Getting Together During Quarantine: A Virtual View From Region 1

The world has changed. If we’re lucky, it’s only a temporary change. But for the foreseeable future, we won’t be gathering together in person. And for most Local Groups, that means calendars have suddenly become very empty. But there are bright sides to this change, and there are things we can do to connect even without breathing the same air, without sharing the same table. (At a virtual event, you don’t have to struggle to split the bill, and you don’t have to wear pants.)

In Region 1 (Northeast), there are several events that have sprung up and are gathering steam.

We have the M-Thralling Mensa Virtual Book Club, which started in one Local Group and quickly expanded to cover the whole Region. Participants choose and read a story available on gutenberg.org and then discuss it in a Zoom meeting. Coordinator Bruce Miller posts it in all the Local Group Facebook groups, and it echoes in Mid-Hudson’s Mensa Connect group.

There are also ongoing conversations in Mid-Hudson’s “Science Snippets & Factoids” subgroup on Mensa Connect. There was a virtual watch party in April as the International Space Station was visible in their skies. (To figure out when you’ll be able to see it, visit spotthestation.nasa.gov.)

Greater New York Mensa used to have a monthly bar trivia night. (The bar did trivia weekly, but we went once a month so we wouldn’t be too dominating a presence.) Ty, the trivia master, has moved it to Facebook, with a livestream on the bar’s Facebook Page every other week. (He trades off weeks with another trivia maven friend of his.) If you want to join us, search for The Storehouse NYC, or drop me a note. (I’ll try to remember to post about it in the Region 1 and GNYM Facebook groups.)

Northeastern New York is using Mensa Connect to set up online gaming events, which take place on Discord.

As I write in late April, Greater New York’s Gen X/Y subgroup has scheduled its first Zoom meetup. They write, “Join us for fun, fellowship, and a virtual game of Cards Against Humanity!” I’m not sure how that’s going to work, but I’ll log in to see.

My writers’ group meets once a week, also via Zoom. The evening kicks off with general chat, but then we move into actual writing business discussion, writing critiques and help, and more, all leavened with a dose of camaraderie and virtual togetherness.

My sister, Laurie, has several weekly and randomly scheduled electronic get-togethers, mostly all taking place via Zoom and organized through people who’d met on the Facebook Firehouse group. Some of them are for specific events (one was a virtual birthday party), but most are randomly general interest (a Thursday evening happy hour, for example). And she’s also joined in with several online movie-watch gatherings.

At the moment, Zoom seems to be the big way of connecting live(ish) with other Mensans. And these events are most frequently arranged via Facebook connections or Mensa Connect connections. If you’re looking for that Mensan fix (and we all know it’s the conversation, not the food, that matters), it shouldn’t be that hard to find something going on every day.

Ian works both sides of the editorial desk (IanRandalStrock.com). He thinks of himself as a science fiction writer, though 98 percent of his published words have been nonfiction (including three books of presidential history). His fiction appears regularly in Analog and Nature as well as anthologies. He’s the owner, publisher, editor, and entire staff of Gray Rabbit Publications/Fantastic Books (FantasticBooks.biz). Previously, he had editorial positions with Artemis Magazine, SFScope, Analog, Asimov’s, Science Fiction Chronicle, and Greater New York Mensa. He is the Regional Vice Chairman representing Region 1.
Greater New York Mensa | Life Member, Joined 1982