Many of us have likely heard the saying “what goes in must come out.” In the design world, my boss says, “garbage in, garbage out.” I want to put this in terms of ASPE membership: you get what you give.
I have been a member of ASPE for more than 25 years now, and I often have to tell myself that I joined when I was 10 so I don’t feel so old when admitting that fact. I am happy to say that I have NO intentions of ending my membership anytime soon. I attribute that to my belief that I get out of my ASPE membership even MORE than I have put into it.
What is the minimum you can do as an ASPE member? Well, probably paying your dues and doing nothing more is a possibility. What will you get out of ASPE for that? My guess is you may eventually get tired of paying dues and quit.
How about if you do a little more? Maybe you go to your local Chapter meetings? Hmmm, now you have some contact, actually SEE people, and you can enjoy the educational programs that can make you a better owner, employee, and so on. You can also start building your professional network. Maybe you can get some mentoring if that is something for which you are looking.
How about a little more than that? Maybe you join a committee, on either the Chapter or national level. Okay! Now you are meeting with people who have similar interests. You can learn from each other. You are also now in a position to shake things up! Maybe you want better/different educational opportunities to be available for you and your fellow ASPE members. Maybe you want to start getting involved with the codes or standards processes. Right on! This is pretty cool! You can put yourself in a position to make changes that affect not only ASPE members, but everyone in the plumbing community—I mean, we all are end users of plumbing systems.
What more can there be? You can consider making that step to leadership by either becoming a Chapter Officer or even running for the Society Board of Directors. If you are a born leader, this is definitely the thing for you. If you are not a born leader but WANT to lead, this is also the thing for you! I am in my second year of my first term as Society Vice President, Membership. Although I denied ever wanting to be on the Board for several years, I am grateful that I am. I have been fortunate to be on a Board full of people who are as passionate about ASPE as I am. You can’t beat that!
Do you know the difference in dues between the person who does the minimum and the one who runs for Society office? NONE. It is up to YOU to maximize what you get from your membership. If you need to be pushed, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] and I will be MORE than happy to start pushing!
