In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, guest host Camille Sanders, CAE, director of chapter operations and programs at ISACA and host of LeadHERship Bytes, sits down with Carlos Cardenas, CAE, AAiP, senior strategic advisor at DelCor and co-founder of Association Latinos, for a forward-thinking discussion on the future of AI in associations. Carlos shares how his personal journey with AI began during retirement planning and evolved into a passion for helping associations—especially smaller ones—use AI strategically to thrive. The conversation explores practical concepts like the “quarterback agent” for task management, the value of experiential learning, and aligning AI tools with real business goals. Together, they highlight how associations can embrace AI innovation while ensuring inclusivity and equity for Latinx members and beyond. Check out the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/rw3813NLPe4 This episode is sponsored by the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.   Transcript Camille Sanders: [00:00:00] Welcome to this month's episode of Associations NOW Presents, an original podcast series from the American Society of Association Executives. I'm your host today, Camille Sanders. In addition to my role as director of chapter operations and programs at ISACA, I also host LeadHERship Bytes, an independent podcast highlighting the career and personal journeys of inspiring women across industries. You can find it on any major podcast platform. Now, before we dive in, we would like to thank this episode sponsor the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau Now. Let's get into the really fun stuff. I'm very excited for today's conversation where we're talking about the future of AI in associations with Carlos [00:01:00] Cardenas, the senior strategic advisor at DelCor, and a co-founder of Association Latinos. Welcome, Carlos.  Carlos Cardenas: Hi Camille. How are you? Thanks for having me.  Camille Sanders: You are very welcome. We're excited to talk with you today. So I just want to be fully transparent with our audience that I know Carlos personally and I know about. Some of your exciting writings and the things that you've been doing in terms of educating associations around experimentation and adaptation of ai. And I know that journey started for you with something really personal around your retirement planning, and that's a really unusual journey. That's not where most of us start. So can you talk to us a little bit about what sparked that idea for you?  Carlos Cardenas: Sure. No, I will say just like everybody else, right? October, 2022, OpenAI dropped chat GPT version 3.0, [00:02:00] and it shook the world. It shocked the world, and so everybody started to experiment and say, how does this relate to me? How can I use this? How can I leverage it? I wrote a LinkedIn article in January talking about the directions that it could go. One of 'em was a travel advisor, one of 'em was a strategic advisor. A couple other things as well. Fast forward a couple years, right? And so I'm, I'm relatively young, I won't say my age, but I like to think about the future. I like to think about financial independence, not necessarily retirement, but financial independence. And so I started to go down the road of what does retirement, or what does financial independence look like for me? And you've got your traditional 401k in the workplace and you've got your employer match. Outside of that, you might do Roth IRAs, you might dabble in crypto, you might have some other investment vehicles, and so I do a lot of the work myself. And so [00:03:00] I look at websites, I look at market trends, but I'm like, how can I leverage some of these tools to help me so I don't have to do a lot of the heavy lifting? I like to experiment. I downloaded open source models of my own. I purchased an NVIDIA graphics card. I've got that installed on my home desktop computer. But

In this episode of Associations NOW Presents, guest host Sharon Pare, director of partnerships at HighRoad Solutions and co-host of the Rethink Association Podcast, is joined by two dynamic leaders: Christina Lewellen, MBA, FASAE, CAE, CEO of the Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools, and Preet Bassi, CAE, CEO of the Center for Public Safety Excellence. Together, they explore how associations can thrive in an era defined by disruption and opportunity. Drawing on new themes highlighted in the upcoming fifth edition of the Professional Practices in Association Management, the conversation dives into the rising importance of governance and trust, building human-centered workplaces, and the skills association leaders need for the future. Lewellen and Bassi also share insights on the role of AI, the next wave of professional development, and how associations can adapt to create resilient, attractive, and future-ready organizations. Check out the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/V_j94oIM_IM This episode is sponsored by the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.   Transcript ASAE_ep14 Sharon Pare: [00:00:00] Welcome to this month's episode of Associations NOW Presents, an original podcast series from the American Society of Association Executives. Before we begin, we would like to thank this episode's sponsor, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. I'm Sharon Pare, director of partnerships at High Road Solutions, a HubSpot Agency “associafying” the way associations go to market with, well, their marketing. I'm also the co-host of our monthly podcast, Rethink Association, where we talk about how to reimagine the way you association, which is the perfect lead in to today's discussion. So enough about me. Today, we're excited to welcome Christina Lewellen, CEO of the Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools, and Preet Bassi, CEO of the Center for Public Safety Excellence. Welcome to the show, Christina and Preet. Hey, good afternoon. Thank you, Sharon. Thanks so much for having us. Absolutely. Welcome to the show. [00:01:00] Before we get to introductions, I'd like to level set before we get into it. On this podcast today, we'll be talking about the future of associations, evolution, innovation, and leading through change. We're also gonna talk about some of the new themes in the fifth edition of the Professional Practices and Association Management book, but we'll talk about some of the insights that challenge business as usual. And also this podcast is for you if you're leading a small but mighty team like Christina is, or a schmedium association, like Preet likes to call it, a national organization. Or if you're simply just curious, there are some pop tracks in this podcast that you don't wanna miss. Preet and Christina are two leaders bringing deep experience in the field and fresh thinking on where associations are headed next. Well, they certainly need no introduction. I'm excited to give them the floor for a quick hello. So we'll start with you, Christina. Christina Lewellen: Hello everyone. I'm Christina Luwellen and I am the president and CEO of ATLIS. As you mentioned, [00:02:00] ATLIS is technology leaders in independent schools, which basically means that we are CIOs and tech teams, tech directors that serve private K 12 schools primarily in the states. And we are growing really fast. We're a relatively young organization, about 10 years old. We just celebrated our 10th anniversary, but we are growing between 30 and 35% year over year, so we're definitely adding. Lots of new schools to our community every year.  