Are Professional Organizations Dying?
20 years ago I joined ASTD (American Society of Training and Development). I was president of the LA chapter which had 1200 members. I was also very active in the national organization that had over 80,000 members and hosted conferences of 10-15,000 people.
Today the local is less than 50% of what it was. I recently learned that the SHRM conference was huge was it because it was in Las Vegas? I hear about many other professional organizations in flux and many fading.
My question then is are they going through evolutionary cycles or are they not keeping up with the times? ASTD is no longer offering me what I need as my business is less training and far more on the development and business side. Are other professional organizations stuck in time warps?
Are we able to gain all the professional development we need on-line and do we get networking from other organizations? Is affiliation only for the name recognition?
I’d really like to know your thoughts and what organizations you see thriving and which ones you see fading.
