Diamond Comments

Some of the comments we received following the Diamond anniversary celebrations.

"Thank you so much for organizing another wonderful celebration. I do appreciate just how much work it is for you both and hope you received loads of compliments and thanks! We really enjoyed it."

AP of Southampton

"We would like to thank you very much for all the hard work you must have put in on this weekends events."

RC of Derbyshire

"Thanks for all your hard work, inspiration, attention to detail, thoughtfulness and everything else that went into organising such a superb Diamond celebration. The amount of effort that you both put in to put on so many events for so many people was incredible. I had a wonderful time and have some great memories to treasure from the weekend. "

GK of Dublin

"We had a great weekend. It makes me wish we hadn't missed all the AGs since the last one you did in Nottingham. So great to see everyone again. I ached from the morning after Go Ape until sometime during Dancing Through The Decades when the exercise must have loosened the muscles the earlier event made ache."

EL of Clacton

"I am totally blown away by how brilliant you both are at doing this stuff, and honestly don't know how you managed to remain so charming all the time as well. With a vague idea of the stresses you must have been under I would very much have liked to give you a hug before leaving to cross the pond again."

CS of Canada

"Woo-hoo, what an AG. Andy and Maxine deserve awards, congratulations, thanks, a knighthood each, lots of chocolates... Best bits were the party, and having so many people including lots from other national Mensa groups to chat to. The young lady with the tattoo of the Mensa Diamond logo in an interesting spot, proudly showing it off round the bar. The splendid load of Mensa archives with stuff going back to the founding, all on display bringing back memories."

DT of Sheffield

"You've probably been overwhelmed with these - but I did want to send you a note saying thanks for a fantastic weekend. The atmosphere was wonderful and everyone I talked to had a great time. Thanks again - and congratulations to you on putting on such a brilliant weekend."

BP of York

"Thank you for arranging such an excellent weekend. I think that we have an awful lot to live up to next year in London. Among many things of which I was extremely impressed was Maxine's dancing skills while I was trying to compensate for my two left feet. I made my escape from Dancing Through The Decades after massacring the rock and roll."

IF of London

"It was a great weekend! We met lots of friends, old and new, with the usual crowds remaining in the bar until the first twinges of dawn were appearing. It was a good job that we can exist on little sleep and multiple drinks! It was great fun sitting and chatting with everyone from all parts of the UK with a good number from such places as Ireland, US and Canada, Germany, Denmark and Netherlands to name a few. Gerald Ratner was interesting at the black tie event, the indoor fireworks were a spectacular performance and it was interesting how the dance floor for the Dancing Through The Decades event gradually cleared as people started to wilt and needed to sort out their over supply of left feet!"

MD of West Midlands

"Thanks to an incredible amount of hard work from Andy and Maxine who must need a week's break to recover."

DB of London

"So many good events; as one quarter of "The Cluster In The Corner" getting agonisingly close to winning Glenys' excellent Millionaire-based Diamond Brian Quiz. Actually winning the 80s pop quiz, thanks to my sad obsessiveness with pop from that decade I am now the proud possessor of an instant 80s mix CD. The cake was amazing, Andy and Maxine had asked for one the size of a door and that's what we got. Delicious too. Even between 600 of us it took 24 hours to finish it off! And the fireworks were pretty spectacular too, best indoor display I've ever seen anyway. Kudos to the nth degree to Maxine and Andy for holding it all together despite the pressures of not terribly good service from the hotel and the neediness of many of our visitors from the USA. "

MS of Cardiff

"It was a brilliant weekend. So many old friends to catch up with, so many new faces to put to familiar names. It was also great to explore a city I'd not visited before. I thoroughly enjoyed it all. It's hard to pick out highlights as it was enjoyable from start to finish, but as well as some interesting events, it was also great just to sit and chat in the bar. I thought the Awards Luncheon was a great idea - a very appropriate way to recognise Mensa's volunteers. All credit to Maxine and Andy, who worked on the preparations for three years, and who must be exhausted by now after all the effort they put into it. I can't think of anyone who would have done a better job of it."

JS of Milton Keynes

"You did an amazing job - definitely an AG to go into the history books, a fantastic achievement. I hope you feel (justifiably) incredibly proud of yourselves."

RJ of Herts

"Huge thanks to Maxine and Andy for an amazing AG. Which will be remembered for a very long time."

PT of Birmingham

"What a cartload of work you two did. I don't mean the three previous years only, but across the weekend too. Wasn't the laser and fireworks stuff brilliant? Many, many thanks to you both and all the others who helped to get it and keep it 'on the road'."

MD of Norfolk

"A big thank you for all the work you did for the Diamond weekend. I know you must have spent a massive amount of time on our behalf. Everyone enjoyed the weekend - thanks to everyone who helped."

