I just heard from one of our new members here - Deborah Acosta who coordinates international programs for the City of Oakland, the the Bay Area World Trade Center no longer exists, except perhaps as a "brand".  I think this is also true for the Los Angeles World Trade Center, which has merged with the LA Economic Development Corporation, and no longer has any members or active programs - it is also now basically just a "brand".  I don't have too much hard evidence, but I think this is happened to business and trade associates all over California, and maybe all over the country. 

I've heard, for example, that most of the Chambers of Commerce are struggling to find and get new paying members.  The terrible economy could be partly to blame, of course, but I think social and business networking sites like this.  A prior President of the Los Angeles WTC told me very honestly that he considered the WTCs to be "a failed business model".  I think I know what he meant.   These business and trade associations were essentially "selling" the ability to contact and communicate with their members.  Some of them still are, but the Internet in general, and business/social networks (like Facebook or Linkedin) specifically have made this much more difficult.   

I think that traditional business associations may be going the way of the newspapers.  They will still hang on for a while, but are being damaged by too many social trends - including higher costs of travel, and their simple lack of effectiveness in forming new business assocates that way.   

Meanwhile, we are stuck "between worlds".  Newspapers are suffering, but no one thinks bloggers are as capable of good investigative journalism as an old fashion newsroom with paid reporters.  In a similar manner, we are doing some things much better than any business assocation in California, but at the same time, we simply don't have the resources to provide any thing other than "virtual services" to our members, and we will never trivialize the importance of face to face meetings - at least on occassion.

Please let me know if I am all wet here.  What is going on in your community?  Do you have sucessful, thriving business associations?   If so, what is there secrety, and if not, what can we do about it?