Preet Bassi: Hi everyone. I'm Preet Bassi, the CEO for the Center for Public Safety Excellence. Been in that role. It'll be 11 years this September, and our organization has gone through a fix it phase and also a grow it phase, and we're in our grow it phase right now. We work with fire departments

Season 2 kicks off live from the ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition in Los Angeles! Guest hosts Ben Muscolino, Gretchen Steenstra, and Jake Toohey of The Association Podcast sit down with Bobbie Racette, founder and president of Virtual Gurus. Bobbie shares her inspiring journey as an Indigenous queer woman in tech, from launching Virtual Gurus in 2016 to scaling it into a thriving, values-driven company. She opens up about overcoming challenges, securing funding, leading through COVID-19, and the critical role of company culture. The conversation explores how Virtual Gurus is integrating AI responsibly, Bobbie’s vision for global expansion, and audience questions on building inclusive workplaces and communities. This episode is sponsored by Destination Canada and Visit Denver. Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.   Transcript Ben Muscolino: [00:00:00] Hello everyone and welcome to the Associations NOW Presents podcast live from the show floor here at ASAE 25. I am Ben Muscolino with Brezio, AMS Geek, and Data Sangria. I'm here with my co-hosts of The Association Podcast. Jake and Gretchen. We are so excited to be bringing our format and our passion for the industry over the Associations NOW Presents podcast. We have an incredible guest today and I'm gonna kick it over to one of my co-hosts and we're gonna get that going. So glad you're here with us today.  Gretchen Steenstra: So I am Gretchen Steenstra, the permanent/temporary guest co-host. I think I came for five episodes and I don't know how many, maybe 50 now. My day job, I work at DelCor, a technology consulting company, and one of my passion projects is I'm a founder of AWTC, which supports women in tech and part of tech council and [00:01:00] all the association families. So I'm really happy to be here and nice to meet you today.  Jake Toohey: Hey, I'm Jake Toohet. I am the director of the association practice at Adage Technologies. We're a digital strategy, web development and design firm, and, work with all associations. And we are thrilled to have Bobby Racette, Virtual Guru's, former CEO, now president, founder. So thrilled to have you. Can you start by just talking a little bit about what you do and your background and just kick it off from there.  Bobbie Racette: Yeah. Hi. Thanks everyone. This is amazing. So founder and CEO of Virtual Gurus. So I started Virtual Gurus in 2016 because nobody would give me a job. I was looking for work for, I don't know, close to a year, and nobody would give me a job at all. So I actually started it just to create a job for myself. And at the time, I had no idea I was gonna scale into this big thing. It was gonna go where it went. I had no idea that it was gonna be AI eventually, and that there'd be thousands of people working in the [00:02:00] platform. But here I am and happy to be here. Ben Muscolino: Hey, Bobbie. We're storytellers in the association space. Your story is so incredible. We wanna talk with you about several things today, but to get things kicked off, talk to us about what you've been up to this morning and the session that you led. How was that for you?  Bobbie Racette: I've been traveling a lot talking about my story. I actually just flew in from Japan and I was speaking out at the World Expo, which has been amazing. Such an amazing experience. Just to be saying that I'm speaking and I'm out at the expo. I was there on a trades mission and just really telling the story, but this morning it was really just about telling my journey and about culture and my journey of being an indigenous queer woman in technology and how hard it's been to get to where I am today, and meant to raising millions and millions of dollars to run the company and to build the AI. Now we're scaling globally, and I was actually in Japan meeting with senior leaders like the CEO of Mitsubishi to try to get our AI out [00:03:00] there a little bit more. So it's been a pretty crazy ride these last few w

In this episode of Associations NOW Presents, guest host Lori Zoss Kraska, founder and CEO of Growth Owl, sits down with Brian Miller, vice president of strategic partnership at Multiview, Kimberly Tuttle, executive director of the American Institute of Architecture Students, and Gilberto Lozada Baez, AIAS board vice president, to explore new research on how students perceive associations. The conversation highlights key opportunities for associations to build stronger connections with young professionals—through targeted social media, mentorship, and small-scale in-person events. They also discuss the importance of digital fluency, university partnerships, and creating meaningful volunteer roles to foster long-term engagement and a true sense of belonging. Check out the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/HLTuvHAxkd4 This episode is sponsored by Multiview. Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.   