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Associate Benefits
What Is An Associate?
An Associate is a specific role created by the Service Management Society (SM-S) to allow an individual whose personal, professional or vocational objectives are aligned with those of the SM-S participate and contribute to our cause in a meaningful way. An Associate is someone who is declaring that furtherance of the Society's objectives is important to them. We discuss the objectives of the SM-S here.
What Associates Do For SM-S?
At a minimum, Associates provide SM-S with operating revenue, in the form of annual subscription fees. The SM-S uses this revenue to fund its operations, conduct research into Service Management on behalf of the Associates, as well as expand its ability to serve those who hold SM-S credentials. In other words, all of our operating funds go to supporting the cause. Associates may choose to participate in more direct ways, such as volunteering their time, responding to surveys or participating as a committee member.
What Benefits Do Associates Gain From Participating?
The primary benefit that Associates gain from participating is the unique opportunity to directly influence the Service Management profession and enhance their own career development. Participation provides Associates with the ability and means to have their voice be heard and their inputs considered as part of the evolution of the Service Management Qualification Scheme (SMQS) and the Universal Service Management Body of Knowledge (USMBOK).
To help ensure the primary benefit is realized, SM-S provides Associates with exclusive access to controlled areas of content on our web-based systems. The SM-S operates Discussion Forums and a Support System.
Discussion Forums
The Discussion Forums are the means by which members interact with each other about the content in the SMQS, USMBOK and the SM-S itself. The image below shows a screen shot of the main page of the forums.
Each Forum has a number of forums underneath it that provide a robust means for engaging on content relevant to the objectives of the SM-S. Often times, new ideas and content will be discussed here prior to formally suggesting a change to the SMQS or proposing an extension to the USMBOK.
Support System
The Support System is the formal means by which members interact with SM-S to report problems, ask questions, make suggestions and log enhancement requests regarding the content on the forums. The image below shows a screen shot of the main page of the support system.
In addition to the above, the SM-S is committed to providing regular updates to its Associates on the state of the organization, the status of our programs and initiatives, as well as other items of interest. We will accomplish this through posting information on our web-based systems, e-mail updates and conducting Associate-only webinars.
As one might expect, given the primary benefit, there are also secondary (or supporting) benefits that are exclusive to Associates. These are:
- Discounts from SM-S on
- Books and publications (e.g. USMBOK)
- Conferences
- Special Events
- Credential Examinations
- Credential Renewal
- Means to verify current Associate status that can be used to qualify for discounts on select products and services from participating Network Partners
In addition to these benefits, Associates can expect that SM-S will continue to expand its Network Partner program to help provide access to new group discounts and benefits, as appropriate.
If you have any questions about the Associate program, please contact us. If you feel that what we're at work on is important to you and your career, we invite you to take the next step and join us.