SAGE/Usenix membership

[James Brigman]

> I am contemplating joining SAGE and or Usenix. Can anyone who is
> currently a member or former member provide some feedback?  I'm
> looking to ascertain what you find valuable or invaluable about either
> memebership?

Matt - possibly the single most valuable component of SAGE membership is
their yearly SAGE Salary Survey. It's "only" a sample of the active SAGE
membership, that might skew the numbers, however, it's well regarded in
the industry because they try very hard to filter out prejudicial and
skewing elements. And they ask more than just "what do you make". They
do enough work to give you an idea of what's good and what's not,
adjusted for things like demographics, age and experience. The salary
survey is worth the price of membership alone. 

Attendance at a USENIX conference is a true recharge to your mental
batteries and career. All the real "movers and shakers" in our field
make it a point to get to USENIX. I've personally met Tom Christensen,
Eric Allman, Jon "Maddog" Hall (who personally handed me two copies of
Red Hat Linux v2.1) Really great, original papers are often presented
that are highly technical and very useful. I've attended absolutely
fantastic "BOF" (Birds of a Feather) sessions which have ended in near
knock-down-drag-out fights between people passionate about UNIX and
system administration. The trade shows are great, and the loot you can
collect is superb. 

JKB