Thing 7 is about professional organizations (or organisations if you’re British). I’m kind of between organizations right now since I’m kind of between professions right now.

I’m still a member of the Missouri Library Association. Here’s a shout out for state library associations. If you don’t like how yours is running, it’s easy to get in there and make some changes. So says a past-chair of the Computer and Information Technology Special Interest Group of MLA. The first MLA conference I went to had an embarrassingly small number of technology sessions. I wanted that to change and it did. I can’t take all of the credit but I know for sure that I made a difference in that area. That’s the nice thing about state library associations–they are small enough that you can make an impact and see the results. I can take almost no credit for the technology offerings at this year’s conference in October, except for one — I’ll be presenting on book blogs!

There isn’t a book blogger organization (yet) but I’ve been participating in the community by participating in memes, reading and commenting on other book blogs, and attending the Book Blogger Convention. Oh, and I have an email that I need to follow up on to do some promotional work for Book Blogger Appreciation Week. I’m hoping that in promoting that event I’ll figure out what it is, exactly, since I wasn’t blogging yet last September.

There are many, many writing organizations. I’ve even belonged to a couple in the past. But I found that belonging to a writing organization didn’t make me write. So, this time around, I’m writing first, joining later.

What professional organizations do you belong to and how do they improve your life?