Yesterday, via this blog post , the BEFT announced that acclaimed television and radio personality Tavis Smiley will be giving the keynote address at this year’s ITSMF Awards Gala. The event is graciously “open to the public”, so anyone can attend for the low, low price of $500 per ticket.

This got me to thinking about ITSMF and the purpose it serves. Elitism within the African-American community is always a touchy subject.

For those who don’t know, the Information Technology Senior Management Forum is an organized network of senior African-American IT executives. And when they say senior, they mean senior. Check out the requirements to join.

Don’t hate on them. If they weren’t so exclusive, their network wouldn’t be attractive to the true heavy hitters and their mentoring program would be less effective for the next group of black IT superstars. In fact, one could argue—not that I am—that simply knowing of the existence of so many high-powered black IT execs is a benefit in and of itself.

Personally, I try to view ITSMF (and organizations like them) in a constructive way: Instead of being put-off by its elitism, I strive to get my career to the point where I could join if I wanted.

In the meantime, if you’re *merely* a project manager hoping to become a director, or a globe-trotting consultant hoping to make partner, there’s always the BDPA.

Who knows, since ITSMF always holds a meeting at the National BDPA Conference, maybe you can hobnob with the C-level types without spending your whole holiday bonus on a ticket to the Gala. Just go to the BDPA Conference and find out where the ITSMF folks are meeting. When you get there, act like you belong (that is, check your Blackberry frequently.) If anyone asks who you are, just tell them you’re the “ITSMF protégé” to the CIO of BlackCIO.com.

If it works, I’ll become your protégé.