I have heard some extraordinary stories about the lengths to which people (at least in the U.S.) will go to maintain their health insurance, from people staying in jobs they loathe to multi-degreed professionals becoming baristas (because a certain coffee seller provides this employee benefit).
That makes me wonder: To what lengths will people go for professional insurance? In other words, what steps will they take to make sure they have the networks and skills required to remain professionally healthy in today’s job market? It seems that SLA members will go pretty far, especially for fellow members.
Recently, I was very touched to learn that one of our chapters pitched in to pay the dues for their membership chair after that member became unemployed. Other members are cutting costs so they can enjoy the benefits of SLA 2009 for less by carpooling, sharing rooms and more. The Washington, D.C. Chapter has chipped in by posting some terrific information on their wiki with lots of cost-saving ideas.
And, of course, SLA is trying to do its part of keep membership and professional development affordable for members with our new dues structure, free Webinars and more.
Bad economic times make it even more important to maintain our health insurance and the professional insurance that comes with membership and professional development opportunities. I would love to hear from members who are finding thrifty ways to grow their skills and professional networks.
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