LEAPing Forward

It's been awhile since I updated, so thought I better let you all know how things are going.

My LEAP video is up and available on YouTube, you can access this here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOBXxjswX3g&list=PLnSRHcgGlScBYINmBvPZ_SIAg8zCd6nEh

It's quite long so I won't be offended if you choose not to watch the whole thing :P

Here are a few of the photos that have appeared since EMAG. Photo credits to the lovely Lourens Grové

Guessing I'm happy on presentation day??

I had a run in with a fake moustache at Jessie's birthday lunch

Me presenting! Yay!

The LEAP Team at the icebreaker event on the first night of EMAG

Me in the "forbidden zone" and Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna

The video from our hosts Mensa Slovakia is also up on Youtube, check out some of the stuff we did here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgS4uM6FtC0&list=PLnSRHcgGlScBYINmBvPZ_SIAg8zCd6nEh

I'm currently drafting my best practice report for LEAP, trying to combine what I talked about in my presentation, what I've learnt and what I've done since. I'm going to be combining aspects of the theoretical framework with practical aspects to give people the ability to go forward and make groups like ours themselves. there will be links to things I use, resources, images, ideas and contact information.

It has been interesting, reading through what I wrote a few months ago at USMAG and comparing that to what I know now. It's so funny how you can grow and change in such a short period of time.

As soon as this is all finished and published I will put links to this on the blog.

As for Mensa New Zealand, it's the NZMAG2013 on 6-8 September 2013 so the organising team are working hard to get everything prepared for the weekend. We're so looking forward to catching and and seeing everyone there, it should be a brilliant weekend! 
I'm looking forward to presenting about my experiences overseas and encouraging others to take on the LEAP challenge.

I will be tweeting and blogging about events during the weekend so will have more to post.

Vienna - Monday

 After a little bit of drama Sunday night involving me getting lost in Vienna, I woke to another beautiful day. Inka, my wonderful Austrian friend from high school  met up with me in central Vienna and took me to a fantastic cafe next to the water. Viennese fare is delicious and we had a great time sitting outside and catching up on the last 11 years.

We took a wander around Vienna, and every time I go back there I see something else I haven’t seen before, or experience something new. It really is a beautiful city and has definitely won a place in my heart. Anyone visiting Europe should definitely swing by Vienna, and take in the wonderful mix of old and new.

We then decided to head back to Inka’s apartment in the city and back out to the Donau (Danube) river and enjoy some of the Austrian summer. I was leaving the city at 11.30pm, so wanted to make the most of the summer. On the way there, we passed the New City, where the UN and other organisations are set up in beautiful new buildings next to the river. Inka says the construction of these buildings has  led to an increase in house prices and activity in this area.

 There is a great set up down by the river, with lots of places for sunbathing, eating and swimming. Even though there is no sea nearby, the set up really makes you feel you’re on a seaside holiday. It helped that it was beautifully hot there.

Inka dropped me back at my hotel, and there were more sad goodbyes. It’s so crazy that after all this time it still felt like we had never stopped hanging out with each other. I’m so happy I’m taking a wee charm to New Zealand with me that will make me think of Inka every time I see it.

So now I’m sitting in the airport at Vienna, contemplating everything I have learned and experienced over the last two months. I can’t help get the feeling that although from the outside the program is over, this is the beginning of a fantastic journey for me and all of the LEAP team.

Thank you to all who have joined me on this journey. But it’s not over. For now, I’m going to be getting back into work, starting to put together a plan for Logical Olympiad, and helping plan the NZMAG 2013 in Auckland on 6-8 September 2013. I am also going to be doing a presentation there, a hybrid between what is happening with our Young Members group and what I experienced at USMAG and EMAG. I think it’s important for me to keep blogging about what we’re doing here in Mensa, and what the LEAP team will be doing in future...

...so stay tuned...

Bratislava - day five - Last day of EMAG2013

Sunday was a day of  more LEAP scheming, puzzles, more adventures around Bratislava and sadly, bittersweet goodbyes.

The LEAP crew met to talk about a few last minute ideas and strategies before. The passion and enthusiasm this group has is so fantastic, and I really am privileged to be part of it. We talked about what each of us are going to start by doing and what we are going to talk to our national Mensas about.

We then said goodbye to the wonderful Petr, who before he left attached a brain teaser to my clothes. So nice of him! :P

We made our way back through the city and stopped off to buy some souvenirs, send some postcards and have lunch. We then decided we were going to visit the castle at Bratislava. Well.. Lourens, Jessie and I learned why castles are built up on hills, and truly are impenetrable fortresses!! 

It seemed the dead ends, huge walls and lack of gates we could find would be definitely enough to deter an attacking army, let alone some plucky southern hemisphere tourists. We eventually found ourselves at the gate and walked through the castle, taking some great photos of the city as we went.

