I was wondering first, what is the point of being a certified IAABO, and secondly what do I need to do to get certified?

It certifies that you are blind. :D (I Am A Blind Official.)

No seriously... I think some local boards put some weight into the training necessary to achieve the certification.

For example, here in parts of Canada, we are told that you need to pass a floor test and be evaluated at certain levels of games, doing at least a sufficient job to "pass" the IAABO certification.

I think it helps if you move a lot or are going to transfer to another IAABO board. The biggest perk is one book with rule/case/mechanics book all in one, atleast IMO.

Being an IAABO member means nothing where I live. I am sure there are many places that are just like where I live. IAABO seems to be more prevalent in the East and parts of the South. Here you can be an IAABO member, but it is about as useful as buying a rulebook and casebook from the National Federation.

Peace

IMO, IAABO is a middle man because there is nothing that will automatically happen by being an IAABO member. Training will not always be better and opportunities will not always be there. You will pay extra money.
When it comes to transferring, most boards/organizations would be better served to have a transfer officials scrimmage instead going by how many years someone has been officiating. What is it with this trend of thinking "I've been working for 5 years so I should be doing varsity/playoffs/state?"

Not sure how things work down in Tennessee, but in Connecticut, all games are assigned through IAABO - it's synonymous with your local association. If you want to ref basketball, you have to be an IAABO member.

This is the way it worked when I was in DC. I started with IAABO back there. You had to be an IAABO member as they had the contract with the schools for all the games.
When I moved to NV, where there are no IAABO boards, you just join the local HS officials association. CA doesn't use IAABO either. As a matter of fact the three NV associations are actually part of the CBOA (the CA system).

Tomegun went the other way, from Nevada to DC, during approximately the same years (we had a small overlap in NV), so he has experienced both systems as well.

I've always been in IAABO, so for me it's just the cost of doing business. It's nice to get the books, and I think that my training and my interpreter's preparation have been outstanding, but I've never been in any other situation.

Is this something I should consider joining? What is it? What do you do with it, or what do you get? Where can I get some information about it at?

Brandan

IAABO stands for International Association of Approved Basketball Officials. You can take a look at their national website http://www.iaabo.org.

If there's no active local board in your area, you probably won't get much out of it. For Chuck and me, it's a necessity, as IAABO is our local association, assignor, and interpreter all rolled into one.

I am new to IAABO this year and so far I am very pleased with them. They are not the only game in town so probably only about 1/4th of the officials in this area join. They've already hooked me up good on my schedule and I've recommended friends.

My association is associated with the DC IAABO somehow (for tax exempt purposes I believe. We actually broke off from the DC board about 20 years ago. I am a member of IAABO but it is not a requirement within my association. I don't get any particular benefits from them other than the all-in-one book. IAABO has absolutely nothing to do with my getting assignments.