Mensa's Diamond
The 2006 BMAG was titled "Mensa's Diamond" in celebration of 60 years of Mensa. It took place in Nottingham on the weekend of Mensa's actual birthday, October 1st, and was organised by Maxine Bates and Andy Farrell. Whilst not a World Gathering, members worldwide were invited to celebrate the birthday of Mensa in its native land, and over 600 people from five continents attended the celebrations which featured 75 events over five days.
The central celebrations on the Saturday night included a medieval banquet, a black tie dinner with guest speaker Gerald Ratner, and a late night birthday party featuring an indoor pyrotechnic display.
Charity Fundraising
A number of activities took place at the gathering to raise funds for Talking Books for the Blind. These included Sheep Racing at the Icebreaker night and sales of a rAG Mag. Celebrity guest speaker Gerald Ratner also donated his fee to the charity. As a result, Talking Books were able to record John Peel's autobiography Margrave of the Marshes onto their cd-based system and enter many copies of it into their talking books library. Funds left over after this have been spent on talking book players for the blind.
Various products sold during the year and bearing the special diamond-Mblem also helped raise funds for the charity. Scottish Mensa marked the anniversary year by producing a limited edition Mensa whisky called Spirit of Mensa, whilst British Mensa sold diamond-Mblem branded items throughout the year, such as t-shirts and mugs. Worldwide copyright permission for use of the diamond Mblem was granted, with the proviso that if it was used to make profit then a contribution to the charity would be nice. American Mensa subsequently used the logo on various products but declined to make the charity contribution, claiming that the MIL office hadn't mentioned the charity aspect when telling them the logo may be used.
Preceded by: 2005: Newcastle |
British Mensa Annual Gathering 2006 |
Succeeded by: 2007: London |