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I recently received a bill for annual membership in a professional association. I am a member of four, and looking at the bill, I had to wonder … was I really getting value for money?

In my previous life as an employee of a large company, my employer paid these fees, and I took them for granted. But now that we are a small organisation, and with the economy changing, I have to question their value.

What do they provide:

  • Access to a network. Well, I can access many of the same people at industry events, which are often free or extremely low cost. So that does not sound like good value for money.
  • I can access technical papers at a discount. Depending on how often I access the professional associations’ library, this can justify annual fees.
  • I get a monthly magazine. … … …
  • I get access to webinars at a discount. Again, depending on how often I attend, this can justify the annual fees.
  • And then my list becomes trivial from a financial perspective.

So the value of the membership is going to depend upon how often the membership is used. Which is somewhat reasonable.

But it did cause me to the question … what can a professional association do for me? And I have one answer … in my position as a person that delivers technical training, they can help me deliver training to the members. The association can market my courses, collect the attendance fees, and pay me a wage, and it is win-win. If the attendees like the course, it is win-win-win.

So how am I doing at making this happen:

Professional Association 1. After 3 years of contacts, numerous emails, phone calls, finding the person I need to talk to because the previous person quit, etc., we finally had success. This membership is one I will definitely keep because it has truly become mutually beneficial.

Professional Association 2. After 2 years of contacts, numerous emails, internet questionnaires, marketing webinar recordings, etc., we got to the final point and … we could not agree on the marketing – they basically wanted me to surrender my intellectual property to them. I now must question my membership in this organisation – it appears to be very one-way (and not one-way in my favour)

Professional Association 3. This association is more closely related to an industry sector than a profession. While it is a purely one-way relationship, there seems to be enough information and opportunities to justify continuing with the one-way relationship.

Professional Association 4. This one is required by law for me to work in one state. With the exception that I can comply with the law and issue an invoice, it is otherwise useless to me. While there may be merit in it, I am sure it is nothing more than a source of revenue for the state government (translation … it is a tax)

The bill I mentioned previously? I decided to pay it. Maybe this is the year I can get more value from my memberships.