Transcript [00:00:00] Lori Zoss Kraska: Welcome to episode 12 of Associations NOW Presents, an original podcast series from the American Society of Association Executives. I'm Lori Zoss Kraska, founder and CEO of GrowthOwl, LLC, a consultancy that empowers associations with the best practices they need to connect with Fortune 1000 companies and other large organizations for corporate sponsorship, partnership and philanthropic funding. You also might know me as the author of The Boardroom Playbook, a Not So Ordinary Guide to Corporate Funding for Your Purpose-Driven Organization and host of my own monthly LinkedIn Live that features both association and non-endemic thought leaders who provide insight in new ways of thinking in the area of sponsorship and non-dues revenue. You can find out more at thegrowthowl.com. But hey, enough about me. Let's take a moment to thank our episode sponsor Multiview today. We're excited to welcome Brian Miller, vice president of strategic partnerships with Multiview. [00:01:00] Also joining us today is Kimberly Tuttle, executive director of the American Institute of Architecture Students, also known as AIAS. And Gilberto Lozada Baez, AIAS Board Vice President. They're all here to discuss key findings from new research on student perceptions of associations and how we can better engage the next generation of members. Welcome everybody to the podcast. Let's start with you, Brian.  What influenced your team to look into this topic?  [00:01:31] Brian Miller: Great question. Well, we always look for ways to help our associations improve their competitive advantage within their organization and any insights that we can provide along the way. It's very interesting for us 'cause we have roughly 850 association partners that span. 30 different industry verticals. Obviously it's a mixture between trade associations and professional societies and professional associations. So when we look at the professional societies, that's really what [00:02:00] we're talking about today with this topic. We conducted some research and we looking at years old problem of how do you. Engage the next generation of members, particularly in professional societies. So that's really why we commissioned this report in the first place. The other thing that was really interesting that when you look at the landscape is this is the first time we've got five generations working in the workforce, right? You've got the traditionalists, you've got the baby boomers, you've got of course Gen X, and then you have millennials and Gen Z, and. From what we understand is this is the largest graduating class as well in, in foreseeable history that we look back at. So it's really important when you look at the. Really important message of how do the associations look for that next generational member? How do they find them? How do they keep them throughout their professional career and their journey as members of the association? So that's really the main reason we wanted to, to talk about this topic today and reall

In this episode of Associations NOW Presents, guest host David Coriale, president of DelCor and host of the Reboot IT podcast, talks with Elena Dumitrascu, CTO of Credivera, and Tim McCreight, CEO of TaleCraft Security. Together, they explore how secure, verifiable credentials can reduce identity fraud, validate professional qualifications, and strengthen cybersecurity. Drawing on real-world use cases in industries like healthcare and safety, the discussion highlights the growing importance of global standards and the role associations can play in adopting these technologies to build trust and security in digital spaces. Check out the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/y5RzrCUUTzU This episode is sponsored by Credivera. Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.   Transcript [00:00:00] David Coriale: Hello everyone. This is Dave Corelle, president of DelCor and host of the 501 C technology podcast, Reboot IT, and I am excited to be guest hosting today. We've talked about this technology before on Reboot and I'm so happy to be talking about it again 'cause I think this community needs to talk about this more. And I have two experts with me who are going to do 90% of the talking. I have Tim McCreight and also Elena Dumitrascu. I want  to welcome you and also have you introduce yourselves. Let's start with you, Elena.  [00:00:34] Elena Dumitrascu: Thank you for having me here. It's a pleasure. I'm the co-founder and CTO of Credivera. We are a technology company that supports associations with verifiable credentials, secure identity, and secure certifications for their constituents. I got into this business because I saw over and over again how difficult it is to prove someone's identity from a workforce perspective. The long compliance issues [00:01:00] that come from that, and really some of the fraud that. Sort of seeps in as well. Again, really happy to be here and to talk about this topic. [00:01:08] David Coriale:  Awesome. Thank you, Tim.   Tim McCreight: Thanks folks. My name is Tim McCreight. I'm the CEO and founder of TaleCraft Security. We're a boutique security firm that focuses on developing security programs using a risk-based approach. And after 44 years of doing this, it's nice to finally get a chance to see some of the changes that we wanna make within the industry, and particularly with we're talking about today, these verifiable credentials. It's been something we've been dealing with, trying to make sure it's Tim doing what Tim's supposed to be doing, nothing more and nothing less, and trying to get to a space where we're seeing that come through. It's great to talk about this today. It's a great opportunity to explore and identify what a verifiable credentials can do for organizations, but how it helps people like me in the security industry truly understand that we can start reducing risk by using this approach. [00:01:56] David Coriale: And you are also a host of a podcast?  [00:01:59] Tim McCreight: [00:02:00] Yes sir. I am. I have my own podcast. I co-host with Doug Lease, and it's called Caffeinated Risk. It's two self creamed grumpy security professionals talking about security and risk. And we thought throwing in coffee security and risk, how can you go wrong? So this is year five now with caffeinated risk. [00:02:17] David Coriale: And I've just gotta mention, 'cause you said this earlier, that the icon for it is the caffeine molecule. Yes sir. Yeah, it's just really fun. It looks good on the mugs and the T-shirts, so it looks really good. Yeah, that's what's important. So thanks for joining. I always like to start at these conversations, kinda the start at the top. And what are we talking about? So you've talked about verified credentials, risk in cybersecurity, in your backgrounds, and what you are trying to accomplish. I think we're all familiar with cybersecurity. Right. There's plenty of news coming at us with what's happening in cybersecurity breaches and so on.

