You are absolutely correct about folks not participating in professional organizations to the extent they did in the past.

Our local section of ASNT has not had a meeting in three years. Reason, only a handful of people (usually the executive committee) were showing up for the meetings.

There is a multitude of reasons for not attending meetings of ASME, ASNT, AWS, etc. I am a guilty as the next fellow. I am on the road more these days and when I am home, I enjoy being able to plop down to watch an evening of television with my wife. Not that the entertainment is all that great, I have just gotten older and have less energy than I did twenty years ago. I sometimes question the effort required to get dressed and drive to some remote location to listen to a speaker or go on a plant tour. It is too easy to lounge on the couch with my pants unbuttoned, cold glass of milk in one hand, and a fist full of cookies in the other.

There are so many organizations pulling at you for your time and expertise, you have to decide where to put your efforts. You cannot attend every meeting of every professional organization you are a member of. There simply is not enough time to do so. For that one reason I, as chairman of our local section, have tried to have joint meetings with other organizations when the opportunity arises. Our section has had joint meeting with ASNT and ASM. Many of our AWS members belong to one or both organizations. ASME; we did not have any joint meeting with them. That is my fault because I lost contact with the ASME officers at the local level.

More and more people are expected to put in hours of "off-the-clock" time doing office work at home. Companies provide laptops to their desk jockeys and they expect their employees to use them during their off-hours.

Companies used to support the professional organizations by encouraging their employees to participate in the operations of the organizations. Many companies have very shortsighted goals and efforts that do not produce results in the short term are not part of the employer’s plan. I remember when Hartford Steam Boiler stopped subsidizing their employee’s membership in AWS, half of our executive board vaporized the day the announcement was made. 

Many people underrate the importance of networking when they are gainfully employed. The need for a strong network of friends and acquaintances only seem to be important when looking for a new employment opportunity. We all know the one or two blokes we see at meetings once every five years when they are looking for a new job. From my own prospective, I do not recommend people for jobs if I only met them once or twice. On the other hand, if I have a long-standing relationship with someone and I know their areas of expertise, I do not hesitate to make recommendations when the opportunity affords itself.  

You can count the reasons why people do not attend meetings of AWS, ASNT, ASM, or ASME on your fingers and toes. You will run out of digits before you run out of legitimate reasons not to show up at meetings.

It can be a daunting task to develop programs that draw enough interest to bring people to the meetings. I have been very fortunate to have an executive committee that has been very active in organizing meetings and following through with their commitments. I, on the other hand, have been on the road for the majority of the meetings we held this year. I have depended on my executive committee and they have stepped forward when I needed them. I owe them my thanks for a job well done.

Best regards - Al