Stronger Together: The Tremendous Benefits of Membership
For years, the IACP has struggled to make apparent the benefits of membership. We have offered the best content for professional and public education available anywhere, but as we have endeavored to grow new communities, in time those communities become more self-sufficient and begin providing their own content. We have assembled the best trainers on our faculty, but as communities have grown, they have nurtured their own trainers and begun offering their own trainings. We offer a yearly meeting of the most dedicated and influential Collaborative Practitioners at our Annual Forum, but communities have begun hosting annual regional conferences to meet the needs of practitioners in their area. In short, a major part of the growth of a Collaborative Community is a decreasing need for the membership benefits we traditionally have provided.
To that end, we are constantly evolving and adding new and exciting offerings to increase the value of membership. An often overlooked benefit of membership is the “C” mark. Many of you use the “C” mark in your email signatures, on your website or even on your business letterhead. Members have the right to use the “C” mark under a licensing agreement, and if you were to allow your membership to lapse, you have agreed to cease using that mark as a part of that licensing agreement. Members also receive discounts to the Forum and Institute and a digital copy of the Collaborative Review, which is the only scholarly journal focused exclusively on Collaborative Practice.
As we move forward, you will notice that membership grants you access to discounted webinars through our website. These webinars are going to be monthly offerings on advanced topics, which our members will receive at a greatly reduced cost. In addition, though we will continue to offer Basic Interdisciplinary Trainings, we plan to begin finding new ways to offer advanced trainings through our Training Faculty. Members will continue to have access to our Speaker’s Bureau and we will find ways to offer exciting new trainings as time moves on.
We offer webinar discounts to our members and even greater discounts to our Whole Groups, which are practice groups who have shown a commitment to the IACP by requiring that every member of the Practice Group is also a member of the IACP and verifying that fact on a yearly basis. Each member of a verified Whole Group receives a reduced cost membership to the IACP, which reduces annual membership dues by $50 USD each year.
All in all, we want every member to know that we value each of you, and we want to continue to develop new ways to make your practice stronger and to spread Collaborative Practice around the world. Never hesitate to contact me directly with any inquiries about membership or with new ideas for membership benefits you would like to see. The IACP is dedicated to building connections, opening dialogs and making Collaborative Practice the way that families resolve their disputes worldwide, and we cannot do our work without the strength and support of our members.
If you aren’t a member or you have allowed your membership to lapse, I encourage you to renew that membership or join us in building a global network of Collaborative and consensual dispute resolution professionals. Together we can build a strong and vibrant Collaborative Community and we can connect all Collaborative Practitioners. We are stronger together. Sincerely,
Chris Farish |
