MensaPicks

What is MensaPicks?

An online SIG for streaming services.

Why MensaPicks?

I hate falling asleep while browsing for something good.

What AI say

MensaPicks will position Mensa as a cultural authority in media criticism, turning high-IQ curation into a unique member-engagement tool and brand asset.

Motto

“We look at movies differently. If you do too, you belong here.”

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MensaPicks

How it's built

Verification

That's also what makes MensaPicks curation so special — and so valuable.

  • Plan AOIDC + OAuth 2.0 with PKCE, modeled on Doximity. Mensa acts as the identity provider; the app only ever receives an opaque sub claim back.
  • Plan BBlind-style: a one-time link to a Mensa email address, hashed and discarded immediately. Zero linkage retained.

Either way, we don't use or store any of a Mensan's personal information.

Database
  • EngineHosted Postgres, on Supabase.
  • Key tablestitles (movie/show metadata) and availability (which streaming provider, per region, with first_seen_on / last_seen_on / is_available — one title can live on several services at once).
  • AccessRow-level security scopes every row to its own user; the client talks to the database directly — no separate backend API in between.
Movie & TV data
  • MetadataTMDB — titles, genres, popularity, streaming-provider mapping.
  • AvailabilityJustWatch's signal (which platform, which region), licensed and re-published through TMDB.
  • SyncA nightly job pulls this and upserts it into the database.
  • CoverageNetflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV+, Prime Video — US catalog.
  • Scale~50,000 titles, ~66,500 availability rows (as of late August).
Server
  • BackendNone — static HTML/CSS/JS talking to the database directly from the browser.
  • PortabilityNo proprietary backend to migrate — plain HTML/CSS/JS runs on any static host, not locked to one platform.
  • HostingLet's Encrypt TLS certificate.
  • DeployA script copies files over and verifies each one by checksum.
  • Nightly orderCatalog → categories → availability signals → retention report — each step reads what the one before it wrote.
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MensaPicks

Where we sit

PlatformReachWho can rate
IMDb ~250M/mo Anyone
Rotten Tomatoes ~35–90M/mo Anyone — Popcornmeter needs a verified Fandango ticket
Trakt — Anyone — no gate, no authority behind the score
MensaPicks Pilot Verification is what separates us from the others — we have what they don't: smart people.
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MensaPicks

Why Luis?

  • MensanA member himself.
  • He develops for Mensans Some Mensans are already running MensaSchedule for free to schedule their RGs.
    Read what an RG chair said
    "This is fantastic! Building all three features is incredible, thank you so much for turning that around so fast. I literally had no idea that this was even possible. You are a literal rock star."— Tabby, Regional Gathering Programs Chair, Metropolitan Washington Mensa
  • Standing at OC MensaTwo-time RG co-chair — OC Mensa would be happy to meet you this Friday at the Gathering of Bohemians.
  • And Luis, because PassOnThat passonthat.com →
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MensaPicks

How MensaPicks leads the next generation to Mensa

  • Logic teasersA small puzzle in the review. Solve it — you just tried a real Mensa question.
  • Badge contrastVerified reviews get a gold star. Non-members see it, never blocked.
  • Recurring visitorsKeep coming back without joining? The welcome gets warmer over time.
  • PhilosophyNever interrupt — just let people know Mensa is there.
  • For members tooWorks both ways: not just recruiting, a reason for current Mensans to come back.
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MensaPicks

Two kinds of value

What the competition is worth

Ad revenue. Scale. Every platform in that table is really competing for eyeballs and dollars.

What MensaPicks is worth

Both: real ad revenue — American Mensa already sells space in its magazine and on its site — and something they can't buy: reach into the next generation of Mensans.

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MensaPicks

Every design choice, a Mensa event

Colors. The icon. Anything visual — opened up as a submission, not decided behind closed doors.

  • SubmitMensans propose designs — a palette, an icon concept, a badge treatment.
  • VoteThe community picks the winner. Not a survey Mensa runs on members — something Mensans actually decide.
  • Why it mattersEvery visual decision becomes a small moment of participation instead of a reveal handed down.
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MensaPicks

Two branches

Streaming

Filtered to what the visitor — Mensan or not — actually subscribes to. Not every platform. Theirs.

Billboard

What's in theaters right now. Current listings, not the archive.

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MensaPicks

Cost

Then

A platform like this used to cost six figures and a year of engineering.

Now

AI collapsed that — a fraction of the cost, a fraction of the time.

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MensaPicks

My proposal

The moment we sign, I start.

Let me build it.

Let me show you something working.

Then we adjust it together.

When it's delivered, the platform and source code become American Mensa's.

MensaPicks

Current culture. Mensa's voice.

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