UPDATE:
MSPA Certifications
Membership: $35 annual
Core classes on writing and ethics: $60
Casino class: $35
The courses are outrageously overpriced. These are very generalized. One class contains several sections on the founders of the MSPA that really serve no purpose to the course (that costs you money). They're all extremely easy. They're very brief. The writing course has some useful tips, but should be free with your membership. Frankly, all the courses should be free with a membership.
I would say the sort of person who conducts a lot of shops would have zero use for these (as they do not inform seasoned shoppers). There is little new information (so far).
I would say that the sort of person who is new would ALSO have zero use for these (as they would not need to have any certifications to conduct a small number of simple shops to learn the business).
I will probably take this as a lesson to follow one's instincts (I previously found no use for these memberships, etc.).
I will still apply for the casino shop and hopefully these were the required courses.
Other information:
The site is a bit wonky, and the courses are not easy to access. The site says you WILL NOT be emailed links to the courses. IN FACT, the ONLY successful way to access them seems to be LINKS that they EMAIL you. Otherwise you go in loops clicking links which take you to pages which ask that you log in, which take you back to the pages that ask you to click on courses, which takes you back to the same log in page. A vicious circle. INSTEAD, you should wait for the emails. One email was within an hour. Another took about 8 hours. Another took about 30 minutes. So there was no rhyme or reason to when you could buy and then access a course except UPON RECEIVING the email they said you would not get.
I have not looked at what other benefits come with the annual membership -perhaps someone could tell me? Is it the networking at conferences? Is it the discounts? Is it being on a master shopper list somewhere?
LASTLY:
I do not appeal to authority, but merely speak from experience and want to help other people in my situation. I am a teacher with a Master's degree. This means I have jumped through all manner of hoops in my professional career. I have taken many tests. I have written many papers. Very few courses, and very few professors of knowledge actually help people IMPROVE their writing. This was no exception. There was sound information, but you could likely find it on your own. I would say run yourself through some COYLE shops to improve your writing. They'll let you know you haven't hit the mark! The ethics course was unfortunately particularly inadequate. The casino course was poorly prepared, and the instructions I have read from various MSCs provide more relevant information that that one would need to conduct their shops.
CONCLUSION:
RUN AWAY!
I'll update if I am approved and conduct a casino shop -unless you think I should make a thread for people considering conducting a casino shop?