Here in SD we have a linked in group that puts together regular local happy hours and barbecues. The CE designer group on linked puts together an annual CES get together. I get most of the design news I need from various blogs, websites, and forums.
When I lived on SF I paid a lot more to be on the SFMOMA accessions committee and it was completely worth it. It was stacked with great people to get to know. Each quarterly meeting was like a 2 Hour design and architecture history seminar presented by curators who thoroughly researched key pieces of our profession’s history.
So what is the compelling reason for me to pay dues? Where is the value in it? I think they should explore moving away from a membership model all together. Instead they could move to a product model. Imagine if you could buy a kit with everything you need to start a consulting group, contracts, proposal forms, tax forms tailored to the laws in your states, formulas that helped you develop a fee structure based on your overhead. Imagine if you could purchase tickets to design leadership courses that helped you to move off the boards and taught you hot to create a tailored process and cultivate the propper environment for your team. Courses that would teach you how to better demonstrate the value of design to your corporation. Workshops on how to present concepts in ways that are relevant to the c-suite executives at your company or client. Give us something useful that we didn’t learn in school. Give us value.