HC of Edinburgh

"Congratulations on the best ever AG! I particularly enjoyed the icebreaker and it set the tone for the next two days. "

RJ of Powys

"Well done to Andy and Maxine for the precision planning. It made for a great event that ran very well. There were of course many other people that contributed to the success. Rowena did particularly well to keep the awards in a straight line. Great team work."

JS of Wolverhampton

"I had a great time, as I'm sure did everyone else. Could I just add my thanks to those already expressed for the huge amount of effort that you have both put in (over some considerable time!) to make the Diamond celebrations such a great success. Well done to you both and thanks again."

RL of Ayrshire

"I had a fantastic time, so thank you very much to both of you, plus all the others who contributed. It was lovely seeing so many people I don't see very often and/or haven't seen for ages. I drank too much, ate too little (apart from chocolate), danced too much, slept too little, kissed lots of frogs and got bitten by a prince (Oscar Barnes, aged 10 months). Altogether a brilliant weekend."

CA of Leeds

"Thanks to both of you for all the hard work you put into making such an enjoyable Diamond AG. As I suspected, I had little time for anything other than catching up with old friends. If only Mensa nattering could be turned into power then we wouldn't have any future energy needs. I've been singing the praises of the weekend to all and sundry since my return and it was down to you two."

CD of Kent

"The weekend, which was great for the rest of us, must have been pretty exhausting for you and Andy. Thanks for all your efforts. I had a great time catching up with people and making new friends."

JC of Milton Keynes

"I should like to thank you and all the other organizers for a really splendid event. I enjoyed it very much."

MG of Switzerland

"Congratulations on a job well done, and many thanks for your gracious hospitality and all your strenuous efforts to assure our comfort and pleasure at the AG. We had a wonderful time, and we hope that we will have the opportunity to visit with you again in your lovely country. "

JR of USA

"Just wanted to thank you both for the huge amount of effort you put in to last weekend. I had a great time as I am sure did all the others who attended."

PM of Somerset

"Thank you both for a beautiful week."

JR of Netherlands

" Just wanted to say thanks so very much for organising Mensa's Diamond gathering. We really enjoyed the weekend. We really appreciated all the hard work that went into organising it. You must have been exhausted afterwards! "

JE of Hampshire

"I am so pleased that you and Andy found time to enjoy yourselves, you made a marvellous job of arranging plenty of entertainment for everyone. Thanks again."

KN of Birmingham

"A fabulous weekend, which I shall remember with affection and enthusiasm next time Andy and Maxine want to run one."

GT of Sheffield

"Congratulations on laying on a marvellous Diamond with a massive, diverse and most enjoyable programme. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Thanks for all your hard work."

TJ of Staffordshire

"We're sure you've been inundated with emails saying how great the AG was so here's another one! Thanks for organising a wonderful event. It was fantastic - and we only attended in the evening! "

LG of Nottingham

"I guess from the numbers there most people went to at least some of the brilliant Icebreaker this AG and hopefully many would-be organisers took mental notes. Not only did they come up with great ideas but they had no less than three activities. I've spoken to people who each thought a different one was the brilliant one (Sheep Racing, Speed Dating, Body Scrabble) so they also managed to cater for very different tastes. The overall success factor from where I was standing was the successful creation of a 'party' atmosphere. Each time a sheep race was announced there was a rush of people from one end of the massive hall to the other, sweeping people along and, if you weren't at the front, definitely felt like there was something going on that you shouldn't miss but then you'd get swept up into the interactive sheep-betting or asking people what it was about or bursting out in paroxysms of laughter at the faces of the sheep. It was so mental it would have been hard to feel left out unless you were making a very determined effort."

CD of Edinburgh

"What a tremendous weekend. I was left with that feeling that is 25 per cent accumulated hangover, 25 per cent disappointment that it's all over, 50 pct happy memories and a bonus 25 pct befuddlement including an inability to do basic maths. The feeling that means it was a belter of an AG. High points included meeting people I haven't seen in a decade or more, catching up with lots of old friends, seeing people I thought had dropped out of Mensa but finding they were still around, talking to new people and many members from overseas. I managed to buy autographed books by Andrew Singleton and Carolyn Steele. Outside the hotel were many splendid-sounding events of which I only managed a couple. A day playing with Landrovers and mud buggies was a great way to finish. Maxine and Andy, take a bow, and a well-earned rest. You did a superb job. Just one question remains: How can you possibly top that?"

CR of Birmingham

"Congratulations to you both on a very enjoyable and successful weekend."

SL of Leeds

"All seemed to go very well, thanks for all your hard work."

DS of Stirling

"Many thanks for all your hard work for Mensa's Diamond Anniversary. It was well planned, well carried out and well followed through. Lots of good memories for lots of good people!"

AT of Kent