I was flattered, when I rejoined Mensa in 1998, to be asked to run for the Executive Committee right off the bat. I was a little less sanguine when I saw that only five names were on the slate for an ExComm of only five people.
"Oh, well," I thought, "I've been in this situation before, with other membership groups. People are busy and can't always serve, so I'll just give my best and enjoy whatever job I get." (We don't run for specific offices here, but sort ourselves out — without weapons — at the first meeting of the new ExComm.)
My best friend was retiring from the Membership Chair, and that looked like something I could do. So I threw myself into it with gusto. Because we're a small chapter, job descriptions sometimes cross. The whole committee was casually helpful about each other's needs, and, with only a few alarums and curses, the chapter ran smoothly.
This was in 1998, the first year of National Testing Day. Because I served as P.R. Officer as well, I succeeded in getting a notice in the major newspaper for the area (maybe because I worked there), and we had so many candidates taking the test that we had to schedule a second test in early December! We had so many new members we had to hold a New Members Party immediately, and things were bright and active for a while.
Things change.
After I'd been Membership Chair for two years, our LocSec retired. I thought I could do the job. I volunteered. After three years of serving as LocSec, in which I performed every ExComm function (except treasurer) at one time or another and sometimes simultaneously, I was worn out and bedraggled.
In chapters with, say, 2,000 members, 5% active members is 100 people, with all their creative, intelligent ideas and suggestions. But 5% of 200 is only 10 people — people who end up overworked and fresh out of new ideas, places to meet and functions to sponsor. And in a Mensa group, 5% participation is fairly high!
So we need to make serving as a Mensa volunteer attractive. It doesn't help local chapters thrive when the position of Local Secretary is to be avoided. And who, you ask, would want to avoid such an "honor"? People who know from experience that AMC requires the LocSec to assume all vacant positions on the ExComm until such time as they can be filled by new volunteers, that's who. Burnout is a real problem in such cases. Restoring the fun by sharing the work is not impossible, but unfortunately, people at rest tend to remain at rest. I think that's one of Newton's Laws.
This truism is simple: Many hands make light work ... and more fun! Did I join Mensa to promote noble causes? Not really. Like most, I joined it for the caliber of people I thought I would meet and choose as friends. I've met a few, but a lot of very interesting minds are out there who simply read the Bulletin and newsletter. How I wish I could meet them all! If 90% of the people who join Mensa neither come to meetings nor volunteer for offices, all of us are deprived of their originality and giftedness.
A policy of attraction is absolutely necessary; emotional blackmail and/or nagging won't work in Mensa. People who volunteer are rare and beautiful creatures who should be treated with care. Emotional reward and sincere appreciation work as powerful attractions. Emotional reward comes from the high of doing a job well. And appreciation is one thing I think we can all give. Thinking of and treating people as valuable comes more naturally to some than to others, but it's a behavior that can be learned. Our members are idea factories. When we attract them, we need not lead; we can just start something rolling and get out of the way.
Once a Mensa volunteer starts enjoying this kind of opportunity, it's self-perpetuating.
Friendships and sometimes even romances blossom through volunteering. Mensa offers such a tremendous opportunity! We need to get the message across — volunteering, serving as an officer and hosting activities are ways to get to know the best people in your group, to do fun things together, and to reap rewards and appreciation. Everybody wins when nobody need whine.
— Nancy
Park
Editor, Mensokie,
the newsletter of Central Oklahoma Mensa