Schedule Friday, March 8, 2024 Saturday, March 9, 2024 Sunday, March 10, 2024 |
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STEAMPUNK PAM Regional Gathering March 8 – 10, 2024 DRURY INN & SUITES 10 Carolina Point Pkwy, Greenville, SC 29607 Hosted by Piedmont Area Mensa P O Box 2054 Greer, SC 29652 http://www.piedmont.us.mensa.org/ |
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Mealtimes Hotel Breakfast 7-10 AM Lunch 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Dinner 5:30 – 7:00 PM (Manager’s Kickback®) |
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SCHEDULE Friday, March 8, 2024 |
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If not designated, programs are in Room 114 | ||||||
5:00 -5:30 PM RG Kickoff Announcements Room 113 |
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5:30 - 7 PM Manager's Kickback® Manager's Reception Area |
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7:00 - 8:00 PM Two Truths & a Kruger-spoof |
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8:15 - 9:15 PM Steampunk in Literature |
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9:15 - 9:30 PM 50/50 and 2nd Chance Drawing |
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9:30 - 10:30 PM Steampunk on Television |
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10:45 - ??:?? PM Trivia |
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SCHEDULE Saturday, March 9, 2024 |
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If not designated, programs are in Room 114 | ||||||
7 - 10 AM Breakfast Manager's Reception Area |
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10 - 11 AM Steam Engine and Sugar Mill |
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11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Box Lunches Room 113 |
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12:30- 1:30 PM Teapot Races |
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1:45 - 2:45 PM Ironclads and Airships |
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3:00 - 5:30 PM Blonde Bowl |
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5:30 - 7 PM Manager's Kickback® Manager's Reception Area |
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7:30 PM Champagne Toast |
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7:45 - 8 PM Steampunk Costume Parade |
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8 - 10 PM Karaoke Dance |
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10 - 10:15 PM 50/50 and 2nd Chance Drawing |
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10 - 11 PM Acoustic Cafe |
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SCHEDULE Sunday, March 10, 2024 |
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If not designated, programs are in Room 114 | ||||||
7 - 10 AM Breakfast Manager's Reception Area |
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9 - 10 AM RVC Update/Meet the Candidates |
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10:30 - 11 AM Awards & Announcements |
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11 - 11:30 AM M'Auction |
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12:30 PM - ?? After RG Event (Shoeless Joe Jackson) |
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Thank you for attending the 2024 RG! See you next year! Piedmont Area Mensa P O Box 2054 Greer, SC 29652 http://www.piedmont.us.mensa.org/ |
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Friday |
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7:00
PM Two Truths & a Kruger-spoof Art Cartwright Come meet your
fellow STEAMpunk enthusiasts while you play
PAM’s now-famous get-to-know-you game: Two
Truths and a Kruger-spoof (lie). The new
recruits and a portion of our veterans will be
selected to tell three things about themselves.
One of these things will be skilamalink
(doubtful). The goal is to suggestionize
(prompt) the unconventional conventionalists to
believe the made-up fact. The one who fools the
most participants is the winner.
BIO: Art Cartwright began pursuing his PhD shortly after retiring from the United States Air Force. He is a lifetime member of Mensa and a self-proclaimed Regional Gathering Junkie. He has been an active volunteer in Mensa since he joined in 1996 as well as in a number of other professional, intellectual, and social organizations. |
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8:15 PM Steampunk in Literature/Art Larry Bounds Join us as we explore the literary genre known as Steampunk, its definition, and its characteristics. We will follow its roots from the 19th century writings of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells to its literary, international, pop culture status today reflected in film, music, role playing games, anime, cosplay, and gatherings (like our own RG!).
So, buckle into your seat aboard a steam-powered zeppelin, adjust your googles, and get ready for the trip into the world of Steampunk imagination. BIO: Larry Bounds is a retired teacher who presents in-character Chautauqua programs across the country. He is a Mensan who has also performed as a professional magician since the ’70s. |
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Steampunk was around long before anyone coined the term. TV has been into it since the 1960s, when Wild, Wild West showed us a 19th century America where mad scientists wielded robots, earthquake-makers and teleportation devices. My presentation looks at WWW and other shows, including The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne and the Murdoch Mysteries.
BIO: Frasier Sherman has written five film reference books, most recently Sex for Dinner, Death for Breakfast: James Bond on Screen. Born in England, he lives in Durham, NC, with his wife LeAnn and their two adorable dogs. |
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For years, Bruce Holland's signature Trivia Event has been a popular mainstay at PAM's Regional Gathering. Once again, Bruce has compiled a Mensa-worthy list of questions sure to baffle and delight all who attend! BIO: Bruce Holland graduated from USC in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and USC Law School in 1974. He was in private practice until 1983 when he was named Assistant General Counsel for the SC Department of Social Services. He served as DSS General Counsel from 1986 to 1994 and has been in private practice until he retired 7 years ago. He also hosts a monthly trivia show at a local Carolina Wings. In addition to Mensa, he also is a member of Intertel and ISPE Trivia. |
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Saturday | ||||||
10 AM The Hacienda La Esperanza Steam Engine and Sugar Mill Dr Cecil Huey, Jr A century and a half ago, long before our modern sensibilities emerged, we relied on machines that would be downright frightening today. This program recounts the instructor's decade-long participation in returning a large, long-abandoned, inherently dangerous, 19th century steam-powered sugar mill to safe operation.
