________________________________

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Evaluation Form

To assist the 5 LEAP participants in polishing their presentations and learning how their

audiences perceive them, a special evaluation form was designed and passed out to the attendees

of all five sessions. After they were collected and copied, the forms were given to the 5 so they

could take whatever advice was offered on the forms. Roeland mentioned the forms, but I know

the others also gained some additional insight that will help with any future presentations,

whether LEAP or other topics.

Comments from the Chairmen or Presidents of the

National Mensas Involved in LEAP 2012

One of the suggestions made at last year’s IBD meeting was to ask the LEAP participant’s chair

or president for comments on how the member used his or her experience once they returned

home. The Chairs or Presidents were asked their objective opinions so that MIL can gauge how

the financial investment has paid off.

From Mille Norry, President Mensa Canada

Vicki Herd is an amazing person and a dynamo of energy and initiative.She showed us her

presentation material before she went to Reno and I expect you found it interesting. She is

organizing our IBD bid for 2013 and a regional gathering to go on the week before in Lake

Louise (hoping to attract international participants to this 5 start hotel location). She got together

a "flash mob" dance in Banff, and talked the provincial tourism to fund it. They have given her

several awards for marketing based on the 2011 Mensa AG in Banff (marketing on a small

budget). She was the spear head behind our media exposure of the 2 year old Canadian Mensa

boy. She got follows through on her projects, and also kick starts other people into enthusiasm.

She smoothes out some of our rough diamonds, and convinces shy people to step out and have

fun. She politely ignores people who get caught up in minutia, micro managing, and criticizing.

She was like this before, so I'm trying to see how the LEAP program has changed her. Definitely

she has a more international perspective of Mensa which we benefit us all. We plan to bring

more little Canadians outside the national curtain to see the big wide world of Mensa

International, and improve the quality of people interested in national positions at the same time.

She is now Mensa Canada treasurer, but is still supporting the relatively new LocSec in Calgary

and pushing forward activities in that city. Also, she is a trusted and valuable person on the

national executive.

From Grethe van Geffen, Chair Mensa The Netherlands

Official reaction: Roeland van Zeijst has grown in his role of member of our Ombudsman

Committee since he is in the Leadership Program, especially in the communication side of the

job. The Ombudsman Committee can wait and see whether actions are needed. Roeland has

actively opened the debate about how members deal with conflicts and what would be a good

way to look at it. Also he is very active in transfering his experiences in LEAP and the lessons

learned from the experience offered by other participants. He is a good ambassador for

transnational exchange and learning. Mensa the Netherlands has several serious meetings in

Autumn, I expect him to do presentations there as well as written articles for our digital

newsletter and/or magazine. In the long term, I expect Roeland to be one of the leaders in Mensa

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the Netherlands. LEAP has given a lot of food for thought that we talk about and that contributes

to a conscious, well considered path for our development.

Public Awareness of LEAP

One of the most prevalent criticisms of LEAP or the past LEP was that “no one knew about it.”

This past year, the Committee attempted to increase the awareness, but still fell short. The

evaluation forms from Reno clearly show that American Mensans did not know about LEAP.

All the chairs/presidents of Mensa national groups were informed of the program and

encouraged to let their members know. Attachments to that message included the application

form. Several reminders followed the first message. I believe that the 26 applications that came

in were a direct result of those blanket emessages. Something worked there.

There were several news clips on www.mensa.org during the beginning of the year and closer to

the deadline for applications. Once the finalists were decided there was another announcement

on that website with the finalists’ YouTube videos so prospective applicants would know what is

needed to win a top spot.

During the American AG, Ben Nemenoff wrote an article for the September issue of the

International Journal to keep the momentum going so that when the 2013 program is

announced, more Mensans will know about it. Here is a copy of that article.

international journal

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Comments from the Chair of LEAP This past year has shown me how eager many Mensans are to take part in this program. Witness the 26 applications. They are willing to design presentations, film themselves for YouTube, write reports, critique each other’s programs, and continue to build those bridges to other Mensa groups. Many of the 2012 reports mention what an enlightening experience this has been for the 5 participants – and they haven’t yet been to the next large Mensa gathering in Indonesia! I will be there with them and will have an addendum to this report at the IBD meeting. Conclusion: Future of LEP LEAP offers great outreach opportunities for Mensa International to discover and mentor leaders in all countries, large and small. This can only be positive for our global organization. We know it is essential to encourage creativity and innovation wherever found, and then, shared with others face to face, if possible.