Professional organizations

[rmanfredi]

I'm debating where it's worth it for me to join the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association this year. I'm a former sportswriter who worked at the Orange County Register for several years out of college and has been slowly getting back into it over the past few years. Lately I've been focusing on auto racing - specifically sprint car racing. I cover the sport for Examiner.com (I know, which puts me up there with the Cincinnati Zombie Examiner but I've earned a good reputation within the sport for it) and have covered local races as a freelancer for the Riverside Press Enterprise and Visalia Times-Delta in the past year. I also have a 2,000-word feature coming out in next month's Flat Out Magazine.

So I'm debating whether or not to join the AARWBA, but I guess I need some convincing that I'm getting more for my $45 than just the right to say that I'm "a member of the AARWBA" on my freelance pitches (and maybe that's worth the $45 right there). I'd like to hear feedback from members of the AARWBA for sure, but also other writers who are/have been members of various professional organizations: what do you get out of being a member?

 

[playthrough]

I am a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA). I'm impressed with what they've done to improve working conditions at some tracks' media centers, and the yearly awards are a plus. But when I joined two years ago I was a busy motorsports freelancer and now I'm virtually out of that biz, so I'm not sure if I'll renew when the time comes. I don't think membership alone can really help land any work. That's not the org's fault, that's just because there's not enough work to go around.