Welcome to the San Diego Mensa uRGe 2024,
May 24-27, 2024!
Event Registration: Click here to register!
Registration Prices:
Full Weekend
**Includes Saturday night dinner – may not be available if you wait to register on site.
………………………….- Thru 05/17/2024 – Onsite
Adult (18+) – $200.00 / $210.00
Youth (13-17) – $170.00 / $180.00
Child (under 13) – $145.00 / $155.00
Individual Day (Saturday/Sunday)
…………………………. – Thru 05/17/2024 – Onsite
Adult (18+) – $95.00 / $100.00
Youth (13-17) – $85.00 / $90.00
Child (under 13) – $75.00 / $80.00
Friday only – $15.00
We have excursions! Want to see and know a little more about San Diego?
Thursday, May 23rd – Haunted Gaslamp Walking Tour – $40
7:00pm-9:00pm
Friday, May 24th – Visit the world-famous San Diego Zoo – $50
8:30am-3:00pm
Sunday, May 26th – Tour the USS Midway with a Mensan – $20
10:00am-1:00PM
Monday, May 27th – San Diego SEAL Tour – $65
10:30am-1:00PM
Please see excursions page for more information as the shuttle times will be earlier than the tours.
More information on the excursions may be viewed here.
We have tastings!
- Saturday, May 25th – Beer Tasting – $20
- Sunday, May 26th – Whisk(e)y Tasting – $40
***Please note, there will be a 10% charge for cancellations***
*********************
Hotel Information:
Holiday Inn San Diego Bayside
4875 N Harbor Dr
San Diego, CA 92106
Room rates: Fri/Sat $199.00, other days $189
Two night minimum
Free shuttle from airport
Parking $10
Free WiFi, no resort fees.
Rate is good for 3 days pre and 3 days post event.
Book your room here:
San Diego Mensa Regional Gathering 2024
**************************
SCHEDULE
Click here to see the Agenda
****************************
Questions?
If you have any questions, please feel free to follow up with me at rgchair@sandiegomensa.org
Respectfully and uRGe-ntly yours,
Jennifer Morris
San Diego uRGe Chair
What’s an RG?
In truth, a Mensa Gathering is something that is hard to explain, fun to enjoy, hard work to put on, but an experience most never forget and something most keep coming back for. You will hear people talk about RG’s, AG’s, WG’s, and they will sometimes talk about “Weem”, “Snowball”, and a variety of other specific “events”…but they are all “Gatherings”.
Gatherings take place over a weekend, sometimes a holiday weekend allowing it to extend an extra day. There are programs with speakers (usually multiple tracks), rooms for unstructured gaming, a Hospitality Room (or rooms!) that provide comfortable places for meeting and “hanging out” with lots of access to food and beverages. There will often be entertainment and sometimes “special events” are incorporated into the program – like awards or special celebrations – and tournaments. Most importantly – there are Mensans!
These are big parties, and they are intended to be that way! The goal is to bring as many Mensans together as practical and just let the fun roll on.
An “RG” is a Regional Gathering. The name is somewhat misleading, because it is an event put on by a local chapter. However, as Mensans in the surrounding chapters often attend the Gathering, the name still fits. There are usually between 100 – 200 people at the RG’s. The big exception is WeeM, which is the long running Chicago chapter’s RG that takes place during Halloween. There are approximately 500 – 600 people who attend WeeM. There are RG’s every month around the country.
The “AG” is the Annual Gathering for American Mensa. The AG has about 2000 people in attendance and is always held around the Fourth of July. 2017 will be in Hollywood Florida, 2018 in Indianapolis, and 2019 in Phoenix. There are World Gatherings, European Gatherings, and other national Mensa groups host their own – like Mensa Canada.
The San Diego RG, the San Diego uRGe, is held over the Memorial Day Weekend and runs from Friday at 3:00 – Monday noon. Please join us!
Volunteer
San Diego uRGe Committee
Contact the RG Chair if you would like to help at: RGChair@Sandiegomensa.org
JOBS & DESCRIPTIONS
SPEAKER COMMITTEE
Speaker Recruiters – We need speakers! While traditionally the “Speaker Chair” has coordinated most of these activities and been our primary “speaker getter”, all members are invited to suggest names of people who might be good speakers for the event.
Speaker Shepherds – During the RG, we have volunteers who have a specific schedule of speakers that they will greet at the Registration table; take to their program room; verify that A/V equipment is set-up appropriately (or alert the A/V Chair immediately for a problem!) provide an introduction.
A/V Coordinator – Many of our speakers use power point, over head projectors, LCD projectors, different speakers, white boards, flip charts, etc… The job of the A/V coordinator is to make sure that runs smoothly.
HOSPITALITY COMMITTEE
We provide food and beverages nearly around the clock, including enough substantial food to constitute meals at meal times, as part of the event. Beverages include non-alcoholic soda, coffee, tea, water, and other assorted options (sometimes Snapple or fruit juices) in Hospitality, as well as beer and wine. While the Hospitality Chair creates the plan and buy lists, there is a need for additional people for working during the event to help replenish food, set-out more food, clean-up the area in Hospitality, make coffee, coordinate the meal-time volunteers, replenish ice, snacks, and sometimes do food runs to the store.
This can be a great job if you like to chat with others, but you will not see a lot of programs. You should also be available Thursday evening and all day Friday if possible. Monday clean-up is also very important.
REGISTRATION
There is a lot of work before the RG in collecting registrations, preparing the badges, and reporting on the registration numbers in the lead up to the RG. However, this job involves spending most of the RG at the Registration Table. The Registrar definitely needs some Registration Assistants who will be responsible for assisting them at the Registration table during rush times and taking shifts during the RG so that people can take breaks and are not tied to the table for the whole event.
OTHER SPECIFIC JOBS
Printed Program –This person takes the information from the Speaker Chair and creates the printed program that we distribute to the attendees.
Photographer – We have an official committee member who takes pictures during the event so we can upload them later and publish them in the newsletter.
Games – We have a Games Room at the RG. The Games Chair basically watches the room, encourages people to play, will often teach games to people who are not familiar, and is otherwise available to help play the games when more people are needed.
Special Events Coordinator – This role is designed to focus on “not-standard sessions” like tastings, entertainment, gala speaker, and offsite excursions.
Marketing – There are so many things that happen as part of this effort that more than one person may be required. We need “blurbs” that we can use to “blast” the members via e-mail, articles for the newsletter, cover art and other sorts of visuals to use for the San Diego MENSAN, other handouts and flyers, contacts to other chapters, etc.
