Creating your own membership experience

What’s the number one reason people join a professional association? Networking. And it’s working for me. Just the other day, I reached out to some fellow members of the Maryland Writers Association, whom I have yet to meet, looking for an editor for a friend of mine. I had several responses via the group discussion. But I also sent an email to an editor whom I had found through the association website. She responded immediately. In my thank you email, I mentioned that I was also interested in learning more about the editing process, and would love to pick her brain. After all, I knew from her work with the association that she was a respected writer and experienced editor. Her response was warm and inviting, and I’m looking forward to meeting her in the coming months.

I have to say that it’s been a struggle to find that one association that would really click with me. But the more I reach out, the more I’m finding that it’s really up to me to make that “click” happen. After all, this is a contact that I would never have made if not for my membership into this particular association.

How did you make your association ‘click’ for you?