SynRG is the annual Regional Gathering or RG for Gulf Coast Mensa. It is held each year in May over Memorial Day weekend, beginning late Friday afternoon and ending early Monday afternoon (May 23, 2025-May 26, 2025). The event is held in a large Houston area hotel and registration for the RG includes speakers, activities, meals and beverages (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic). Each year's gathering is organized around a theme with the weekend's speakers and activities being somehow related and each year's theme is different. Past themes have included literature, visions for the future, metamorphosis and palindromes.

Registration

If you have not yet registered, you can do so online. 

Registration Rates

• Through May 10, 2025: $125
• Thereafter and at the door: $140

Day Rates

• Friday: $45
• Saturday: $70
• Sunday: $70
• Monday: free with a donation to the scholarship fund

Age Discounts

• Age 18-20: 25% off
• Age 7-17: 50% off
• Age 0-6: free
• For youth coupon codes, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Registration Policies

• Minors (under 18) must be accompanied by a registered adult.
• Refunds will be issued if you need to cancel by 4/15/2025 with a 10% fee, or you can choose to transfer your registration to next year with no fee. Any cancellations between 4/16/2025 and 5/10/2025 will transfer to next year. Any cancellations after 5/10/2025 will be forfeit, as we've already spent your money!

Hotel

The RG will be held at the Doubletree Intercontinental, 15747 John F Kennedy Blvd, Houston, TX 77032. Your $100 per night rate includes complimentary passes to breakfast in the hotel restaurant for two guests. Please note that any booking outside of our block does not guarantee the breakfast passes. Book your room online.

Travel

Flying: You will want to book your flights through Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). There is a free courtesy shuttle from the airport to the hotel that takes only 5 minutes. Call the hotel at 281-848-4000 to request a pickup.

Hobby Airport is 27 miles from the hotel; cab fare is about $40.

Driving: From Beltway 8, Sam Houston Parkway, take JFK Blvd exit. Go north on JFK for half a mile, turn left into hotel parking lot at 15747 JFK Blvd.

Games

One of the staples of SynRG is the well-stocked games room. Throughout the weekend we'll have tournaments and "learn to play" sessions hosted by various attendees. If you are interested in hosting either a tournament or learning session, please fill out our easy form.

Thanks to our friends in Chicago Area Mensa, we now have our game library fully catalogued and available online. If you're stuck and don't know what to try, head over to Game Picker to easily search the GCM games collection for what will likely become your new favorite game.

Schedule

Events

*denotes event that requires an extra ticket, available at registration

Carnelli - Bruce Poppe

Come join a lively round of Carnelli, a game designed to test your ability to think on your feet, as well as your knowledge of trivia, history and culture. It is a "word association" game using titles of books, movies, songs etc. Carnelli is a parlor game created by Jan Carnell, a member of the Metropolitan Washington chapter of Mensa. This game has been popular at Mensa gatherings and science fiction conventions for years.

Gulf Coast Mensa Board Meeting

Not sure if you're getting everything you can out of your Mensa membership? Have no idea who your local board members are? As always, board meetings are open to all members of GCM, so take this opportunity to meet them.

Mensa Admission Test

This test is intended for individuals 14 years of age or older, so if you are between 14 and 17, you must have parental permission to take the test. The Mensa test has two parts, so you'll have two chances to qualify for Mensa membership! Allow 2 hours total for the two tests. The standard Mensa Admission Test features "fill in the blank," "which item comes next," and "which one doesn't belong" sorts of questions, as well as some math and vocabulary. Anyone who takes the test is invited to stay and enjoy Saturday at the RG at no cost.

Trivia - Jason Seiler

Do you want to do a trivia contest? Of course you want to do a trivia contest! Mensans love trivia contests! Jason Seiler is presenting a trivia contest. So come to the trivia contest!

Jason Seiler is a martial arts instructor, firearms instructor, former member of the American Mensa Committee, and a known Scotch whisky aficionado. He has been giving private tastings from his personal collection of 80+ single malt whiskies for over a decade, providing small groups from different organizations with education and experience in the water of life.

Name That Movie - John and Geri Neemidge

Name That Movie consists of short clips from about 40 movies. Each movie clip presents one or more themes. We ask that you identify each movie and the themes. Play as individuals or as a team of up to 6 members. We try to make each clip interesting on its own, so even if you don't know movies very well we hope the game will be entertaining. Clips (not the movies themselves) are chosen to be PG or G rated. We'll provide a key with information about each movie and themes at the end.

