Despite the fact that many engaged in the social media space want to make money, howls of protest erupt when anyone suggests charging for anything. There is an expectation that anything and everything offered through these channels should be free.

Free is good; I like free. By the same token, I don’t mind paying for something if I get value in return. More to the point, however, the act of paying for something conveys a certain amount of seriousness. Paying actually makes people more responsible.

The recent Podcamp Boston is a great example. Organizers of the free event (as all casecamps and podcamps are) were understandably excited as registrations surged past the 1,000 mark. Accommodations were required for such a large group, primarily a new locale. In the end, though, far fewer than the 1,000-plus actually showed up. When you haven’t invested anything, it’s easy to wake up, look outside, and think, “It’s far too nice a day to spend it inside. I’m going to blow off Podcamp Boston.”

If a nominal fee had been charged for the event—say, $35 or $50—several people might not have registered, but undoubtedly the vast majority of those who did would have shown up. The act of making the investment locks in commitment.

In the early days of social media, it was easy to offer free events because only the core faithful attended. As social media gains widespread acceptance, it intrigues a bigger audience. That’s how you wind up with several hundred people shrugging off the fact that they had registered.

As podcamps and casecamps continue to attract greater interest, organizers might save themselves a lot of grief by assessing the fee in order to ensure attendance from those who say they’ll attend. If nothing else, it’ll make estimating the actual attendance a helluva lot easier.

Another example is the Association of Podcasters & Online Media Producers. This group was proposed by Podango‘s Scott Bourne and a few others who were chagrined that the Association for Downloadable Media (ADM) was going to charge for membership (among other issues). In a blog post this past July, Bourne wrote:

We???re not forming this association because we have any ill will towards the ADM. But we do believe there is room for another association, i.e., one that represents podcasters, even if they don???t have $150 laying around to contribute.

The ADM has since held elections and has launched several initiatives. Conversely, I can’t find any reference to the Association of Podcasters & Online Media Producers having coalesced into a viable organization at all.

Personally, I don’t buy the notion of $150 being out of the reach of most podcasters. Let’s be realistic: $150 represents eight or nine pizzas, less than you’d spend on a new suit to look good at a job interview. The real question is this: How much is it worth to you to have a strong organization representing you and providing you with the resources that will help you succeed? If I joined both organizations, I’d be far more inclined to spend my time with the group where my money is invested.

That’s why I ponied up my dues every year for membership in the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC): What I get out of it is based on what I put into it, both energy and money. (The only reason I stopped is that I joined IABC’s 500 Club, a one-time outlay of $1,000 in exchange for lifetime membership.)

In any case, I’m sure the reason the ADM is clipping so nicely along is due in part to its leaders understanding that its members expect a return on their investment. They are serving customers, which leads to action.

Not every effort to charge succeeds. Charging for online newspaper content has been a losing proposition, for the most part. But some things are just worth paying for…or charging for.