A couple of months ago I wrote about “Professional Memberships“, and how I was considering leaving the BCS (British Computing Society). Well, I’ve got a few months left, and I have decided to definitely not renew my membership.

The 7 reasons for my leaving:

1. It costs quite a bit of money, which in this current economic period isn’t great. Granted its not as much as some societies, but there are more reasons.
2. The only thing that I really “get out” of my membership is the use of the “MBCS” letters after my name. Granted this does mean that other people can understand that I am at a certain level of professionalism, but I can be at that level of professionalism without the letters and without the membership.
3. The BCS is far far too business orientated, its audience is primarily involved with the running of computing businesses. Granted it does have some technology based articles, and many of its interest-groups are academic in nature, but it just doesn’t fit with my niche.
4. The BCS has no events that I’m particularly interested in, and nothing really happens in Bristol / North Somerset. Granted that its probably one of those societies that you only get things out of it if you can put stuff in, but putting stuff in seems incredibly strenuous.
5. What I was trying to find in the BCS, I have found in the WCIT. The WCIT is practical, it has a better framework for personal development, it is both business and technology focused, it has some rather interesting panels and it is easy to “put stuff in” and “take stuff out” - therefore I am pleased to be a WCIT Journeyman.
6. There are events out there which are no-membership required, that are more interesting and more suited to my (technical and non-technical) interests.
7. I can rejoin BCS in the future if I wish to.

Of course, my reasons for leaving are clear for the here and now, but I should say that I’m sure that the BCS is useful and interesting for many. I do believe that the reason for the existence of the BCS is pure, and I do hope that I don’t sway people to leave it, or put off people from joining it just because of my current dissatisfaction.

At this present time I’ll be focusing on my computing-society-related involvement with the WCIT, but I may explore other areas in the future.

Feel free to comment!

I could do with your opinion…

I’ve been a full Member of the British Computing Society (BCS) since 2007, and I have mentioned in the past to various people that I don’t feel like I don’t get much benefit from it. It is probably one of those things that if you put effort into it then you’ll get benefit back, however nothing incredibly suited to me happens in the Bristol or South West regions of the BCS. One benefit that I may eventually take up is becoming “Chartered” as either an Engineer (CEng) or as an IT Practitioner (CITP), which can be done through the BCS.

The fact that the BCS seems to be targeting the IT Business niche, and trying to keep fingers in a few other pies means that my interest in the society is lacking. Therefore I am seriously considering resigning from the BCS in July, particularly as the cost of maintaining membership is also quite high when I’m trying to save some money so that I can put it into other interests (for personal, business and family interests).

So if I decided to leave the BCS, then I will still be a member of the three year Journeyman Scheme with the Information Technologists’ Company (a Livery Company of the City of London), also known as WCIT. Although the WCIT is quite similar in niche to the BCS, it provides a framework of support and development for its members and is also backed up with lots of lovely history and tradition from the ancient Guilds and Liveries of London. So I shall maintain my affiliation with the WCIT, even though it does cost quite a bit.

If I did resign from the BCS, however, I would feel like I had lost my professional body (and I would not have the postnominals “MBCS” anymore). But there are some alternatives, which might be more suited to my interests, skills, style and political-views and are potentially a lot cheaper than maintaining a membership at the BCS:

• The ACCU - originally a society for C and C++ developers, but has expended its interests into other areas of programming and software development.
• The IEEE Computer Society - an international society with a lot more of a practical feel to it than the BCS, primarily because it is a subsidiary of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering society. It has a huge amount of free stuff for its members, and is good value for the price.
• The ACM - an international society, but mainly based in the USA. It has more of an academic feel to it than the BCS. It has some nice benefits for its members, it isn’t incredibly cheap, but I think it might be cheaper than the BCS. I used to be a student member of the ACM, but decided that the BCS might be better for localised stuff when it came to full membership.
• The IAP - an interesting British society, about the same price as the BCS. It has a very practical feel to it, and some nice simple benefits for its members (particularly those who are consultants).
• The Association for Logic, Language and Information - a rather interesting European society for the bridges between Logic, Language and Information. Sounds quite me. It is a free to join, but it costs to receive their journal.

So, to the reader - what should I do?

1. Stay with the BCS and the WCIT, don’t join anything else
2. Stay with the BCS, the WCIT and join one of the above (which?)
3. Stay with the BCS, the WCIT and join something else (which?)
4. Leave the BCS, stay with the WCIT, but don’t join any professional body
5. Leave the BCS, stay with the WCIT and join one of the above (which one?)
6. Leave the BCS, stay with the WCIT and join something else (what?)
7. Leave the BCS, stay with the WCIT, but come back to the BCS in a couple of years, particularly for the CEng/CITP status

What do you think? Do you have any experience of any of the above societies, or have something else to share? Has membership of a professional body helped you to attain/maintain work? Has it benefited you in other ways? Please do share - either publicly using the comments system or privately by email ( daniel [at] vanirsystems [dot] com ).

Thank you,

Daniel