| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | To be or not to be (a full member) Thread poster: Rad Graban (X)
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| By all means, do NOT become a member! | Oct 19, 2008 |
I think Samuel and others have outlined the main relevant "value" points, such as rankings in searches and Blue Board access and I think there may be some difference in the external search engine processing, though I'm not sure about that. You seem well enough informed about these points, and if, as you state, they do not interest you and no other points matter, then do not "waste" your money on a membership. I'm sure that other fools will continue to pay and keep the venue available to you and ... See more I think Samuel and others have outlined the main relevant "value" points, such as rankings in searches and Blue Board access and I think there may be some difference in the external search engine processing, though I'm not sure about that. You seem well enough informed about these points, and if, as you state, they do not interest you and no other points matter, then do not "waste" your money on a membership. I'm sure that other fools will continue to pay and keep the venue available to you and others at no cost. And with no hard feelings either. The non-paid members contribute in a number of ways to the value of my membership, and I am pleased to have (most of) them around.
You probably think of membership as something that may benefit members who have "excess capacity" or are in other way in need of advantages that busy translators like you and me no longer need. I suppose if I looked at matters in the same way you appear to that I would have good reason to question my own reasons for continuing as a member.
Why am I a paid member? At one point it was for access to the Blue Board and for the better quoting opportunities, but I seldom have time for the latter any more, being so deluged with work from regular clients that I have to let many an interesting post pass by without submitting a quotation. I do take advantage of the advanced hosting package, but I am sure I can get those services cheaper elsewhere. However, I have little time for researching such things, and my hosted ProZ domain costs me less than a similar one hosted by a company in Florida. I'm too short on time to go bargain hunting, so I'll probably just ask my daughter to find the answer for me in a few years and pay her half of what I save.
Why am I a paid member? Maybe for a reason similar to the reason why I bought a Trados license many years ago, even though I had a perfectly serviceable Déjà Vu license, and I seldom bothered using Trados in the first years I owned it. I had acquired some excellent customers from a free directory listing on a web site controlled by the company, and buying the product was simply my personal way of saying "thank you" for value received in other ways. I have received far more value from ProZ over the years in ways that I won't bother to list, because I would simply be repeating points that others have made and can probably make better. My membership is a way of saying thank you for enormous value received. It doesn't give me the moral high ground in any way. Maybe it's just a sign of my laziness and wastefulness. I'm probably in a moral hazard zone of sorts when I shake my head over people talking about how "expensive" a membership is - I think I used to pay as much or more for a student membership in a professional organization almost thirty years ago, and I have a hard time taking this "expensive" label seriously when I can make that much in an hour or two of translation work and then deduct the entire amount as a business expense. Someone who is struggling to put thin cabbage soup or gruel on the table probably has a right to hate me for my wastefulness and arrogance, though I think that person's energy would be better directed by investing in a membership and graduating to a better class of meals.
My 100 euros makes little difference one way or the other in the scheme of operations at ProZ, and I certainly get no benefit from my practical recommendations to others to become members. Never once have I been so silly as to tell someone to cough up the cash because "it's the right thing to do". I leave that sort of stupidity to my own personal world view and choice of actions. For others, I apply only strictly utilitarian arguments, and since you have determined based on the balance of costs and benefits that there is no compelling reason for you to become a member, I would encourage you to follow what you perceive to be your own interest, and I am certain that you will have the full support of others in your language pair(s) for doing so. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Laura Tridico 
United States
Local time: 00:51
French to English
+ ...
| My reasons are similar to Kevin's. | Oct 20, 2008 |
I first joined when I was getting my business off the ground. I wanted to access the BlueBoard and be able to immediately submit on quotes on jobs that interested me. The services offered by ProZ enabled me to get started - in fact, I made contact with the vast majority of my clients through this site, mainly through successful quotes and through clients contacting me directly through the ProZ mail system. I consider it a remarkable return on a small investment.
Now I very rarely su... See more I first joined when I was getting my business off the ground. I wanted to access the BlueBoard and be able to immediately submit on quotes on jobs that interested me. The services offered by ProZ enabled me to get started - in fact, I made contact with the vast majority of my clients through this site, mainly through successful quotes and through clients contacting me directly through the ProZ mail system. I consider it a remarkable return on a small investment.
Now I very rarely submit quotes, since I'm almost always booked by my regular clients. I still use the BlueBoard to check out potential clients who seek out my services. But I owe a great deal to the services provided here and I'm happy to pay a tiny portion of my income to support the site. It's as simple as that.
Laura ▲ Collapse
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