BIO: Dr Cecil Huey, Jr, Professor Emeritus, Clemson University Department of Mechanical Engineering. A modern Renaissance man, Dr Huey passed his passion for machinery and mechanisms to hundreds of budding engineers as a professor of Mechanical Engineering, earned multiple patents, and won numerous awards for excellence in teaching. He also served as Clemson University's liaison to the NCAA, and two terms as president of the Atlantic Coast Conference. |
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12:30 PM Teapot Races Larry Bounds Contestants will maneuver radio-controlled vehicles decorated as teapots through an obstacle course of teacups, a curved ramp, a tunnel, and a terrifying teeter-totter! While we encourage competitors to create their own original racers, we will have a couple of teapot vehicles available for loan, if needed.
Fabulous (?) prizes will be awarded for the best vehicle appearance, fastest time, best dressed and/or most entertaining driver, and the best effort to bribe a judge. So break out your creativity and engineer a teapot you would be proud to race and we all would be delighted to see. |
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1:45 PM Ironclads and Airships: Real-World Steampunk Bruce Mathews Fictional steampunk presents us with crude but massive iron marvels, while the characters fly around on airships. Here in the real world, during the American Civil War both sides pushed the technology of the day to its limits with a wide variety of improvised "ironclad" warships, with varying degrees of success. Decades later, there was a serious rivalry between airplanes and airships, and for a while it looked like the future would belong to airships. Come learn the history of these real-life steampunk contraptions!
BIO: Bruce Mathews has been a big fan of both history and science fiction since he was a kid. Professionally, before retiring he did several jobs in the phone company, including training engineers, and later he was the company's 's one-and-only video engineer in the Washington, DC area. He produced a monthly "This Month in History" column for his previous Mensa group for three years—he gave that up when he became LocSec. |
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3:00 PM Blonde Bowl Brian Williams Created by Charlie Steinhice and reserved exclusively for the Carolinah RG, Blonde Bowl is a Carolinah RG signature event that is equally fun for contestants and spectators!
Using top-of-the-line quiz bowl paraphernalia, teams of up to four competitors get to press cool buzzers as they try to answer questions continually adjusted to the skills of every contestant, from the more challenging “brunette clues” to the “blonde clues” more within the range of those of us whose talents probably lie in other areas. BIO: Charlie Steinhice was once a quiz bowl player at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL), The University of Tennessee-Knoxville and The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. While at UT he played on the team that won the first ACF Nationals. Charlie went on to serve as a tournament director, team coach and advisor at UTC, where he honed his now well-known mantra: “Winning beats losing, losing beats getting stomped, and getting stomped beats not playing.” Unfortunately, Charlie cannot attend this year, so Brian Williams volunteered to fill-in as Blonde Bowl Quizmaster once Charlie agreed to the harder work of providing us with equipment and questions. Brian’s qualifications are no match for Charlie’s, but he has assured us that he will be able to read Charlie’s questions out loud. |
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8 - 10 PM Time After Time Karaoke and Dance Brian Williams Once again, our Saturday evening event will be a combination Karaoke/Dance Party. Grab the mic and sing your favorite songs, dance with your fellow attendees, or just sit back and enjoy the spectacle. Steampunk costumes and song selections are encouraged, but absolutely not required to have a good time!
BIO: When not dressed as a pirate, Brian Williams serves as Local Secretary of PAM, writes an award-eligible column for the group newsletter, and holds the title of Co-Chair of PAM’s Regional Gathering while allowing the other Co-Chair to do all the heavy lifting. |
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Sunday |
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9 - 10 AM RVC Update/Meet the Candidates Nancy Campbell & Ruth Green-Waite Nancy and Ruth will be talking about what’s going on with American Mensa and answering your questions.
BIO: Nancy Campbell joined Mensa in February 2004, and within 6 months she was on the ExComm for Charlotte Blue Ridge Mensa. Since then, she has been a Proctor, Scholarship Chair, Gifted Youth Coordinator, Area Coordinator, Assistant Loc Sec, and Loc Sec (3 times). Before Mensa, Nancy was the Exec. Director of the Charlotte Area Literacy League, a non-profit that teaches adults how to read. Nancy has been RVC5 since July 1, 2019, and loves it. BIO: Ruth Green-Waite has been a member of Mensa since 2015. Within months of joining, she was helping plan events for her local group. In 2016, she was elected to the ExComm and has been a member of the ExComm for the past 8 years. She has held a variety of roles over those years, including LocSec, Deputy LocSec, Treasurer, Program Chair, Membership Chair, Assistant GYC, Assistant Scholarship Chair, Calendar Coordinator, and RG Chair. She has been the Assistant RVC5 since 2021 and currently serves on two national committees. |
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