With a plethora of high-content information sources available in the Internet "free" paradigm, paying $100 per year for ISA membership is an anachronism. The dues are simply not matched by the value that ISA purports to provide.

A bridge to the future is possible - offering "freemium" membership for anyone interested in automation, anywhere in the world. These could be non-voting members, with the offer of upgrade to full membership upon payment of regular dues. Look up the word "freemium" in Wikipedia.

There are many way to structure free membership while optimizing value. Freemium members would not be members of an ISA section and would not have any voting rights. But they would be able to contribute content to ISA magazines and blogs, and receive discounts for training and attendance at ISA conferences. This would "cost" ISA very little, and yield significant benefits. It will lead to a much higher level of engagement and greater revenue opportunities.

Regular paid membership will increase significantly as freemium members transfer to full membership through clear value offerings. The regular dialog and conversion results will provide feedback on the value of membership and allow development of new member offerings.

As more and more people recognize the value of ISA membership, the conversion rates (from free to reduced-dues and then full membership) will climb to an estimated 25,000 to 75,000 new members. This approaches the number I previously promoted as a goal and still think is a viable objective.

With a significantly higher number of constituents, ISA would not be wanting for leaders, editorial content and advertising revenue. Indeed, higher readership of online and printed content guarantees increased advertising rates. Many other current shortfalls will quickly disappear.

It's clear that ISA must re-invent itself. Before any meaningful improvements can be accomplished, governance needs to change dramatically, to avoid analysis-paralysis.

But, the conundrum must first be solved: How to get volunteers to relinquish volunteer control? And, how to get an Executive Director that operates like a CEO?