We then headed down across the bridge to the UFO tower where we met back up with Peter and Geoff for a snack and a look at the view from waaaay up on top of the tower. 

It was a great experience, and while here, I managed to solve the puzzle! 

Like at the end of our stay in Fort Worth, we had some very good signs (from the Cat Spirits no less) that although this part of the trip was over, we have a lot to look forward to.

We then headed back into town and Lourens, Jessie and I got some last minute shopping in before Jessie and I boarded the bus back to Vienna. There were several very, very sad goodbyes, both in Bratislava and Vienna knowing that although we will be meeting each other again someday, LEAP 2013 was over. I know we now need to work harder than ever to keep the LEAP team spirit going.

LEAP has been such a life changing experience for me. I feel now I have the confidence to take on further challenges to help Mensa New Zealand, and Mensas all over the world, to connect with their members. I believe this experience really has taught me the value of teamwork and getting other perspectives on ideas, and the people I have met through LEAP, both current and past participants, are definitely people whose perspectives I will actively seek. LEAP is amazing for Mensa, and Mensa should support this program in its entirety. Mensa needs LEAP.

Bratislava - day 4

Well my night out seemed to have knocked my immune system around, and I woke up a little bit unwell. Nothing serious, but the cold I had turned into a cough... but more on that later. 

Saturday we attended a presentation by former LEAP member and now Chair of Mensa Serbia, Aleksandra Borovic on motivating volunteers. It was a very interesting presentation and discussion, and made me think a lot about what incentives we would like to provide for the volunteers in our organisation. It's difficult to provide monetary compensation, but we could look and see what other options there are for giving volunteers the appropriate incentive to contribute more to Mensa.

The LEAP team met after this for more discussion about the next step for our work on the Logical Olympics, The Mensa Distillery and engaging our young Mensa members. These projects are going to be ongoing within the LEAP group and we will be working hard on them.

The Gala Dinner was Saturday evening, and was a fantastic event. We were treated with cultural entertainment from all around eastern Europe, my favourite being the two opera singers, they were amazing!

Dinner was great and the company fantastic, but unfortunately my cough caught up with me and I had to head back to the hotel for some sleep. It was a shame to miss saying goodbye to some important people who were leaving early the next day, but I know it's just a "see-you-later" and we'll catch up again soon.

Bratislava day three- Presentation day!

Friday was presentation day! It was an extremely full program with Isabella, Chair of the LEAP Committee speaking first at 9am, then me finishing up around 7.30pm. There were no breaks between our presentations, so it was a full schedule.

Isabella gave us a very warm introduction and we were joined by the members of ExComm before their meeting.

Lourens opened the LEAP presentations with another excellent discussion on Gifted Children. It's really interesting to hear international perspectives on this, and gave me some ideas for how we can expand our interactions with our gifted kids. It also made me very aware of the limitations for this group in New Zealand, and how important it is that we have a strong working relationships with other organisations such as the New Zealand Association for Gifted Children and Mary's Gifted Contacts. The trouble other Mensas are having in this area makes me very grateful for the contacts I have in these organisations, so I thank them very much for working with Mensa.

If you didn't know already, Mensa New Zealand has a Facebook group for parents of our Young Members, to try to help these families connect. Uptake has been slow so far, but we know it will be a valuable resource for parents and kids, so we're looking at promoting it more in the next few weeks. If you're interesting in joining, email me at young.members@mensa.org.nz.

Petr presented on the programs for Gifted Children in the Czech Republic, and every time I hear about it I am equally impressed. This time instead of merely sitting in stunned silence (I know- me, silent? it must be good right?) I was able to appreciate how this could have an immense benefit not only for Mensa members in New Zealand, but all children. This event is not only about logic and intelligence, but has an incredible social aspect through the regional and national finals. I really look forward to working with the LEAP teach and Czech Mensa to try to get Logical Olympics running in New Zealand. I will post the link here so you can look at what Logical Olympics has to offer.

Jessie gave her fantastic presentation on engaging isolated members. I love this, because in New Zealand, most of our members are isolated. I love the use of competitions in Mensa Australia and definitely think this is something we can pick up on in New Zealand. I look forward to seeing the other projects Jessie has in mind, because I think this is where Mensa needs to go to connect its members. I will definitely be staying in touch with Jessie.

For those of you who don't already know, Jessie set up the M<18 group on Facebook, which is international for Mensa members between 13 and 17. If you are a Mensa member of this age and want to join, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/MUnder18/?fref=ts

Peter Sells presented on different types of leadership, different types of power and the difference between managing and leading. His presentation always makes me reflect on my own style of leadership and how important it is to have good management AND good leadership in an organisation, and that they are two different things.

