My "view" on being a part of professional organizations

I am writing this post because this past week I was going through ISTE envy:)  The annual ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Conference took place in San Antonio, Texas and I was not able to be a part of it.  I have been fortunate to go to the conference once before and it was thrilling to say the least.  The amount of resources you get and the people you are able to meet and make connections with are staggering.  This year, more than in years past (due to the fact that I am working on my Masters in tech education) I would have been able to meet and maybe even talk to people who are leaders in the field and who I follow on twitter and blogs.  These leaders did share some of the resources they got out of the conference on twitter and blogs but it is not the same as being there.  I am already planning on planting a bug in my principals ear about attending the conference next year and the benefits it would be for me and my school.
Here are some of the resources I was able to come up with for those that were not able to attend the conference:
Twitter-check out #iste2013 for info and links

Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/LikeISTE

Conference website- program pages have email links and some website links for presentations- http://www.isteconference.org/2013/

Pinterest page-http://pinterest.com/istepinterest/iste-2013/

Missing the conference got me to thinking about professional organizations in general.  Why do people join?  Some do it because it looks good on resume...some do it because of the resources...some do it for the leadership possibilities in the organization....why do you belong to professional organizations?

The four main reason I belong to professional organizations like KySTE/ISTE are:

1: Great way to build my professional network/learning community

2. Great place to get career advice-from fellow professionals in the same field

3. Great way to get new resources/techniques to use in my own classroom

4. Provides the potential for leadership positions in the organization

Not all professional organizations have the same benefits but I can tell you that if you are in the tech ed field ISTE is a great organization that can and does offer the benefits I listed above.  Are there any other organizations that you might recommend?