Sadly only negative reports seemed to be viewed about clubs. I have belonged to several over the years and like everyone else met the good :p , the bad and the ugly instructors but I've also met some fantastic ones along the way. Most clubs are run by volunteers who have perhaps trained several of their dogs and that's the limit of their own dog training abilities and occasionally you get lucky and there will be one or two instructors who do have the talent and or qualifications.
The truth is as always 'you get what you pay for' if you really want value for money in training your dog its better to seek out a really well qualified private trainer and pay that money for quality education. ;) Once you know what you're doing and have good control of the dog then go join the dog clubs and have fun and share your knowledge. The clubs at the end of the day do provide a great deal to the doggy community by offering some level of education, activities such as agility and obedience competition. Plus I think we all have to give credit that running a club is work intensive and none of these people are paid.