A guild is like any other public club. There will be great people and other people who are there to be takers. The best way to get the most out of any group is to be active and not afraid to speak up. The advantages of a larger guild is that they have money to hire speakers and instructors. The disadvatage is that there are a much higher percentage of disgruntled members to rain on your parade. If you join a guild volunteer in some capacity. Also be willing to do the job you take for a limited time, say one year or season. Then give someone else a chance. If you are in charge of speakers etc. you will get to meet personally some really great quilters. I served as program chair for both of my guilds at one time. I made a lot of friends among the local quilt experts. It was not unusual for one of them to give me a small gift or a special discount on one of their products. It is nice to run into one of them at a public show and have them remember you.
Both of my guilds have refreshments. One a pot luck lunch every meeting and the other just drinks and snacks. They both offer opportunities to donate goodies at least once a year.
There are also opportunities like Block of the Month. My first guild has allowed one of the early members to dominate that project for more than 20 years. She has made very restricting rules that should have been dropped years ago. I have not participated in that exchange in a very long time. She always dictates the pattern, includes one fabric that has to be used and sets the parameters of who can win etc. She also bills the guild for the fabric she gives to those who plan on participating. Of course she marters herself by having to cut it into pieces each month. When it was a very small guild if everyone didn't participate there were not enough blocks for anyone to make a quilt. Now that there are more than 100 members the rule that says if you win you have to participate without a chance of winning for the next 6 months is just stupid. The other guild usually has someone new do Block of the month each year. She comes up with the design and maybe suggests a fabric but that is all. There are no limits to how often you can win. It is no surprise that they often have enough entries to give away two sets of blocks. The second guild gets a whole lot of show and tells from members who participate in their Block of the Month. The other guild has it's winners busy making blocks they can't win for the next six months.
I have met and made friends with many other quilters through both of my guilds. It is a wonderful place to find your quilt soulmates.