For my Mensa friends EMAG is the European Mensa Annual Gathering. For my non-M friends, EMAG is the European Mensa Annual Gathering. An AG is a chance for Mensans to meet other Mensans, to learn things (at the various lectures and presentations), to play, to celebrate, and to enjoy.
When I went to my first EMAG, I believe there were about 400+ attendees. This year I believe there were close to 900 attendees!
I arrived in Rotterdam in the early afternoon of 2 August. I took a taxi to the hotel where I was sharing a room with friend Simone (The James Hotel Rotterdam). The room was not in the main hotel, but only about 2 blocks (300 meters) away from the Postillion & World Trade Center. Simone had found the hotel, and we were both quite impressed by it. There were two twin beds, a nice sitting area with a sofa, a desk, and a very nice sized bathroom with a large shower. (I'm happy at my age now when I don't have to get into a tub, especially those with higher sides.) I probably should have taken a picture of the room, but honestly, I never thought of it.
There was an ice breaker event on Wednesday evening, at Bird, probably about a 10 minute walk from the convention center where EMAG was taking place. Then a queue on the sidewalk, because they were checking badges - as they should do - at the door. Once inside though - OMG, were there a lot of people! I'm not sure that the organizers knew how many people were going to be there when they chose the venue. It was so crowded it was difficult to move, and it was very warm and very loud. I did manage to see a few friends and to meet a few new people, but eventually met up with other US friends and we left to go to dinner somewhere else. An amazing dinner in fact!. The picture the waiter took is below, thanks for LaRae and Simone sending it to me. Before we left though, I was able to get a picture of the musical entertainment in one room of the icebreaker venue.
Over the next few days, I mostly attended lectures and met more old friends and new people. There was a kind of "Hospitality" area, although quite different from the American Mensa AG. There was coffee/tea and water, and most of the time trays of different kinds of small cookies. Meals were on one's own, with the exception of the [Saturday] Gala Dinner and the [Sunday] Farewell Brunch. I had a ticket for the Gala Dinner but not the brunch. There was a little market at the hotel which provided all of the breakfast I needed, so that helped. There are some really good restaurants in Rotterdam - every meal out was excellent. Oh, and ice cream in the Netherlands, at least based on what I saw, is amazing!
The Gala Dinner was at the Saint Laurens Church. This was a beautiful venue (pictures below) that actually held 800 people with relative ease. There wasn't a lot of extra space, but there were 80 tables and buffet lines (5 different menus) on each side of the church. Both before and after the dinner, we had the absolute joy of hearing Lavinia Meijer playing her harp. Look for her online; she is stunning. A really beautiful evening.
I had decided shortly after arriving in the city to extend my stay in Rotterdam until Monday in order to be able to take a better flight to Lisbon - my next stop. Although it was raining (as it did a lot while we were there), I managed to get in a pretty good walk and a few nice pictures.
A couple of reminders of home:
I would never eat in a McDonalds in the US, let alone in Rotterdam! But it was a good landmark, one block from our hotel and one block from the WTC.
And for my New England friends, a short walk from both our hotel and from the WTC in a shopping area.
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