New USGBC Membership Fee Structure

I realize this thread is stale, but I'd like to know how other small firms are dealing with this... we need to renew by the end of this month, and my small firm is in the same boat with other commenters above (Hernando, Karen, Peggy, et al). Has anyone considered not renewing their USGBC memberships, rather than maintaining an Organizational membership? We're struggling to afford the $1500 fee for Silver membership. The certification fee discounts were by far the biggest membership benefit, so without that the Organizational level just doesn't do much for us. With the number of projects we typically register in a year, I'm not sure the Silver level is worth it right now.

Has anyone had any luck working out a solution with membership support, as Sarah Karle suggested in her 9/20/12 post above?

The certification policy manual linked through LEED Online isn't updated to reflect this change.... It just says "members" get to register for the discount at $900... which is now untrue.

"Number 5 is alive."

Survey didn't work for me either. I got an error when trying to "Finish".

I first sent an email to the membership address. Then they asked me to complete the survey. The wording in the e-mail seemed to imply my opinion would only be considered based on my survey response. "Please complete so that Member Services will be able to view and review your comments regarding the New Membership structure."

Why can't Member Service view and review my comments from the email? Why do I have to say if I'm renewing or not in the first question to participate in the survey?

Peggy - I'm sorry that the survey wasn't working for you - I'll reach out directly in order to collect your comments.

Sent a message, got the survey, filled it in (after taking a deep breath to I would respond calmly), and it won't submit or close out. So, I copied it all into a Word doc to save the questions and my answers and sent a note to the survey contact.

So, forewarning for the rest of you if you sent a note and got a survey.

I sent them a note with my thoughts... ;o)

Aside from the registration discount issue, I also noticed the education packages for the Silver, Gold and Platinum levels, and of course none for those lowly "Organizational" folks (what does "Organizational Member" even mean?). Some of the webinars look interesting, but they are too expensive for me as an individual. I suspect many larger firms don't bother with them either - the giant firm I used to work for has their own education program. So, I'm thinking that part of the USGBC MoMoney strategy is to force the purchase of the webinars by including them as a 'benefit'.

I get that the USGBC needs money in these trying times, but so do the rest of us, especially the small firms! Insulting the small firms with this change in fee structure while presenting it as 'more choices' is just wrong. It is hindering our ability to function as viable LEED Consulants. Not very smart for the future of the USGBC to devalue their base.

I've been given feedback that the membership department is gathering response to this announcement - so make your voices heard no or never!