San Diego Mensa uRGe 2011 – Mommy Letter

“SPIES, LIES & WISE GUYS” at the San Diego Hilton Mission Valley for the 2011 San Diego Mensa Regional Gathering on Memorial Day Weekend! Food for thought:  enjoy real meals and snacks provided by our Happy, High-spirited Hospitality Helpers…while away your weekend playing games and tournaments with Barbara Lytle…catch special events like the Cherished Chocolate uRGy, Superb Saturday Sundaes, visit with the Animal Ambassadors from Zoofari/Wild Wonders…and a whole lot more…

General Information about the location and your packing needs:

Directions to the hotel:

♫     From Interstate 8 East to the Mission Center Road exit. Turn right going south at light at the end of the off ramp. Then turn right on Camino Del Rio South. Hotel is on the left side.

♫    From Interstate 8 West to the Mission Center Road exit. Turn left on Camino del Rio North towards Mission Center Road. Turn left on Mission Center Road going south, then turn right on Camino Del Rio South. Hotel is on the left side.

Self-Parking is free for RG attendees.  If you are staying at the hotel they will give you your parking ticket when you check in.  If you are a day tripper, make sure you get your parking ticket at the San Diego Mensa registration table.  Valet Parking is $18 per day.  If you get lost or have any questions, please call (619) 977-8054 or (858) 602-2494.

Airport: Lindbergh Field is located about 7 miles from the hotel. The hotel has no airport shuttle, but commercial airport shuttles (Super Shuttle 800-Blue-Van) are available for $12 (per person/one way) or Taxis (Yellow Cab 444-4444) are around $20 (one way).

Clothing Suggestions: Expect clear to partly cloudy skies, temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s, with cooler nights. Light and casual clothing should suffice. Bring a sweater or light jacket for the evenings, or just in case our “perfect” weather decides NOT to be! Please understand that we must keep the ballrooms cool in order to accommodate all attendees.  If you tend to get chilly, please bring a sweater to the meeting rooms. We do have a pool and exercise room available.  Swimsuits must be worn in the pool and Jacuzzi at all times. If you plan on participating in the Pole Fitness Instruction, please wear comfortable clothing, shorts or workout wear is recommended.

Details: California law prohibits smoking in all public buildings. This hotel is a 100% non-smoking hotel.  You will be fined $300 if they find that you have smoked in your room.  A designated smoking area is located outside of the hotel on the first floor as well as on the outdoor balcony on the second floor. Pool and Jacuzzi area closes at 11:00 PM with no exceptions. Please help conserve energy by turning off unnecessary lights in your hotel rooms and turning off the A/C when you check out.

If you have any questions or concerns, the RG volunteers can be identified by the distinctive green ribbon on their badges. If you have any issues concerning the hotel, please go directly to LaRae Bakerink, not the hotel staff.

Volunteers: Yes! We need you in almost any capacity! We need help with Shepherding speakers, the Registration Table, and Hospitality. Find a committee member with a green volunteer tag, sign up in Hospitality, or keep your eyes and ears open for spur-of-the-moment opportunities.

RG Registration:

Opens at 3:00 PM on Friday, May 28^th, in the Carmel Foyer on the first floor.

Hours: Friday from 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM, Saturday from 8:00 AM to 11:15 AM and 12:00 Noon to 8:00 PM, and Sunday from 9:15 AM to 11:45 AM and 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM. If you require assistance between registration hours, find a Committee Member or call the cell phone numbers posted at the Registration table.

Name Tags: Name tags must be worn at all times when in the ballrooms or hospitality.  If you are not wearing a name tag with the proper dates, you will be asked to leave by security.

Other information you need to be in the know

Hospitality: Opens at 5:00 PM on Friday. (If you show up early, you can volunteer to help set up!) Our hospitable helpers will be kicking the weekend off with a full buffet dinner (Pelican Bay Potatoes Plus) at 5:00 PM. Other meals served in Hospitality will be Sing-Sing Self Serve Saturday Buffet with lots of sandwiches and salads, Sunday dinner which will be a Sunday Pasta Over the Volga and Monday “let’s finish it up lunch”. Snacks will available throughout the weekend, until Hospitality closes at 1:00 PM on Monday. Make sure you check the refrigerator for pudding, jello, and sugar free goodies. Hospitality will be open from early morning to late night, but not 24 hours. Hospitality will close during the meal plan hours Saturday, 6:45 PM to 8:00 PM and Sunday, 11:45 AM to 1:15 PM  This is required by the hotel, please respect this fact.  Snacks will be available in the game room during those hours.

