Does anyone have any thoughts on the two personal cheffing associations? Both the Amercican Personal Chef Association and the United States Personal Chef Association offer the same products, etc. There is a big price difference, however. Any thoughts?

By Gord (Gord) on Wednesday, November 15, 2000 - 07:02 pm: Edit

The USPCA arguably has a slicker look and feel to it (hey, who else has a picture of Air Force One on their website?) which would be understandable as the man at the helm is a marketing guy.

I, however, bought into the APCA and, yes price was certainly a consideration. There were also several additional considerations.
1. I was able to speak directly with the APCA founder, Candy Wallace, who was able to address my questions and concerns and is available to all members on a continuing basis
2. The APCA operates a public forum which enabled me to get something of a feel for what the people were like. The private forums are also extremely active.
3. There are local chapters in place for regular get togethers (although I believe USPCA now has those also)
4. There were no additional items to buy after having already paid your fees (i.e USPCA has a two-tape set on differentiating features from benefits, the certification course which is required for "advanced" membership, storage containers, bakeware etc.)
5. The APCA has no "tiered" membership levels based on how much you are willing to pay
6. The APCA provides free links to your webpage as well as free referrals
7. In addition to basic membership you must purchase the USPCA's certification course to become an advanced member (at least this is what the site seems to indicate). I personally feel there is little value to the USPCA's certification program as it is self-certification (as in, not recognized by 3rd party certifying agencies such as the ACF) so felt the dollars spent there were not justified.
8. I have subsequently had the opportunity to review the USPCA's cookbooks and personally do not feel they justify the price being asked for them.

Now, keep in mind that all the above is my opinion only (and perhaps some of my facts are wrong, although I don't believe so). There are lots of USPCA members who would state otherwise and who, I'm sure, have found value in their membership there. Also, as I said above, the USPCA's founder is a marketing guy and members of the USPCA may be finding some additional value in that. I couldn't speak for them.

But, those are my thoughts and you said that's what you wanted.

Cheers,

Gord

By sckaroly on Wednesday, November 15, 2000 - 11:50 pm: Edit

Thanks Gord. I've already joined ACPA, so I agree with many of your comments. I'm currently working on establishing my business.

By Gord (Gord) on Thursday, November 16, 2000 - 01:44 pm: Edit

Jeez, you didn't waste any time between deciding to look and deciding to do. Have fun getting it going.

Gord