Mensa Magazine
Mensa Magazine is British Mensa's monthly magazine which is sent to all its members.
Mensa Magazine is a 48 page colour A4-format magazine, currently edited by contractor Brian Page. Brian's editorship over the past nine years has been a remarkably calm period for the Magazine.
Contents
- News & Social
- Cover Story article
- IQ News
- Feedback (letters)
- What's On (Mensa meeting listings)
- Mensa International Journal
- Around The Regions (excerpts from the regional newsletters
- Mensa Matters (board and business news)
- Burning Issues (features and debates)
- Special Interest Groups
- Classified
- Mensa Travel Club (offers)
- Tea Break
Magazine forum
Formerly known as the Editorial Board, this is comprised of three Board appointees and one directly elected Editorial Representative, who represent members' views in directing the work of the Editor.
The current ed board are:
- Terry Boswell
- Neil Matthews
- Sylvia Herbert
- Jenny Gill (Ed Rep)
Past controversies
Previous editor Simon Clark managed to alienate a section of the active membership, resulting in a variety of AGM motions seeking to rein in his activities (including 15 motions submitted in 1995 by Martyn Giscombe-Smith and Christina Giscombe-Smith), and headlines written by him including the infamous "What Is It With You People?". Many members saw a conflict of interest with Simon being paid to run the Mensa Events Club as well as editing the Magazine. Members thought the Events Club events appeared to receive greater publicity and more prominent billing in the Magazine, while member-led events were sidelined, steering customers toward Simon's profit-making enterprises. There were also criticisms that Simon courted an "in crowd" of minor celebrities, using the Magazine to depict a biased image of Mensa full of formal events and made-up awards presented to friends.
An AGM resolution in 1998 presented by Andy Logan stopped the editor from having any other paid role in the society, in order to keep the Magazine impartial. (Andy was one of the organisers in London Mensa whose events the Events Club often clashed with.) Soon after this Simon said he "could see the way the wind was blowing" and resigned in order to undertake a publicity role for the pro-smoking lobby group FOREST.
