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www.ASPonline.com >
Frequently Asked Questions
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What is the ASP?
The Association of Support Professionals is an international membership
organization for customer support managers and professionals. In addition
to its annual "Ten Best Web Support Sites" awards, the ASP publishes
research reports on a wide range of support topics, including support
compensation, fee-based support, and services marketing. The ASP also
provides its members with discounts and career
development services.
How many members do you have?
Currently, we have more than 1,200 individual members.
What is the membership profile?
The people who belong to the ASP are primarily managers, analysts, and
other professionals who run tech support organizations in software and
technology companies. They support products ranging in price from a few
dollars to several hundred thousand dollars, and their support
groups range in size from one or two individuals to several thousand.
How do I become a member?
Joining the Association is easy. You can sign up via our secure sign-up
page. Or you can print out the sign-up form and mail or
fax it to us:
Association of Support Professionals
122 Barnard Ave.
Watertown, Mass. 02472-3414
fax: 617/924-7288
If you sign up with the online order form you'll receive your user name
and password within 24 hours (on business days), allowing you full access
to our reports online.
What benefits come with ASP
membership?
ASP members automatically receive all our reports and surveys
free of charge. These reports are made available online to members only,
and can be accessed at any time with your user name and password.
Members receive the ASP Gazette, a monthly e-mail newsletter. The
Gazette keeps members informed of ASP activities, forthcoming reports,
new publications and discounts, and it's also a forum for dialogue
between the ASP and its members.
The Members Only section of our Web site is also a powerful networking
tool for support professionals. The online Member Directory
contains a complete listing of our member base, indexed by name, company,
and state/province. The directory allows members to easily contact other
members in their area.
ASP members have free use of our online job classifieds, a
popular posting area for any positions you or your company need filled.
(Non-members pay $1 per word, which is still a pretty good deal.)
We also negotiate substantial member discounts for conferences, seminars,
and other support-related services.
When I sign up, does my company become a
member too?
No. The ASP is a professional organization that enrolls only individuals,
not companies. Although your company name will be listed with you in our
membership directory, and you may post classifieds for your company, your
company is not a member. We do offer corporate memberships at a the rate
of $500/year for an unlimited number of members. For more information,
please contact Jane Farber.
How long are memberships and how do
they renew?
ASP memberships run for twelve months, starting whenever you join. When
your membership is up for renewal, you'll be sent a renewal notice asking
you if you'd like to renew your membership. Memberships are never
automatically renewed.
Do you sell my e-mail address?
We do not rent out our members' e-mail addresses, and your affiliation
with our organization is never disclosed to anyone outside of our
membership.
Is there a local chapter in my area? How do I
start a local chapter?
Local ASP chapters are maintained independently of our main office. Our
chapter officers are volunteers who organize ASP meetings in their area.
For more information about organizing a local chapter, see our chapters'
pages.
Where can I get answers to support management
questions?
Executive director Jeffrey Tarter is always happy to answer questions
about the ASP's research reports and other topics that we may have not
yet explored in depth. In addition, we have assembled a group of independent consultants
who have agreed to provide at least an hour of free advice to our members.
Can I join a local chapter without joining
the national ASP organization?
Yes. As a chapter member, you can attend local meetings for free,
but you won't receive national membership benefits.
Do you accept vendor advertising on your
Web site?
We offer help-wanted ads on our Jobs page, and we invite conference and
seminar producers to extend registration discounts to our members, which
we post on the Members-Only log-in page. In the future, we may open up our
public directories and chapter home pages to small sponsorship ads. In
general, however, the ASP Web site is an ad-free zone.
Does the ASP run a conference?
No. We do run a few workshops and seminars,
but otherwise we're happy to let other organizations handles all the
large-scale events.
Any questions? Feel free to contact us.
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