Congratulations Arthur. I see you personally got 'Associate Membership'. I thought you would.
Blacksheep, no you don't have to be one of the 'big boys' as you put it.
Membership of BICS is granted depending on qualifications/experience/time served etc.
Membership is on a number of levels as follows:
Student Membership
Associate Membership
Full Membership
Fellow
Arthur has been granted Associate Membership after 6 years in the industry. I personally hold Full Membership after having 26 years in the industry. I achieved 'Full' Member status in 1994 after 14 years.
Arhurs Membership number is 019227 and mine is 011553 which means that since 1994 there have been 7674 new memberships granted of one kind or another.