Besides CSI and AIA, what other trade/professional organizations are you a member?
The comment came up at our last specifier’s share group. Some people mentioned that it is cheaper to become a member of ACI and buy their books at member price than buy the book at a nonmember price.
Me personally, I take the Groucho Marx approach when it comes to membership. 
What’s the Groucho Marx approach?
In addition to AIA & CSI, I currently belong to SSPC, NFPA, ASTM (through my firm), & ICC
AWI, and though there is a discount on publications that more than pays for membership, that’s not why. I also served on their national board of directors for 3 years.
Specifications Consultants in Independent Practice - and to help with my CSI and SCIP responsibilities, I joined the American Institute of Parliamentarians (AIP). It’s great to be able to take questions to people who really know how parliamentary procedure is supposed to work.
Groucho Marx :“I’d never consider joining a group that would accept me as a member” (or something like that), although I thought that was a Mark Twain remark.
Is SCIP open to specifiers who are not independent? If so, to what level? Since I work for an A/E firm, the anti-Groucho applies… I want to join a group that won’t have me for a member.
To answer the original question, only CSI and AIA, but I will be joining USGBC later this year.
ASTM, ICC, AWI, and SCIP (Correspondent member).
SCIP members passed a bylaws ballot measure in 2005 that opens participation in SCIP to non-independent specifiers. Affiliates may be specifier employees of other firms, as defined in the approved bylaws revisions. The new application for membership and invoice are available through the Member Application link at www.scip.com. SCIP members look forward to meeting new Affiliates at the upcoming meeting in Las Vegas.
SCIP, as an affiliate member, because they actually do good stuff. AWI because their publications are cheaper. Also, the BSA (Boston Society of Architects) the local AIA affiliate which has an extremely active membership and a bunch of good committees. My employer pays for AIA, BSA and CSI–for the first time in my career I haven’t had to pay for the memberships and conventions out of my own pocket.
David,
Seattle Building Enclosure Council (SeaBEC) because it is focused on building science which is the area I practice (but have not mastered).
I also plan to join SCIP.
Wayne
Wayne, you mean pseudoscience, don’t you? Did you see that rigged water pressure test last SeaBEC meeting? The “building scientist” drilled a small hole in the window that failed, but not in the window that passed. Really scientific…
SCIP, AWI, SSPC
AWI is a great deal – the membership discount on publications is 90% – so you can buy the AWI manual for less than $10 each.
I’ve been a SCIP “real member” and now am an affiliate member – its the only group that actually addresses what specifiers do
I belong to AIA (I’m an architect and this says so),
CSI (the best organization I belong to that has done the most for me over the years),
SCIP (because I’m a specifier and lie to communicate with other of like…)
BSR (Building For Social Responsibility) because I’m green and this is a very nice group of hippies,
VGBN (Vermont Green Bulding Network…a chapter of USGBC) because it’s a true grass roots organization and I was on it’s first board…also my FIRM belongs to USGBC…do they offer individual memberships now?
“I sent the club a wire stating, PLEASE ACCEPT MY RESIGNATION. I DON’T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT ME AS A MEMBER.”
David-
I stand corrected. Rumors of Mark Twain’s involvement in this quote are greatly exaggerated.
I have, at one time or another, found value in the American Society of Professional Estimators, the ACI, the ASQ, the AACE and the Project Management Institute.
Do any of you know anything about SARA (Society of American Registered Architects)?
SARA was started by (I believe) upstate New York Architects as an alternative to the AIA’s exclusiveness in 1956. They have grown ever since. Check out their website at http://www.sara-national.org/
They were founded in Atlanta, Georgia on November 9th, 1956.