In this episode of Associations NOW Presents, guest host Aaron Wolowiec, FASAE, CAE, CMP Fellow, founder and president of Event Garde and host of the Voices & Views podcast, chats with Tara Davis, senior director, internal communications and staff wellbeing at the American Psychological Association, about the growing importance of wellness in high-stress industries like associations and hospitality. Tara shares how APA is fostering a culture of care through initiatives like the "Meet with Purpose" campaign, and discusses key strategies for preventing burnout, supporting mental health, and building intentional connections among staff. This insightful conversation explores emerging wellness trends and how prioritizing employee wellbeing can drive both personal and organizational success. Check out the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/IvPlhKGgtiw This episode is sponsored by Visit Orlando. Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.   Transcript Aaron Wolowiec: [00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to this month's episode of Associations Now Presents. We'd like to extend a special thank you to this episode sponsor. Visit Orlando. I am Erin Wallic, founder and president of Event Card, where we're passionate about transforming to help organizations meet, learn, plan, and grow. I'm also honored to be a newly inducted member of the 2025 Class of A SAE Fellows, an incredible community of change makers and thought leaders in the association space at Event Guard. We're known for helping associations elevate their meetings and learning experiences, reimagine facilitation practices, and navigate meaningful strategic planning. But today, I'm here not just as a. Facilitator or strategist, but as the founder of Healthy By Association, a wellness focused community, I launched back in 2017 to support those of us working in the often high stress world of associations and hospitality. That's why this conversation is especially close to my heart. Today's [00:01:00] episode takes a deep dive into what wellness really looks like in association life beyond the buzzwords. We're talking about burnout, prevention, mental health, flexible work, and what it means to build a culture of care that supports both staff and members. Joining me is someone who lives and breathes this work. Tara Davis, senior Director of Internal Communications and Staff Wellbeing at the American Psychological Association. Tara brings more than 15 years of experience in using psychological science and strategic communication to build healthier, more human centered workplaces. Her work sits at the intersection of empathy. Evidence and action, and I can't wait for you to hear her insights, whether you're a CEO, trying to prevent staff burnout, an events professional considering wellness lounges and quiet rooms, or just an overwhelmed association pro Wondering if it's okay to take a real lunch break. This episode is for you. Alright, let's get into it. Welcome again, Tara. We're gonna certainly start the conversation today from a big picture [00:02:00] perspective, and I would love to just define a key term before we get into it. When you think about wellness, I'm curious, what does wellness mean to you within the context of association life today? Tara Davis: First of all, thank you so much for inviting me to be here. I am so excited about this opportunity and to talk about something I'm very passionate about. So thank you. So I like to focus on the term wellbeing rather than wellness. It seems a little bit of a wordsmithing, but. Wellness to me implies either you're well or you're not. And it is like one end of the spectrum or the other. And in reality, wellbeing is a spectrum, right? And it's a state of being healthy and happy. And there are lots of different types of wellbeing. There's financial, there's social, there's intellectual, and I think that. It's important to focus on this holistic wellbeing. It used to be [00:03:00] that people thought

In this episode of Associations NOW Presents, guest host Christine Shaw of The Association Adviser Podcast sits down with Mike Moss, CAE, president of the Society for College and University Planning, for an insightful conversation on the shifting dynamics of career development in the association space. They explore the growing demand for purpose-driven work, the realities of hybrid and remote models, and how associations can foster meaningful engagement in a digital world. Mike shares strategies for building intentional connections, promoting continuous learning, and creating psychologically safe workplaces. The discussion also touches on transparent hiring, value-based leadership, and how associations can remain agile by rethinking professional development and evolving their strategic plans to meet today’s challenges. Check out the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/4DxGN5NMarQ  This episode is sponsored by Visit Omaha and New Orleans & Company. Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.   Transcript   Christine Shaw: [00:00:00] Welcome to episode nine of Associations NOW Presents, an original podcast series from the American Society of Association Executives. I'm Christine Shaw, CEO of Naylor Association Solutions. You probably heard me on my podcast, the Association Advisor. However, today I'm honored to host this episode for the ASAE. Before we begin, I'd like to take a moment to thank our episode sponsor, visit Omaha. For today's episode, we're excited to talk to Mike Moss, president of the Society for College and University, planning about the evolving landscape of career development within the association space, and what professionals can expect in the year ahead. Welcome to the show, Mike.  Mike Moss, CAE: Thank you very much for having me and looking forward to our conversation.  Christine Shaw: Fantastic. Well, let's just dig right in and start with the big picture. How is career development evolving in the association world and what makes this moment particularly pivotal?  Mike Moss, CAE: Yeah, and it's the right [00:01:00] question to start with because I think from our perspective at SC and also mine as a 34 year practitioner in the space is we're shifting from a linear to a kind of a multi-directional career path. As I came up through the industry, it was a pretty logical progression for me in operations between being an assistant to a manager, to a director, but pretty much all within the same discipline as I was given opportunities, maybe different associations. I. The directional was pretty linear, and what I really appreciate where we're going as an industry now is that we do have multiple directional paths, meaning I can do a bunch of different things at my association or require a bunch of different skill sets over time, and the association can be committed to me to develop those skills. I do not have to come on entry with. All the skill sets to be a generalist. I can come in with specific skill sets, develop competencies in certain areas, and then have another opportunity to explore different career paths. And I do think what that's been driven by, and you'll hear me talk about this a lot, probably today, which is I do think our employment base is [00:02:00] beautifully shifting to being purpose driven. And that's why they're attracted to our sector is they're here to serve and they realize that the service is going to change as tech changes needs change, service requirements change, funding change. I. And I think that this next batch of association employees really get the purpose-driven association. Christine Shaw: Mike, I agree with you on the purpose driven. That's one of the reasons too. A lot of people, myself included, are drawn to this space. I liked what you said though, that you don't necessarily have to have all the skills 'cause they'll be developed. And I think sometimes people hold themselves back because they think they need to have all the skills. So t