I like Geoff Russell's presentation, because little changes and little actions can make a big difference and I am a firm believer in that. I don't think we appreciate the difference small actions can make, and we definitely don't appreciate the small victories. More often than not I hear "Oh I put on an event and only four people came" and I think, four people?! Wow! You made a difference in the lives of four people that day! That might have been the most fun, engaging, exciting thing those four people did that week. I think today we are led to believe that the only events in our lives that matter are the giant ones; the massive displays of affection, the most enormous problems and the biggest gatherings of people in our lives. The only people whose lives are really like that, are fictional characters in books, movies and television. Live small, enjoy the small things and you will really begin to create momentum in your life and the lives of others.

And then there was me. I love giving this presentation and talking about Young Members and what this really means to me. I love it that we started Young Members as a way of getting to meet a few other members my age, but I really did not expect to have the impact it has had. I really need to say a big, big thank you to the Young Members of Mensa New Zealand, you guys really are my inspiration, and the more time I spend with you, the more inspired I am. Thank you so much.

I again introduced the idea of the Young Members group, and also importantly that our Young Members Coordinator position is a National Board position. This is different from pretty much every other Mensa in the world, so this really sets us apart as world leaders. Providing a link between the National Board and young people gives Mensa New Zealand an ever expanding hub of ideas and enthusiasm to help benefit the whole organisation. 

After our presentations we joined a whole lot of others for the City Lights Tour, which included drinks at a couple of Bratislavan pubs and bars.

It was great to get together with other Mensa members and chat and get to know one another. I had a really great night on this tour and ended up dancing the night away!

Bratislava day two

We started day two with breakfast in the hotel, a mix of continental and Bratislavan specialties like spicy sausages.

Our first meeting was with the organisers of the logical Olympics from Czech Mensa. This is an amazing initiative and we are looking at the ways we can implement Logical Olympics in our national Mensas. 

Logical Olympics is a competition for school aged children in the Czech Republic that 32,000 school children registered for last year. The aim of the competition is multiple rounds of logic and puzzle solving questions in 3 stages. 

The first stage is online, then 50 people from each age group are selected to the next stage held in person in each region. Then there is a national final held in either Parliament and now Prague Castle which attracts parents, supporters and media. The competition is fierce and winners receive great prizes.

It was amazing to hear how the Logical Olympics is run and it really sounds like something that Mensa New Zealand could be involved in participating in. Czech Mensa are looking at providing the facilities for running this internationally and we look forward to hearing more from them.

Next we retired to an Irish pub where we had a little fun,

but actually wanted to have a serious discussion about what we had learned so far. We talked about what information and initiatives we as LEAP participants had learned and what we want to keep discussing. 

I talked about Young Members and the kinds of initiatives we are looking at introducing. Being surrounded by such efficient and enthusiastic people is really infectious and the discussions were great.

Jessie and I decided to explode Eurovea, a big shopping complex near the banks of the Danube. It was nice and cool inside especially since the temperature was really heating up. 

We headed back to the hotel for a break from the heat, then went and met up with a few others for dinner. Bratislava has quite a strong restaurant and cafe culture so we were spoilt for choice. 

We knew we had a big day the next day, so an early night was definitely in order!

Bratislava day one

Day one in Bratislava was a blur of adventure and meeting new people.

I met up with Jessie in Vienna Airport and caught the bus from there to Bratislava. The east Austrian countryside is very flat and spotted with small villages and farms until you travel the 80 kilometers from Vienna to Bratislava.

Greeted by our awesome welcome party of LEAP participants at the bus stop, we made our way through the streets of Bratislava to our hotel. We're staying at the Hotel Saffron which is quite a nice hotel in an interesting part of town. The entrance to the hotel was through the gate to a hospital, so it was a little deceptive at first sight.

Once we were settled in we went and registered for EMAG, being held in a big conference venue in the middle of Bratislava. We ran into a few young people registering and talked to other Mensans while getting registration sorted. We collected tickets for the EMAG various events and went for a walk around Bratislava. 

It took a bit of a walk before we hit a beautiful part of town but it was worth it. With paved pedestrian streets filled with bars, restaurants and shops, this part of Bratislava is vibrant and buzzing with life. We ate lunch and people watched before heading back to the hotel and getting ready for the Icebreaker.

The Icebreaker was a great way to meet a lot of the people who are in town for EMAG. A bar in town played host to several hundred Mensans, who ate, drank and talked their way into the late hours of the night. It was great to meet people from all over Europe and all over the world who had made their way to EMAG.

It was great meet other Young Members and talk about the current events and initiatives groups are undertaking. This made me very excited for the days to come.