Today I got an email press release from ISA announcing the fact that any paid up member can download one standard for free per year. All other standards cost money (with the infinitesimal member discount of course).
Me, however, this doesn't apply to, until the end of MAY! For five blessed more months I can download any standard I want, as many standards as I want, as many times as I want. Because I pre-paid my ISA membership years ago, and it still applies until May.
You see, backalong, ISA had some leaders (not just me...there were lots of others) who believed in providing maximum value to the membership. They voted in a plan where if you paid an additional fee of $25 per year, you could download all the standards you wanted.
They felt that it was important for ISA to provide value add to their members that they could not get anywhere else.
So, what happened? Later ISA leaders, many who opposed the 'free standards' movement, chose to ignore the fact that ISA needed a value proposition to appeal to potential members, and simply said that the society should charge for standards. They were in it for the money.
ISA's new Executive Director starts this week. I'm hoping he'll be able to do what his predecessors could not: rein in the Old Guard who want to keep the status quo.
Do you know the ISA benefit I have gotten the most from? I am one of the minority of ISA members who gets an ISA discount at GEICO. But the ones that matter the most are the ones that I can use in my profession... and I have to pay full boat less 10% for those. And I can get better training, and similar books outside ISA. I can get ISA's magazine without being a member. There's not a lot that ISA can offer that can't be had outside. So why don't you start offering stuff that you CAN'T get outside ISA???
Is anybody over there listening?
Walt