In this episode of Associations NOW Presents, guest host Teri Carden chats with Virginie De Visscher, executive director of business events for Destination Canada, and Amy Hissrich, MA, CAE, vice president of international affairs at ASAE, to explore the role of DMOs in driving sustainability efforts. They discuss the economic and reputational benefits of sustainable event planning, innovative strategies in transportation and local sourcing, and the power of collaboration in designing impactful, eco-friendly gatherings. Tune in to learn how associations and DMOs can work together to make a lasting difference for both the environment and local communities. Check out the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/qVljyQJkqsc  This episode is sponsored by Visit Omaha and New Orleans & Company. Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.   Transcript [00:00:00] Teri Carden: Welcome to episode eight of Associations NOW Presents, an original podcast series from the American Society of Association Executives. I'm Terri Cardin. You may have seen me around the association world as founder of non-A Palooza, AMS Fest and Review My AMS , but these days I'm sidekick it with co-founder of Higher Logic, Andy Steggles with his newest product called Insight Guide. Some days I feel like a chicken with my head cut off as we manage our 20 plus clients. Yes, I'm throwing ASAE in the mix as one of our newest clients and all the implementations we have going on, but my real. Title is VP of Marketing and Client Success. Folks, I can tell you right now, it's a lot of fun to be me these days helping associations invent and deliver new tools to help their members make smart buying decisions. How about enough about me? Let's jump into today's conversation about [00:01:00] events and sustainability. First of all, I do want to thank. Our episode sponsors Visit Omaha and New Orleans and Company. Today I am thrilled to welcome Virginie De Visscher, executive Director of Business Events for Destination Canada and Amy Hissrich, Vice President of International Affairs at ASAE. Hello, ladies. So let's jump into today's conversation. I'm absolutely excited to talk about this topic. It's actually a topic that's personal and close to my heart. I'm actually a full-time van Lifer. I collect memories, not things. So I naturally am over conscious about Mother Earth as it's truly an extension of my home. I feel like it's pretty easy for me to adjust my lifestyle so that I'm thinking about the future of our environment and our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren to come. But when I think of [00:02:00] nationwide organizations like Destination Canada, it seems daunting. Like how in the world I. See what I did there.Do you support more localized DMO with sustainability efforts? It does truly feel like a monumental task for conferences and events when there are literally millions of people involved. So Virginia, let's get started with you.  [00:02:28] Virginie De Visscher: That's a great question, Terry, because Canada's the second largest landmass in the world, right? And Destination Canada really plays a unique role as a, I call it a national conveyor or convener, and a and a catalyst. So we're not A DMO ourselves. We work to build capacity, we create alignment, and we try to support our local partners in advancing sustainable business events. Some of the ways that we do that are, for example, training and education. We've launched a national initiative [00:03:00] where right now actually we have about 50 individuals across the country that are taking the Sustainable Event Professional certification in partnership with the events industry council, and that gives Canadian d os that foundational knowledge to integrate sustainability into their event strategies. We support Canadian cities in joining the Global Destination Sustainability Index. The GDSI that helps them assess and benchmark themselves and improve their sustainabilit

In this episode of Associations NOW Presents, guest host Joanna Pineda of the Associations Thrive podcast chats with Rob Wenger, CEO of Higher Logic, and Amanda DeLuke, senior privacy analyst at Higher Logic. The conversation unpacks Higher Logic's own AI adoption journey, starting in October 2023, and the strategies they used to engage employees with AI tools. Rob and Amanda share practical insights on how associations can begin their AI journey, create policies, and leverage AI tools while prioritizing data privacy. Whether you're just getting started or looking to expand your AI capabilities, this episode offers actionable advice on using AI to enhance operations, improve member engagement, and drive innovation. Check out the video podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLKUv2GFpUY  This episode is sponsored by Higher Logic. Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.   Transcript Joanna Pineda: [00:00:00] Hey everyone, I'm Joanna Pineda, CEO and Chief Troublemaker at Matrix Group International and host of the Associations Thrive podcast. Each week I interview and association our non profit CEO about their personal journey and the things their organization is doing to thrive. But today, I am thrilled to be a guest host for the ASAE podcast for Associations Now. And I am absolutely honored because I'm going to be interviewing Rob Wenger. CEO of HigherLogic and Amanda DeLuke, Senior Privacy Analyst. We'd like to thank our episode sponsor, HigherLogic, for their support of this podcast. Rob and Amanda, welcome to the show. Rob Wenger: Thank you. It's great to be here. Joanna Pineda: Hey Rob, there's probably two people out there in the universe that don't know HigherLogic, and for those two people, tell us about HigherLogic. Rob Wenger: So our main product is online community. It's a place where associations members can talk to each other, share documents, ask questions, network, all the kinds of good stuff that they might do in person. They do it online 365 days a year. And we also make marketing automation products