I've always had trouble getting ceu's, other than the "Arborist News" send-ins. I love to go to conferences (well, a big chunk can be boring, but there's always something new, and some good people to ask questions of) but it actually can be hard to pull away from work and lose money and pay lots of money to stay somewhere and attend something, especially if you want the extra days of field class you gotta pay more. I understand that the ISA and TCIA have to generate revenue to survive and grow. I do wish there were a few more ways to get ceu's and actually learn something. What happened to the online course they had for a while on appraisal? I was hoping they would keep putting up new ones of those, hopefully with some really good new information. When I filled out the member survey, I think the thing I suggested most was for an attempt at more unified availability of new information and research, not only from arboricultural specific research, but from relevant research from related fields like tree physiology, forestry, forest ecology, and on and on. I usually stumble across useful information and wish I could have had access to it easier and earlier. I think that the ISA could do alot for us in that way.
But, I'm getting off-topic, sorry. The BCMA test is hard enough that there's not ever going to be a ton of those who have passed it. Which, I guess, is the point. I thought the CA exam was too easy, but it's a great program to have as a baseline standard of knowledge.
