I’ve been on the PDMA mailing list for the last year, still haven’t actually gone to any of their events in Cincinnati yet. I did watch a webcast a couple months ago on developing successful products. A lot of it was a bit too technical for me as a student but I definitely did pick up a couple of good points. Was it worth the money I spent on it… mmmm I guess, I probably spent the same amount at Chipotle that week, but I haven’t done another since.
In this age where there is so much great free content and opportunities to connect with professional designers (Core being the best) I find it hard to justify paying the membership fees that a lot of professional organizations come with.
Yes I definitely second this, I was a huge fan of Creative Seeds, in fact that is something I wouldn’t have any problem paying a subscription for. Love the content especially the great articles on navigating the design world as a freelancer, since that is something that I’ve always been interested in but is hardly ever really explained in great detail. Would love to see it come back, though I realize it’s a lot of work to pull off content with a lot of depth for free!
I have 3 more years till I graduate so for now networking in person isn’t as high of a priority, when it is I might pony up for some of the PDMA and IDSA events, but till then Core suits my needs completely.