2011 Annual Gathering of American Mensa

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Program book cover

The 2011 Annual Gathering of American Mensa, "AGreat Journey West", was held in Portland, Oregon. An AG is such a large event, Mensans used all available rooms at 4 different properties. The main event hotel was the Hilton Portland with the Hilton Executive Tower hotel across the street serving as a hybrid main hotel and overflow. The other overflow hotels included The Lloyd Center Doubletree which served as economy (20% less) and "The Nines" a super-luxury property which was available at prime hotel rates - about 1/3 their normal rate - and just 2 very short Portland-sized blocks away. The Doubletree is located at the Northeast tip of Portland's "Free Rail Zone" so members who stayed there were only a 15 minutes free light rail ride away from the main event."The Nines" is

The downtown location and the extensive public transit system of Portland facilitated exploration of the town for members who so desired. This was a clear contrast to other AGs where the hotels were located somewhere in suburban sprawl or near an airport. Light rail ran between the airport to within 2 blocks of the event hotel and stopped immediately in front of the Doubletree, all for a fare of less than $2.50 each way.

June 30 to July 4, was Thursday through Monday instead of the more common Wednesday through Sunday due to Monday being the July 4th holiday. Michael Meagher was the chairman.

Over 2,100 registrations were reported at the event before deductions for no-shows, currently estimated in the 100-200 range.

Hospitality was located in a converted parking garage (with carpets and curtains added) at a level beneath all the other activities, and served meal-quality foods at mealtimes (other than those which had a formal meal on the meal plan) with a few light snack foods at other times. There was an extensive selection of fine local beer and local wines.

This AG continued the international exchange program begun the previous year, where some speakers from other countries, and some American speakers, gave presentations both at this gathering and at the 2011 European Mensas Annual Gathering in Paris to facilitate the development of Mensa leadership.

The new AMC, elected in a controversial election in which the initially-announced results were withdrawn and replaced with new results due to a tabulation error, took office during this AG. The election was one of the topics of discussion at the Annual Business Meeting, which had no official proposals on the agenda.

Expelled member Barry Levine could be seen outside the hotel near the smokers (as in many states now, smoking was banned from indoor public areas), wearing a bright orange shirt proclaiming his expulsion and handing out flyers detailing his struggle. He was also seen inside the hotel on Monday July 4th, after the official end of the AG, sitting immediately inside and facing the main door.

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Preceded by:
2010: Detroit
Annual Gathering of American Mensa
2011
Succeeded by:
2012: Reno