Good web design and seo organisations to be part of?

are there any which you would recommend

[notgoodenough yet]

Hello,

I hope this is in the correct location.

I have come to be somewhat knowledgable on a range of web-design, media creation and website marketing activities. I'm by no means the best, but i'm good enough to work on my own (or with others) in business as an seo ccnsultant.

Are there any organisations which you would recommend being part of?Or any codes of conduct that are worth siging up to?

Off the top of my head I would say: -

Ensure pages are accessibility compliant
Join UK Web Design Association
Join SEMPO
Become Adwords qualified
Sign up to Bruce Clay Code of Conduct

Some of these are free, others have restricted access, and others are achievable with a bit of skill (such as getting all web pages accessible and using div tags and css)

Can you agree with this list, is there any that you would add? Any on my list that you would remove?

I appreciate all comments on this matter - cheers

[phranque]

i would highly recommend being an active member on the WebmasterWorld forums!
=8)

[g1smd]

You can join nothing and be in the top 1% of practitioners.

You can join everything and still be in the bottom 1% of pond dwellers - because many only have a monetary barrier to entry, not a technical one.

My 2c.

[rocknbil]

I would never become a part of any club that would have me as a member." - Groucho Marx

Credentials are only as valuable as the people you sell them to. Although I am a good standing member of the Raving Widgets Society, I would never use it as a selling point to my clients.

Kidding aside, if you join an organization or group, make it one that actually does something rather than it's core function being to hold awards ceremonies and pound each other's backs. I recently joined a very good local business networking group, and it has proven ten times more valuable than an "HTML Writer's Association" plaque ever would; real people, real world contacts.

Take a couple examples. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art with a concentration in printmaking. In my entire life, that has not made a single difference in any career I've had. The education I received is applied daily, it was absolutely valuable. But in my first experiences with employers, as soon as I said BFA in art, it gave them the opportunity to say forget everything you know, this is the real world.

I am (or was, many moons past) a Certified Novell Network Administrator. When you stop laughing, as I am laughing with you, Novell is no longer the Big Dog it used to be. It means nothing, to anyone. Even fresh out of the training, I knew that Novell was only useful in specific niches, that other network technologies where more significant. I refused to even put it on my resume.

Build your reputation on what you know, not the plaques you hang; IMO it's fluff and flash. IF you want Flash, download CS4. :-)

[JS_Harris]

Alas, the credentials are only as good as a customer thinks they are. You will be building your reputation by what you accomplish, both for yourself and for others, so make sure to keep a scrapbook of those accomplishments.

Here is the crux - if you can SEO a site to the top and it becomes a hit you'll no longer need to be offering your services to others anyway, your own sites will keep you quite busy.