Sustaining the Affiliate

Membership Dues

Most affiliates charge members annual dues to support the administrative and other work of the affiliate. Currently, most affiliates follow a general breakdown of member type similar to that of the AGS, e.g.

Physician: $55

Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, Pharmacist, Physician’s Assistant, Social Worker, Other: $50

Fellow, Resident, Retired: $20

Student: Free

Generating Revenue Through Educational Programs

The Arizona Geriatrics Society (AzGS) is an example of an affiliate that demonstrates the membership-building and financial benefits of educational programs.

The AzGS organizes an annual conference and meeting each Fall that draws roughly 360 attendees - not only from Arizona, but also from neighboring and distant states. Since 1993, the society has published a scientific journal, the Arizona Geriatrics Society Journal that now reaches 1,500 subscribers as far away as Massachusetts and Florida.

In 2009, the AzGS offered its over 250 members three conferences, nine educational dinner programs and three annual Caregiver Forums.  The AzGS spring conference was attended by 1255 participants and nine vendors, and evaluations reported great satisfaction in the program.

The AzGS’ annual meeting features national as well as local experts and grants CME credits.  AzGS’ dinner programs were sponsored by Novartis, Forest, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Medimax Communications, etc.  AzGS Board of Directors members presented at the Caregiver Forums.  AzGS worked with SCAN Health Plan of Arizona to obtain speakers for the Fall Symposium.  They also presented a Geriatrician/Gerontologist of the Year Award at the Fall Membership Meeting.  The smaller summer meetings have focused on specific topics, such as information technology.

Attendance at the AzGS’ annual meeting has dropped somewhat in part because of

competition from other conferences such as Pri-Med, AzGS formed a Program Committee to address this issue and work to make its meetings more appealing to  members.