Tequila Tasting - Teri Walter*

Whiskey Tasting - Jason Seiler*

Embark on an extraordinary, worldwide journey as we explore fine whiskies from seven nations around the globe. From the smooth Irish whiskey to the bold flavors of Bourbon, crisp and clean Japanese to aromatic French, each whisky promises a unique experience. Discover how each nation’s expressions differ while all being included in the family of whisky. Jason Seiler, one of Mensa’s leading whisky experts, will guide you through this immersive experience. Join us as we sample seven exquisite whiskies from nations such as Canada, Australia, Thailand, and more, each representative of its nation’s heritage and passion for perfection. This tasting event is not just a delight for your palate but a journey through the world of whisky.

Jason Seiler is a martial arts instructor, firearms instructor, RVC for American Mensa, and a known Scotch whisky aficionado. He has been giving private tastings from his personal collection of 80+ single malt whiskies for over a decade, providing small groups from different organizations with education and experience in the water of life.

Speakers

Meet the Regional Coordinator - Penny Robe

Penny Robe, the Regional Coordinator for Region 6 of American Mensa, will provide an update, listen to your feedback, and answer questions about Region 6 and American Mensa processes and available support.

Penny Robe is a Life member of Mensa. She joined Mensa in 2003, in the Central Florida chapter of the Florida Region. She returned to DFW in 2005 and has been part of North Texas Mensa since then.

Cryptography: From Caesar to DES and Beyond - Pete Guy

Cryptography is the method we use to hide our communications from those we don't want to access them. There is a constant battle between those wishing to obscure their messages and those wishing to read them. Caesar had a cipher system, and there have been many systems since then. The presentation will discuss many of the most important ones, including monoalphabetic, polyalphabetic, transpositional, and more advanced systems, such as DES.

After Rice, Uncle Sam invited Pete Guy to explore the jungles of southeast Asia with a rifle. Frantic research disclosed that if he enlisted for four years in the Army Security Agency (a branch of the NSA), that would satisfy Uncle Sam's invitation, so he did. After months of classified training, Pete was sent to Berlin, where he spent 1967 through 1970. He was astonished by many of the things that I learned.

Confessions of a Mad Iconographer: On Seeing Something Where Everyone Else Sees Nothing - Chris Kilgore

Art historian and cognitive archaeologist Christopher Kilgore will reflect on his adventures in research, lauding mentors and colleagues and chronicling gratuitous opposition from respected but wretched individuals and institutions. Chris will share his musings on cognitive knacks, connoisseurship, the true importance of “amateur” scholarship, and the indispensability of the Western Canon of Art, currently under threat from cynical cultural vandals. (Full Disclosure: The speaker is not technically insane.)

Christopher Kilgore has spoken at numerous RGs and AGs and has presented his original research at museums and universities in the United States, France, Britain, Spain, and Belgium. Chris is an alumnus of Rice University and received his MA in Art History from the University of Houston, where he was awarded the Art History Writing Fellowship. In 2018 he was won the Mr. Mensa charity pageant.

Power Writing - Bob Hrncir

Whether it is for a grade, a job, a credit ap, or your freedom [as in, to a parole board], the medium is the message. Learn the tricks of how to write and how NOT to write! We will discuss rhetoric as well as the fallacies and cliches of composition. What is wrong with the Toulmin and Rogerian argument templates? Join us and find out!

Bob Hrncir is a 30+ year life member of Mensa. He has served Gulf Coast Mensa as director, Sig coordinator & chair of several SIGs, GCM phone voice, Informensa columnist, RG & holiday party chair, RG hospitality host, and Punkin Award Laureate. Bob is retired high school and college English literature, composition, and theatre teacher of 46 years, and holds BA & Med degrees in those fields.

What Does It Take to Make It (Financially) on Broadway? - Taz Criss

Have you ever wondered why Broadway tickets are so expensive? Bring your preconceptions and inquisitiveness to learn about the business model of the Great White Way. We'll talk about all things show, including the unions that have a say, how Broadway investing works and even how shows get fed to the Broadway pipeline through venues in Chicago. Taz will either know or make up answers to your questions about all that jazz!

Taz is a second-generation Mensan who joined as a teenager. She has served in various roles in Local Groups, SIGs, and even on the AMC. Her leadership style is uniquely honest, upfront, and jovial. If confidence were inches, she would be 10 feet tall.

If you have suggestions for speakers or would like to speak at SynRG, please fill out our easy form!