Hypnosis Show: Saturday evening we will have a hypnosis show with Marsha Starr, Hypnosis Diva. Without good performers there is no show. This is the only show where the audience members are the stars, and the performers who join Marsha on stage have the most fun of all. So please participate, with the assurance that none of the routines are degrading, just silly and goofy...but always hilarious, and it's important for you to be sober if you want to perform. Please remember that alcohol and hypnosis aren't compatible. For those that are fearful about performing but deep down want to, please be assured, you will never do anything you don't want to do and that at all times you are in control.

Pole Fitness Instruction: We will have two sessions of Pole Fitness Instruction.  One session will be “Ladies Only” for those who are a bit shy.  This session will also include Lap Dance Instruction.  The other session will be for both ladies and men and we will all encourage the men to participate as well as the ladies. If you plan on participating in the Pole Fitness Instruction, please wear comfortable clothing, shorts or workout wear is recommended.

Pub Crawl: We have a Pub Crawl on Sunday night. Please be in the lobby by 5:45 PM to have your wristbands checked and then loaded on the bus. Wristbands must be worn the entire evening. They will be checked each time you board the bus. We will be visiting 3 or 4 bars that are known for a strong focus on craft beers, including San Diego beers, and for interesting menus that often focus on locally grown and/or artisanal foods. Bar schedule is subject to change. See RG Lineup for a list of the bars we will visit.

Beer Pong & Flip Cup Tournament: Saturday night after the Hypnotist we will have a tournament.  We will have a team tournament and a big Last-Man-Standing game. Watch or play these fast-action and laugh a minute beer based games. Beer pong and flip cup are great American pastimes (on college campuses that is). This weekend, join in the tradition.

Cookie Baking Contest: If you wish to participate in the contest, please bring 3 dozen cookies (cookies must be home baked, not purchased) in a disposable container.  Entries must be submitted to Hospitality by 6:45 PM on Friday evening.  Please make sure you have a 3X5 card with your name and the cookie description with the container.  Please bring a copy of the recipe as we may publish them in the MENSAN. Prizes will be awarded.

Gameroom: Don't miss the Game Room Maven's fully-stocked 'round the clock Game Room. As always we have dozens of games and jigsaw puzzles. See the RG schedule for some specific games and times. Feel free to put your request for players to join you on the Game Room whiteboard. If you see a game you'd like to learn, ask Barbara or Jim to teach you. Most of the scheduled games are drop in and drop out as you like. Bring in your own strategy games; tables will be provided. Spend an hour, spend the weekend, we have something for everyone.

Raffles and Giveaways: We will have specialty baskets available for Raffle on Saturday & Sunday night.  You or a representative must be present to win for the specialty baskets.  We will also have Grand Prize Giveaways including RG Registrations, Zoo tickets, Midway tickets, etc on Sunday evening.  You need not be present to win for the Grand Prize Giveaways but you must make sure you put your name and contact information on the raffle tickets.  Raffle tickets will cost $5 for 3 tickets, $10 for 8 tickets, or $20 for 20 tickets.  Tickets may be used for either the Specialty Baskets or the Grand Prize Giveaways. Find someone carrying the raffle tickets or check at the registration desk to buy your tickets and win.

Meal Plan Tickets: If you purchased Meal Plan Tickets for either Saturday dinner or Sunday lunch, they will be in your registration packet. Please remember these tickets are the same as cash, do not lose them as they will not be replaced.

Music: Instruments, voices, CDs and cassettes are welcome for planned and impromptu sing-a-long/play-a-long events.  Bring what you have or just come and listen. We do have a sing-a-long scheduled for Saturday evening, please join us.

Book/VHS/CD/DVD Exchange: Bring some – take some. Look for the book/music/movie exchange table in hospitality.  Everything left over after the RG will be donated to San Diego Public Library.

Evaluation Forms: Please make sure you complete the Evaluation Form in your registration packet.  If you return your completed Evaluation Form to Hospitality before you leave the RG, you will receive a $5.00 coupon off the full weekend registration for San Diego Mensa Regional Gathering 2012.

Speaker Products: Some of our speakers will be bringing supplies of their books and wares to sell after their presentations.  Their display table will be in the Carmel Foyer next to Registration.

Registration for the San Diego uRGe 2012: We will have registration forms for the San Diego Mensa Regional Gathering 2012 available at the registration desk.  If you pay in full for your registration prior to May 31, 2011, you will receive the early bird price of $60 for the entire weekend.

Security: If there are any problems, please look for the white hat and you will be helped.

Greet old friends, meet new friends, and have as much fun as you can stand.