Back when I was in college (we’re talking around 1978), I joined the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). I was a big supporter of the organization. I worked on the ACM 81 conference in Los Angeles, I was active in revitalizing the UCLA Student Chapter. I was active in the Los Angeles Chapter, serving for a few years as its chair. I was active in the SIG arena, and was even chair of ACM SIGSAC for four years (and treasurer for another four after that).
I mention all this because I’ve got a renewal invoice sitting in my inbox… and I feel no urge to act upon it.
Whereas I used to read all the ACM publications I got: SIGPLan Notices, SIGSAC Review, SIGSOFT, and of course, CACM… I don’t know. I certainly don’t read their paper versions, and I have access to all the digital stuff through our corporate library.
Whereas I used to attend ACM-affiliated conferences, I don’t anymore. The few conferences ACM holds in my professional areas are not of interest (CCS, SACMAT). I’ve been involved with a major professional conference on my own (ACSAC), am part of their sponsoring body, and it has no ACM affiliation. The other conferences in my area of interest are either government run, commercially run (such as RSA), or IEEE (IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy). I don’t need the ACM association for professional discounts.
I’m still a member of the Local Chapter, but I rarely go to meetings. The few times I do, I’m still one of the youngest in the crowd … and I’m 48, which should say something about the crowd. I don’t need my ACM membership to meet people in my profession.
I don’t use the ancillary ACM services. I don’t use their life insurance, I don’t buy books through their programs.
So I don’t see why I should pay $100+ to rejoin ACM. I bet others are asking themselves the same questions. In today’s world, where we have the Internet to build associations, easy access to digital libraries and papers, and loads of conferences, why (unless one is an academic researcher) is there any relevance to professional societies. What do they bring to the table that you still cannot get elsewhere?
