1. What Are the Benefits of Membership in the National Society of Consulting Soil Scientists? Mark S. McClain January 19, 2010 Consulting Soil Scientists of Carolina’s, Inc. Soil Science Society of North Carolina Raleigh, North Carolina

3. “What do I get for my 27 cents per day?”

5. Is this really the right question about an established organization that represents your profession?

6. Quid Pro Quo leaves the impression that one is expecting a parasitic relationship. What can I get out of this organization? What’s in it for me?

8. NSCSS Founded in 1987, the Society supports the soil science profession from a private sector perspective; however, you do not have to be a consultant to be a voting member. Encouraging consulting as a career choice is particularly important to our members. Mark S. McClain © 2010

9. NSCSS Founded on a War Footing NSCSS was founded on a war footing, to combat threats to the private enterprise aspects of the soil science profession. But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum, so to speak. We discovered that what truly attracted us about the Society wasn’t the shared threat, it was the opportunity of learning from each other. And of course we don’t learn just from other consultants but from all soil scientists. So we transformed the Society to better support this focus, and we changed the bylaws accordingly. Mark S. McClain © 2010

10. NSCSS Vision “Advancing the profession by growing the business of soil science.” Mark S. McClain © 2010

12. To promote quality interaction between professional soil scientists and their communities,

13. To represent the diverse consulting, service and business interests of professional soil scientists,

14. To facilitate the exchange of business and soil science experiences within the Society, and

17. Sharing and formulation of standards and methods.

19. Identifying new markets and expanding services for clients.

20. Assistance in contracting services and marketing techniques.

22. Guidance in providing expert witness and professional testimony.

23. Announcement of training opportunities and conference presentations.

24. Encouraging students to select career paths in soil science.

26. Supporting initiation and improvement of state registration programs.

27. Support and enforcement of a code of professional and ethical conduct.

28. Elimination of unfair competition from taxpayer-supported entities.

30. To paraphrase NSCSS Founder James Brown… We became members because we recognize that as individuals we have limited influence when it comes to political impacts to our profession. As consulting soil scientists we have significantly more influence when we speak up. But as a professional business organization we speak with a much larger and influential voice. Mark S. McClain © 2010

31. To paraphrase Phil Small: “NSCSS empowers the individual to be an activist for their profession, not a lone position, but one of the entire society. NSCSS is a society of activists!” One of the best sources of this activism is through the NSCSS Website. www.nscss.org Mark S. McClain © 2010

32. From my perspective, the best means of communication are the NSCSS newsletter and website.

34. Let's see what 27 cents a day gets you:

35. 1/10 of a cup of coffee

36. 14% of the daily cost of your cable or satellite TV

37. A part of a pack of gum

38. A single phone call

39. An eighth of a gallon of gas

40. A really cheap tip

44. Professional support

45. Technical information

46. Business information

47. Teaming opportunities

49. NSCSS maintains a publicly available database. The member can login to update their contact information and control the level of detail available.

53. Members can use a résumé posting service and send us the link and we will post it.

55. Promoting soil science technology and professional registry.

56. Supporting initiation and improvement of state registration programs.

57. Support and enforcement of a code of professional and ethical conduct.

58. Elimination of unfair competition from taxpayer-supported entities.

59. Assist in national level policy formation.

62. Community

63. Networking

68. March 3-6, 2010