Is it a good idea to join SIGGRAPH without a degree? I needed to cancel my studies in the last semester due to finances. I mod computer games, love 3D-modelling, did a little bit in graphics-programming. I absolutely love the field. I am currently in a retraining as an IT specialist for application development, but is that enough to join SIGGRAPH?
I want to know, if I am just being too enthusiastic. I found SIGGRAPH in 2013 and have followed it since and watched basically every video from them on YouTube. Some of the content I have no problem following. The advanced level goes over my head. I want to get my foot in the industry, I want to connect with others. I want to visit the conference ... but maybe I should keep my head down.
Could somebody please give me an advice or an opinion?
Students get a special rate when they join ACM and/or its SIGs (special interest groups). You get the Communications as part ACM membership. You can also join any of several special interest groups such as SIGGRAPH. There is some cost for that even for students. But you get their publications, either electronically (cheap) or in printed form (less cheap). There are, I think, special prices for conference attendance at the annual conference for members.
The special deals don't apply to non-students, of course. Most academics in CS are likely to be ACM members and those interested in graphics are likely SIGGRAPH members.
It probably isn't essential to do this, depending on how connected you want to be to that community over time. But the publications are interesting if you are interested in the topic, and the conference(s) are great for career building. SIGGraph is a huge event.
Some universities, however, have local &quot;chapters&quot; of ACM and they may have additional local activities for members.
ACM and SIG members can also subscribe to the ACM digital library which gives you access to just about everything ACM has published since some early date (and they are digitizing the old stuff). But a local university library can probably get you access to that as well, though they might require some affiliation with the university.