and a bunch of other different add-ons to it, like volunteer management. Mentor management, a lot of different things that really are geared toward helping associations and their members connect. Joanna Pineda: Amanda, you've got an interesting title. Your title is Senior Privacy Analyst. What is a Senior Privacy Analyst at HgherLogic? Amanda DeLuke: Yeah, so I am definitely someone that works across the company. You know, privacy is really everyone's problem, right? Everyone works together, creating privacy champions. So I actually report to the legal team. I deal with audit and making sure we are compliant for any applicable privacy laws, also working with our sales team and our data processing agreement and working with marketing. So really just collaboration across the company, just to make sure we're staying safe. And we're adhering to any applicable [00:02:00] laws and staying compliant. Well, that's Joanna Pineda: really interesting because today our topic is AI. And Robyn and Vanda, I'm really curious to learn almost two sides of the AI journey at HigherLogic because I bet you're integrating AI into HigherLogic products, but I'm also really curious to learn about your AI journey as a company. Like how do you get people trained up and excited about AI so that now it becomes part of the culture? So what do you want to start with? Rob Wenger: Yeah, so we sort of kicked off our internal AI journey in October 2023. I had this idea and I guess in August, Hey, let's get everyone in the company using AI like for a day, like sort of one of those hackathon type thing. And then report back on what they did that was cool. And so I started kicking this thing off and then the folks in legal and Amanda's team said, Hey, hey, let us. Think about this privacy stuff first. Don't just jump into this. So we spent a little bit of [00:03:00] time putting it together. We ended up doing a wh

In this episode of Associations NOW Presents, guest host David Coriale of the Reboot IT podcast sits down with Mark Graham, vice president of Association Solutions at ASAE, and Paul Pomerantz, FACHE, FASAE, managing director of the Association Governance Institute (AGI) and former CEO of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. They discuss AGI’s mission to streamline resources, build a robust content library, and develop educational courses to elevate governance in associations. Topics include CEO-board relationships, executive transitions, board operations, strategic oversight, and governance structures. They also explore assessments for CEOs and boards, the pivotal role of organizational culture, and how technology and cybersecurity play into effective governance. The episode wraps with actionable advice for fostering a healthy governance culture and navigating the evolving needs of associations.   Check out the video podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_0qljegbl4   Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.   Transcript   Dave Coriale  0:03  Hello everyone. I'm Dave Coriale, president of DelCor and host of another podcast, Reboot IT, where we talk about all things technology for the association and 501 C community. Today I am guest hosting this podcast, and I am very excited about our two guests. One of them is Mark Graham, who is the vice president of association solutions at ASAE, at the Center for Association Leadership. And the other is a leader I've been a fan of for a long time, Paul Pomerantz. He has been a CEO of several health and medical associations before this, and he is currently the managing director of the Association Governance Institute. Let's get going. Let's listen in on the conversation. I think there is plenty to gain from hearing what they have to say, and here we are having the conversation I've been looking forward to for weeks now, ever since this was scheduled. Paul, Mark, thank you for taking your time. I know you're both very busy to talk about something that's coming up and very important, the Association Governance Institute, that is one of the main topics. I'm sure we'll weave and bob through a couple others along the way. But like always, I like to start my podcast with what are we talking about? So let's talk a little bit about the Association Government Institute, what it is, etc. Mark, I think you'd be great to lead that part of the conversation. So why don't you give us a little bit of background and where we're headed here?  Mark Graham  1:23  Sure. So the Association Governance Institute, AGI, the brainchild of Michelle Mason, wanted to create a brand new home for governance, for associations. ASAE has done a pretty good job at governance, but we wanted to really focus on it and really have a terrific resource library. What we did was we always created, like a brand new organization. Why we called it the Association Governance Institute, although it will be part of your ASAE membership, and what it does, it creates a library of resources that are all focused on just governance. If you search as a website now, and you search governance, you'll get a whole host of content. But what we've done is we really drill down to a bunch of categories of governance, six categories of governance and three to five subcategories of governance, because governance is quite complicated. There's an art and science to it, and we hope to address both of that with the Association Governance Institute. So let me give you a few examples of the categories. The CEO-board relationship. We're talking about. The CEO evaluation, the compensation, the contracts we get into the culture of boards. One of the major responsibilities with board is to hire and manage the CEO. So we have a whole section on executive transitions, operations. We're talking about the soup and nuts of how boards operate. We have tons of content and sub content on all these topics to round it out. W

In this episode of Associations NOW Presents, guest hosts Steven Stout, CAE, FASAE, and Katy Markert from Better By Association lead a timely discussion with Mary Kate Cunningham, CAE, Chief Public and Governance Officer at ASAE, and Jarrod Clabaugh, CAE, President and CEO of the Ohio Society of Association Professionals. They explore the potential impacts of upcoming tax reforms on associations and nonprofits, including the expiration of the 2017 Jobs Act provisions and new threats under UBIT. The conversation emphasizes the critical role of coalition-building, advocacy, and grassroots efforts to protect the sector. They also discuss strategies for engaging lawmakers and preview ASAE's upcoming fly-in event, focused on lobbying against adverse tax policies.   Check out the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/3gSTzeScv7Q   Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.   