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Over the years I've contributed to the (UK) ISTC journal etc and all for nowt. I look on it as a 'give and take' situation. What I (or anyone for that matter) gets out of the institute/journal/conference etc is in direct proportion to what is put in. I get a lot out of the conferences etc and it's my way of putting something back in. There was a time when general apathy had set in and the output was dire but it was revived because people realised that it WAS worth a bit of effort.
On the specific case of TC, I joined the STC mainly for the publications and have found them, generally speaking, useful and informative. Not always directly relevant to what I happen to be working on but generally broadening my knowledge in one way or another. As to writing for free, as has been said, it's down to what you feel YOU get out of it. Where I work at the moment we are positively encouraged to write articles, present at conferences etc and the fact that I'd done that would be a plus if applying for a job here - other places it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference. It's a personal choice.
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