Writing groups

I have been thinking about the writing groups I belong to. Do they help? Why do I need them? What do they need from me?
The two groups I am most actively involved with are the Auckland branches of RWNZ and SpecFic NZ.
RWNZ is a well established organisation of romance writers, and one which has been the lucky recipient of much wondeful work by vigorous volunteers for over 20 years now. From small beginnings, it is now probably the most effective organisation promoting writing as a profession in NZ. Confined to romance writing, its ranks include a significant percentage of (primarily) women who work full or part time as  authors. They actually earn a living by writing fiction! Their conferences are professionally run, and filled with technical and commercial workshops aimed squarely at helping members to write and then sell their work. I have learned so much from them, though often feel inadequate compared to those who have actually sold. Who have had the magic Call. And even though my own work is now starting to move away from pure romance, I fully intend to keep attending their meetings and conferences. So much of what I have learned through them applies to any commercial fiction. By which I mean fiction that sells. For ultimately the final judge of your work is - will someone pay cold hard cash to read what you have to say? That is the rigor that drives the art, and without which the art is so much less.
My other organisation is SpecFic NZ  - for writers of scifi, fantasy, horror etc. And along with another Auckland writer, I have recently taken on the role of organiser of local face to face meetings. I'm still not too sure how to do that. Not being a naturally sociable person, how to entice and make meetings attractive and meaningful for the other Specfic writers in this, the most diverse of NZ cities? But is it important? My only answer so far is, yes, it is to me. This is a strange, isolated passion we writers of genre fiction share. Making up stories in the privacy of our heads and rooms, then thrusting them out to the glare of public scrutiny. Very scary, very marvellous. And very much needing support and reinforcement from others similarly afflicted. Specfic is a new organisation,barely a couple of years old. Yet already it has a vibrant and active web page  and over 100 members. Who knew there were so many of us? Plus it has become my major source of hints, news and other helpful info concerning spec fic writing, either through the web page, blogs of members or the chat at meetings.
Are these groups important? Yes. Do they help my writing. Depends - on the day, my mood, and how much I am prepared to put into them. Am I going to keep up my involvment. You bet.