Transcript Steven Stout  0:04  Welcome everyone to Associations NOW Presents, an original podcast produced by the American Society of Association Executives. Today, sitting in front of the mic is myself, Steven Stout with the Texas Society of Association Executives, alongside my colleague and friend Katy Markert, who will be serving as your guest co-hosts for today's episode. Katy Markert  0:22  Hi everyone. I'm Katy Markert, also with TSAE, and we are so thrilled to be here with you today. Usually, Steven and I are on our own podcast, as he mentioned, Better by Association, produced by TSAE. And on our podcast, we refer to our listeners as "100-Percenters," because, as you probably know, association executives give 100% of themselves all the time. So you might hear us refer to that today. And I want everyone to know.  Steven Stout  0:49  Absolutely. So all those listeners hearing us for the first time, welcome to the 100- Percenter family. And for those who found us here from our other podcast, welcome back.  Katy Markert  0:58  Welcome back. Normally, I know we're used to speaking to what we think is just Texans, but I'm really excited that this is a national stage Steven.  Steven Stout  1:07  Agreed. We sometimes have listeners in Australia, China and the Netherlands. So being here makes total sense. Were you nervous about being here today Katy?  Katy Markert  1:16  What's funny is I wasn't until I heard that we were going to be on camera, and then all of a sudden, I got a little bit nervous, but usually we don't do that, but I don't mind. I'm just pretending that's not happening. And I don't know. I think after this, we've completed two seasons of our podcast, and I think I started off a little more nervous, but the more we've done in it, the more I realized we just have really great conversations, and I always learn something. And it's really lowered that kind of nervousness level for me. I really don't think about it too much, but what about you? I don't know. I'm starting. I'm getting the vibe that maybe you're you feel opposite. Steven Stout  1:51  Yeah, I was a little nervous. No, to be honest with you, I changed my shirt three times. I did the teenager thing in the closet, like I went through things and was like, "I have nothing to wear. I hate all my clothes." I was nervous. But now we think you said we've done this so much that it it feels like home when we get to do stuff like this. But the point of all this is that we are happy to be with you today, and thanks for having us.  Katy Markert  2:11  Yes, absolutely. Now, Steven, we are recording this the second week of December, right before the holidays in 2024 and we all just came out of Thanksgiving with our families and loved ones. Yes, and typically, at Thanksgiving, I just, I love my family. I just want to say that about how to say there is that one question that I get a little nervous is going to come up. Do you know the question I'm talking about?   Steven Stout  2:37  Why can't you be more like your sister, Sharon? Is that the one?  Katy Markert  2:43  It probab

In this episode of Associations NOW Presents, guest host KiKi L'Italien, host of Association Chat, leads a conversation with award-winning leaders Lori Anderson, President and CEO of the International Sign Association, and Debra BenAvram, CEO of the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies. The conversation delves into authentic leadership, highlighting the importance of amplifying women’s voices and fostering community within the association world. Lori and Debra share their personal leadership journeys, reflecting on pivotal moments, influential mentors, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. Topics include overcoming challenges, the value of mentorship and peer networks, and the significance of foresight in navigating leadership complexities. They also discuss strategies for maintaining personal growth and resilience, with practical insights on mindfulness and intentional time management. Check out the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/bhWVK64OpzQ?feature=shared   Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.   Transcript   KiKi L'Italien  00:00Welcome to the Associations NOW Presents podcast, I'm your guest host, KiKi L'Italien, and if you're thinking, "Hey, I know that name or I know that voice," you're right. It's because you usually hear me over at Association Chat. But today, I'm excited to be hosting this special episode of Associations NOW Presents, because we're continuing this powerful conversation that really started at what's called ASAE's The Exchange. And this is a women's leadership event that is really special, and our focus today to continue on this discussion is authentic leadership. We're talking about authentic leadership, the power of women's voices, and how we can build a supportive community in the association space. So joining me are two inspiring, award winning leaders, Lori Anderson, President and CEO of the International Sign Association, and Debra BenAvram, CEO of Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies. So I want to just do this, and start out at the very start, to just say congratulations, because, as I understand it, even though you've both won awards before, you have just recently been recognized, Lori as 2025 Trade Association Executive of the Year, and Debra, you were recognized as a 2025 Professional Society Association Executive of the Year. Congratulations to both of you. 01:33Thank you so much KiKi L'Italien  01:34Yes, it's really amazing to be here. And I have to say, I have followed your work for many years and watched you in this space, recognized leaders. And so what I thought we could do today is just start off by talking about your personal journeys into leadership, because I know that each path is unique. Definitely in the association industry, there can be many different ways that we get to where we are, but I'm sure that there are shared experiences that have shaped both of you. So I thought what we would do is maybe start with what inspired you to step into these leadership roles. So were there pivotal moments or mentors who helped guide you along the way? So Debra, I'm starting with you. What about it? What made you decide to step into this leadership role in the first place?  Debra BenAvram  02:25Thanks you so much, KiKi. I would love to tell you that I had this grand plan from the age of five to become a leader and to do it by this age and set all those goals. That's really never been my style. So when I was thinking about what sort of led me to this moment, I think what I might have been was not savvy enough to realize that I wasn't supposed to ask questions or ask permission, and just always threw myself into opportunities. My last organization, when there was a clear need for a new strategic plan or a new area that we needed staff leadership in, I raised my hand and but I did that by doing it, and I think that, for better or worse, led me to have lots of different experiences that I didn't know m

