Hi Terence, To introduce myself, I'm a member of the BCS, and I sit on the Membership Board, so I'm an active member who's trying to help improve the BCS. The BCS is an organisation in continual transition, it has c. 70,000 members. There are maybe 1 million in the UK who work in IT in one way or another - most are outside the BCS. Some are pissing inwards! The Membership Board is new, part of the restructure that caused so much "kerfuffle". The BCS is changing. Some of the "old guard" don't like it. Anyway.. What's the point..... Have you read the website "About Us"? http://www.bcs.org/category/5651 (I and other individual members have our own views on the purposes of BCS, but these are the stated purposes of the institute). Mission: "We bring together industry, academics, practitioners and government to share knowledge, promote new thinking, inform the design of new curricula, shape public policy and inform the public." You came. I hope you enjoyed Sue's talk etc. You were brought together with others to share knowledge, promote new thinking etc.... Actually you weren't brought in by "The BCS" - you were brought in by a local branch - London. The website you referred to is for a local branch - London, There are around 48 local branches, each getting on with their own activities under the umbrella of "The BCS", each run by volunteer members. For me this is one of the primary purposes of the BCS. Bring people together to discuss bits of this huge discipline of computing, educate, inform, share. Nobody has to join - it's voluntary. There's a huge raft of things the BCS HQ could do better, especially technically, and there is a process underway to get technical input from expert members into the way that BCS uses technology. Why? Because BCS is a membership organisation, not a technical org. It deals with members, recruiting, publications, group funding & support, arranging events, providing examinations and qualifications, determining professional standards, ethics, lobbying government, providing information for the public. It provides channels to the expertise of its members (like Sue, who you listened to). The BCS HQ is mainly 300 employees who don't do IT or Computing, they do all these other things, for the public, for the members, paid for by 70,000 members. 70,000 members who have different needs, purposes and reasons for joining BCS. Any expectation of a clear, coherent unity is unlikely to be realistic. The BCS does many good things, but there are also many opportunities to criticise. In your place I would ask, "Why did I have to go to Southampton Street?". Why wasn't this talk broadcast on the web, why couldn't I participate through video etc. Why does BCS not use technology to facilitate this and reach a wider audience? Well we're trying, this is one of the improvements I'm trying to make happen. Other volunteers are trying to enable the organisation to do other things. BCS is about sharing, internally and externally. The classic "Ask not what the BCS can do for you, but what you can do for the BCS.". That's the primary point of joining. Come together, collect, share to improve. So if you want a say, come in and contribute. That is the point. Participate, Contribute, Share, Learn, Improve. My individual views as an individual member. Other members may think differently! HTH, Steve Burrows FBCS, CITP.....