GTD Connect

I recently took the plunge, and became a member of GTD Connect, the David Allen Company’s pay-for-service program that David calls a “club”. I figured for one month, I could try it and see what it was like. There’s a lot of opinion out there about it, including on Eric Mack’s blog and on the Yahoo Groups GTD Lists, among others, but I thought I would drop in my $0.02 here.

I think David has a great idea with GTD Connect for those that are higher-level achievers, or have less time to search around the various bloused websites out there. There’s also a lot of interest from struggling GTD’ers like me, many of whom are concerned about the price of GTD Connect.

They’ve put together a very good package of audio, video, and forums where you can meet other GTD practitioners and share your victories. There is a great deal of content that is only available to Connect members – audio interviews, cool videos, etc. The question is – is it worth it? Well, yes and no. The cost is kind of high, and there aren’t all that many members out of the gate, so it is hard to tell the value of the forums. But the original David Allen Company forums are accessible through the Connect site. The audio and video, though, are great – I’ve downloaded several onto myMP3 player, and listen to them often.

So, is it worth it? It really depends on who you are. Many people have suggested that $48 is too high; just as many like a “high barrier to entry”. I spend less each month on my gym membership. I spend less each month on many things. Did I get $48 in value out of this? You bet. But because GTD Connect has just launched, I don’t know that I will over the next few months, now that I have accessed all the back content. After January, though, I believe it will be more than worth it as David Allen Co. get more stuff up there, and more members are participating.

That said, I think I will renew for a second month, giving it a full 60 days. The David Allen Company has put a tremendous amount of work into GTD Connect, and they should be proud – but they should focus on maintaining that and building up their content.

As to the price – would I like it cheaper? Yes. If I need to give connect up, will I? Yes. But if it were ½ the price it is now, I’d consider it very hard. However, David and his staff have to eat too. There are lots of folks that have pointed out that David Allen has given a lot of folks a lot of information for not much – 2 books, the website, the forums, and the e-mail lists and other associated things that have been spawned as a result. Connect is a way for him and his company to add value to those who choose to join. The problem is, we all want to be members of Connect. My wife and I jokingly refer to David as my personal cult leader, but I’ve drunk the Kool-Aid and I’m not going back. And we all want to be there, but we all can’t afford it. So be it, but I don’t begrudge David Allen Co. for doing it. As the Chinese proverb says (and I’m paraphrasing) “Grow, even if slowly, or you will whither and die.”

They’ve done a good job, there is lots of value – but you really have to try it for yourself to see if you get the worth out of it that others do.

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I’ve had a lot of comments to my post about hacking GTD, both here and here. After I wrote that post, I began my trial of GTD Connect. Interestingly, one of the interviews available through Connect is with Mark Orchant, and during that interview he laments the same sort of endless hacking of GTD. It was interesting to hear that I am not alone in this.

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