Acronyms you’ll encounter within Mensa

ABM:  The Annual Business Meeting. See AG immediately below.

AG:  Annual Gathering. A five-six day conference for Mensans, usually drawing 1000-2000 members, featuring multiple programs and lectures, games rooms, tournaments, outside tours, 24-hour hospitality, and an AMC meeting and the Annual Business Meeting where officers report on the state of Mensa and members can ask questions of the officers.

AMC:  American Mensa Committee, the governing body of American Mensa.

AML:  American Mensa Ltd, the Not-for-Profit Corporation that is American Mensa.

ExComm:  Executive Committee, or the collection of voting officers who run each local group. Sometimes abbreviated as EC.

FM:  Female Mensan.

GCC:  Gifted Children Coordinator. Provides helpful information to parents of gifted children.

IBD:  International Board of Directors, with elected representatives from all national Mensas, which meets to solve problems of an international nature.

IGC:  International General Council, the Chairmen of all national Mensas, an advisory body that suggests ideas to the IBD for action.

Interloc:  The other free Mensa publication that discusses ideas of value to local groups, debates politics, and prints budgets and many other of the inner workings of Mensa. It is automatically sent to the LocSecs and Editors. It is free to anyone else interested but you have to contact the National Office to request it.

LDW:  Leadership Development Workshop. These are weekend-long events to teach local group officers how to become better leaders and improve their local groups or deal with problems.

LocSec:  Local Secretary. The official designation for the head of each local group of American Mensa, regardless of whether the local group chooses other names such as President.

LOTS:  Local Officer Training Session, the former name for LDW.

LYMP:  Little Yellow Map Pin: a pin with a yellow globe on the top, an unobtrusive signal that you are a Mensa member. Usually worn on shirt or blouse. Seldom used these days.

MM:  Male Mensan.

M.E.R.F:  Mensa Educational and Research Foundation. A separate non-profit and tax deductible corporation linked with American Mensa that administers our scholarship program, published the MERF Journal on research into giftedness, and approves of all requests for research into intelligence conducted using Mensa members.

MIL:  Mensa International Limited, the Executive Committee of the International Board of Directors, which directs the development of new national Mensas throughout the world.

N.O:  The National Office, our hired staff in Arlington Texas, who keeps track of our expenses, sends us information and operating funds, and does all the marketing and other stuff. They’re a busy bunch.

NomComm:  Nominating Committee, an ever-changing group of people selected from local groups that tries to find suitable candidates for various Regional or Nation positions, evaluates their credentials, and arranges to publish their campaign statements,

Region 6:  Also known as the Southwest Region, one of ten collections of local groups that make up American Mensa.

RG:  Regional Gathering. A weekend-long event sponsored by one or more local groups, usually held in a hotel, featuring various speakers, entertainment and hospitality. A few are minimally structured and some are camping weekends.

RVC:  Regional Vice Chairman, our Region’s elected representative to the AMC. He’s also the effective CEO of the local groups under his control, and helps local groups run more smoothly.

S.I.G.H.T:  Service to travelers, both in American Mensa and worldwide. Provides information on local activities and tries to provide short-term accommodations with hosts from traveling Mensans. 

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Other Terms you may encounter:

BYOB: Bring your own beverage (to an event hosted at a home).

C,D:  Cats or dogs present at an event, warning allergy sufferers.

S, NS:  Designates whether smoking is permitted and where.