SNERG: a Southern New England RG
March 25-27, 2022
Thank you everyone and see you next year!
Message from Vice LocSec Ian Tullock:
We did it! We held a regional gathering in CT & W MA Mensa! I wasn’t entirely convinced it would ever happen, but it did. I personally had a great time, and hope all the other attendees did as well. I know I did some things wrong, but I think we did a lot right too. My understanding is that by the time the dust had cleared, we had 93 attendees. We knew we would be starting out small with this one, but I think that’s a very respectable turnout, especially during the tail end of a global pandemic. Hopefully we learned from this one, and will grow as more people want to get involved.
I won’t hesitate to take responsibility for anything that went wrong with this RG, but I must place responsibility for everything that went right squarely on the shoulders of our amazing volunteers.
In no particular order:
Merrill Loechner, our registrar. Merrill guided me and worked with me off-and-on for two years, as Covid and other considerations postponed our gathering. Her expertise and her hard work were invaluable, and I don’t think an RG in Region One would be a proper RG without her reassuring presence at the registration desk. People would think they were in the wrong hotel if she wasn’t there.
Norma Pezzini, our tireless speaker chair. Norma had originally found us a dozen great speakers for our gathering. When our registration numbers were hovering around 35 in February, I think I panicked a bit, and we agreed to pare it down to four speakers, with three additional non-speaker activities. Had we known we would ultimately get 93 attendees, I might have asked to keep a couple more speakers, but it seemed the right decision at the time. And now we know that Mensans like to register late! But no matter how many speakers we decided to host, Norma’s hard work was vital to our success, and I don’t know of anyone who could have done it better.
Angie M. Christie, our hospitality chair. Due to the realities of what hotels will and will not let us do these days, I wasn’t able to give Angie much to work with. In spite of that, she still managed to be a warm and reliable host, taking great care of our little hospitality suite. Any time I visited for a cold drink, there were always people there, and the vibe was always great. I wish I could have hung out more!
Bill Zigo (Ziggy) and Tom Schnorrenberg, our games co-chairs. I can say with complete sincerity that a regional gathering wouldn’t be the same without them. They brought many games with them for everyone to play, and Ziggy ran two rounds of Werewolves late into the night Saturday, where many villagers met a gristly fate. Nobody loses their life to the jaws of a werewolf quite as well (or quite as reliably) as Tom.
Jim Henke, our beer cicerone. If you enjoyed the beer selection in the suite, this is the man to thank. He also hosted two outings for us at local breweries that were well attended. I can recommend the pastrami sandwich at the Thomas Hooker Brewery in Bloomfield.
Tommy and Kelly Galanis. In addition to providing me with guidance and support, they put together our printed programs, as well as procuring most of the goodies, beverages, and various other items that went into the suite. Ask the three of us some time how much we love Costco.
Russell Miller, our webmaster. Russell put together the website where everyone registered, and figured out how to integrate it with PayPal for payments.
Peter Perrotti, our treasurer, handled the financial side of registration for us.
And of course I want to thank our attendees. It is the people who come to participate who make a regional gathering what it is, and you all made this a good one. I hope to see you next year.
Additional message from Webmaster Russ Miller (because I can):
It took everyone Ian listed above — with a special thank you to our wonderful attendees — to pull SNERG together, but I especially want to recognize Ian’s determination, energy, perseverance, and positive attitude. SNERG would not have taken place at all if Ian hadn’t believed we could do it and hadn’t thrown himself into the project with such dedication. His enthusiasm was infectious and made putting in the work to revive the RG feel like a worthy goal — something you wanted to be part of.
Fantastic job, Ian, and thank you for all you do for Connecticut and Western Massachusetts Mensa!