Well, I am surprised by some of the replies! I have belong to a local huge guild for over 20 years, a small guild for about 12 years and a little guild for 10 years and about 5 bee size groups. They each have their own personalities and benefits, but they are all nice ladies who are very welcoming. We all work on what we want and try hard not to let our own likes or dislikes of quilts or quilting styles influence the others. I can not imagine a group that you have to 'audition' for by making a quilt to be judged to determine if you get in or not! LOL!
As far as I am concerned, belonging to a guild is an enormous positive! The speakers and the workshops absolutely make it worthwhile! We keep administrative meeting to a minimum and it is very rare that there is enough discussion to lose interest in what is going on and everyone is kind and polite!