[TheForge] ABANA membership

[Dave Bendall]

     Look out, I just had an idea, sparked by several folks mention of
what they feel they get by being members of ABANA- two magazines, and
attending a conference every two years. Personally, I like the magazines
just fine, but may not attend another conference. Therefore, my $45.00
goes for a monthly magazine. All my other magazine subs. run $10.00 to
$18.00 per year, with no conferences.
     Some other organisations have different levels of memberships-
cheapo magazine only, then the more expensive magazine plus discount on
merchandise, and voting rights. Would it be practical for ABANA to offer
similar levels of membership? All the apparent corruption in the ABANA
board really irritates me, even more so when I consider that something
like $27.00 to $35.00 of my membership fee is just wasted, unless I buy
stuff from ABANA at a discount, and attend conferences regularly.  If I
could just get the mags. and not foot the bill for the more questionable
goings-on of ABANA, I'd sure prefer it.
     Just my two cents. What do others think?
     Dave Bendall in Phoenix