Why Attend a Professional Association Meeting?

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I attended a professional meeting of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) a few years back and was offered a permanent position in a completely new field for me after only TWO meetings. 
 
Yep, it’s true. 
 
I had left my position in banking and was ready to embark on a new path in human resources.  I turned up at a SHRM special-interest group meeting for recruiters, which was FREE and took place at a snazzy location downtown.  I had no idea what to expect, zero experience with recruiting and little exposure to the human resources field per se.  Yet there at this association meeting I found myself sitting with experienced personnel from top-notch organizations.  When it was my turn to introduce myself, I stammered out a bit about my intention to become a recruiter, and at the end of my second bi-weekly meeting, I was approached by one of those experienced attendees and asked if I would be interested in a position!  She hadn’t yet posted the job because her budget wouldn’t be approved for two weeks, but she thought I would be a good fit.
 
Professional associations are typically non-profit organizations with a mission of furthering the advancement of a particular profession or industry.  Many of these are national or international organizations with area chapters, such as the Association for Women in Communications, and others are strictly local such as Young Professionals of Seattle.
 
Even when membership dues are charged, you can often attend a meeting once or twice for free, or pay just for a one-time visit.  It’s a great way to check out a field of interest.  Say you are wondering if working in affordable housing is right for you.  Show up at the Housing Development Consortium to hear about day-to-day issues faced in the workplace, find out what skills and qualities are needed to do the work, and gain insight into what life is like in that career.  Enthralled with website SEO and hankering after a possible career in search engine marketing?  Try out Seattle Search Network’s community of digital marketing experts. 
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If you attend meetings on a regular basis, you are likely to learn about industry trends and become more knowledgeable in the field.  Just by being interested enough in the topic to show up, you will find there will be opportunities to develop strong professional relationships.  Face to face introductions for networking that did not have to be requested or arranged – what could be easier!