So what gets cut?

My friend Paul Wilkinson posted this which I found really interesting.


His point is that paying subscriptions to expensive professional associations can be a questionable expense when budgets are tight and when there are plenty of low cost alternatives around.

I think we have already seen the signs that people are looking for value for money - I saw a post the other day about someone questioning whether the CIPR was value for money.  And I have been wondering how bodies like the IABC justify enormous prices for reports in the current day and age.

We've seen a lot of people downloading more and more of the free content on the Simply-Communicate website and we're hearing stories about people refusing to pay for conferences where they'll be sold at by consultants (who the organisers have also charged for the privilege to speak...).

So my question is... will people start paying for things again when budgets ease up or will they have finally learnt that much of what they need is available somewhere on the web for free?

Liam