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Issue 7.1

FEATURE

ARBP

An association for REALbasic professionals

Issue: 7.1 (November/December 2008)
Author: Marc Zeedar
Author Bio: Marc taught himself programming in high school when he bought his first computer but had no money for software. He's had fun learning ever since.
Article Description: No description available.
Article Length (in bytes): 4,997
Starting Page Number: 13
Article Number: 7108
Related Web Link(s):

http://www.arbp.org/
http://www.arbpmembers.org/

Full text of article...

Early this year two REALbasic consultants, Bob Keeney and Norman Palardy, started an online discussion proposing an organization for REALbasic professionals. The idea was that this association could provide and information and resources beyond what REAL Software offers. Its purpose would be to "unify the profession by providing continuing professional and educational development and contribute to the community's well-being by acting on behalf of its members."

The most important aspect of this organization is that it would be a member-driven entity that could pool together to offer whatever needs the community saw as a priority. For example, if members see documentation and training as key community needs, the Association could be tasked with providing solutions in those areas. If marketing software products is a larger concern, the Association could help there. The possibilities are vast: forums, video training, local workshops, a code repository, consulting referrals, white papers, certification, and more. It's up to the members to decide how the Association grows.

Last spring, the Association went from an idea to a real organization when a conference was held at REAL World 2008 in Austin, Texas, and attendees voted to approve the formation of ARBP (Association of REALbasic Professionals). A board of directors was elected from volunteers and today includes Bob Keeney (of BKeeney Software, Inc.), Marc Zeedar (publisher of REALbasic Developer magazine), Paul Lefebvre (LogicalVue Software), Philip Regan (Manager of Media Services at Jones and Bartlett Publishers), and Dr. Scott Steinman (professor at the Southern College of Optometry).

Soon afterward a website was launched (http://www.arbp.org/) and throughout the summer much hard work was done to officially open ARBP for business. It's been a long road since then and there's still much left to do, but beginning in early November 2008 the Association is accepting memberships!

The available membership levels are as follows:

Free. A Free membership gives you access to the ARBP forums, the source code repository, access to news and opinion blogs, and allows you to be notified of ARBP news.

Personal ($50). A Personal membership includes everything in the Free membership but additionally gives you access to a subset of available discounts.

Professional ($150). The Professional membership gives you access to everything that ARBP has to offer. This includes the forums, a subscription to REALbasic Developer magazine (if you're already a subscriber your subscription will be extended), all available software discounts, and inclusion in the membership directory.

Corporate ($500). A corporate membership provides five Professional memberships for a company.

Currently there are at least ten vendors offering exclusive discounts on more than 16 different products to ARBP members, and more may be added in the coming months. Discounts range from 20% to 50% off the original price and offer over $450 in total savings.

It is important to note that all memberships (other than Free) give members ARBP voting privileges, so the organization is run by members and will grow in whatever ways the community deems appropriate. Academic discounts are also available for those qualified.

The new members-only website for the Association (http://www.arbpmembers.org/) includes access to the ARBP forums, a growing code repository, tutorials, job listings, and more. Plans for the future include training videos and workshops.

Make a Contribution

One of the key goals of ARBP is to provide a single, comprehensive site which links the entire REALbasic community, so instead of having information scattered across dozens of incomplete (and often minimally maintained) websites, everything could be gathered at one location.

To further that end, ARBP is seeking contributions. If you have source code, tutorials, videos, or other resources you'd like to make available through the Association, please contact Bob Keeney (bob.keeney@arbp.org).

End of article.