In this episode of Associations NOW Presents, guest host Lowell Aplebaum, EdD, FASAE, CAE, CPF, from Association Rockstars, continues the conversation on workforce development in the association space. He speaks with Eduardo Arabu, CEO of the National Hispanic Corporate Council, and Justin Bradley Reyes, membership manager at the Latino Corporate Directors Association. They discuss the importance of creating safe, inclusive spaces, the value of mentorship and sponsorship, and the role of proactive networking in fostering equitable professional growth through associations. Check out the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/dRs0LFsHltE   This episode is sponsored by Visit Omaha.   Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.   Transcript   Lowell Aplebaum  0:03  Greetings everyone. Welcome to episode three of Associations NOW Presents, an original podcast series from the American Society of Association Executives. It's my pleasure to be with you. My name is Lowell Aplebaum. Typically, you'll catch me as host of Association Rockstars. It is my pleasure and my honor to be the host of this episode today, which is a part two, as we look into workforce development as our theme. We'd like to thank our episode sponsor Visit Omaha for their support of this podcast. And if you've not yet listened to part one of this two part series on workforce development, we'll be right here. Lowell Aplebaum  0:39  So go on, take a listen and come on back for our conversation today. And we are excited to have two wise, wise individuals from our community for our conversation today. For each of you all, just give a brief introduction, a sentence about certainly your name and your organization, but I'd love for to hear each of you introduce yourselves, if you will, with a little bit about your own professional journey, right? So we think about workforce development, what developed you in the workforce? And today's conversation is going to have a large focus on network and community and relationships. So feel free to put into your own journey story, any critical relationships that were really important to your own journey along the way. And so let's first start Eduardo Arabu is the CEO the National Hispanic Corporate Council and the Latino DEI Collective. Eduardo. You want to tell us a little bit about yourself and your own journey? Eduardo Arabu  1:38  Yes, absolutely. Thank you Lowell for that wonderful introduction. I'm thrilled to be here and be a part of this conversation with my colleague Justin Reyes as well. A little bit about myself. Yes, I am the CEO at the National Hispanic Corporate Council, that organization focused on helping Fortune companies on their competitiveness and corporate performance around workplace and marketplace strategy. And so we work with major Fortune 1000 companies are under Hispanic and Latino strategy for talent, customer, supplier, community relations and their employee resource group as well. The Latino DEI Collective focuses on amplifying, cultivating and elevating Latino DEI practitioner. So Chief Diversity Officer, Vice President of Diversity Equity and Inclusion, not only in Fortune company, but government, nonprofit, sports and many other sectors as well. I'm based in Chicago. My background is Venezuelan. I consider myself bicultural. So was born in Venezuela, but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. I spent about seven years in Washington, D.C., as well. I think my career trajectory to where I'm at is a little bit unorthodox. Many of you in the association space, we didn't sign up for it. We were voluntold to put you into it, and here we are. My background consisted of corporate functions, HR and government affairs, public policy. I have my time in Washington, D.C., and so more of a business public policy background also works in sports and Government Affairs and many other functions as well. One unique opportunity that I had was to complete a fellowship with the Congressional Hispanic Le

In this episode of Associations NOW Presents, guest host Lowell Aplebaum, EdD, FASAE, CAE, CPF, from Association Rockstars, leads a conversation with Haley Jones, director of member engagement at the American Staffing Association, and Joe Lindhal, CEO of Mission MSA. Together, they explore the evolving landscape of workforce development in the association sector, discussing the influence of AI, the importance of adaptability, and the critical role of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The conversation highlights how DEI drives organizational success, urging associations to lead by example, embrace inclusive practices, and nurture a culture of acceptance and continuous learning.   Check out the video podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwM9JWpnOWM   This episode is sponsored by Visit Omaha.   Transcript   Lowell Aplebaum  00:05 Welcome everybody to episode two of Associations NOW Presents, an original podcast series from the American Society of Association Executives. And we'd like to thank our episode sponsor today Visit Omaha for the support of this podcast. My name is Lowell Aplebaum. I'm the CEO of Vista Cova, typically hosting the Association Rockstars podcast, but really excited and overjoyed to have the opportunity today to facilitate a meaningful conversation around workforce development with two brilliant minds in our community. And rather than read a speaker bio, which probably would not have you still tuning in, we're going to have the opportunity to hear a little bit about the own professional journey from our two panelists today. So for each of you, I'll ask you one at a time, if you could please tell us a little bit about who you are and where you work, as we're thinking about workforce development and professional journeys that have led you to places of the association community. Tell us a little bit about your journey. Haley, do you want to go first?   Haley Jones  01:07 Sure. So I'm Haley Jones. I'm the director of member engagement at the American staffing Association in Alexandria, Virginia. I spent my entire career in the association space, but I got started through being placed at my first association from a staffing firm, ironically, X amount of years later, so I don't necessarily age myself. I now work at the trade association that represents the person who was once a member who got me into associations to begin with. I started in associations through member care, was answering the 800 line processing applications. Moved into the membership department. I spent the first half of my career in membership. The latter half has been in governance and volunteer management, leadership development. And then the last almost five years now has been also in the DEI space. I oversee a team of four people who run all of the, basically eight of the nine engagement programs that ASA has. My main focus is our DEI initiatives. I think where I've gotten to where I'm at now, I attribute a lot of it to being a DELP Scholar. I'm in the 2019 to 2021 class, and got access to mentoring and executive coaching and just education opportunities that I ordinarily wouldn't have thanks to Visit Detroit that sponsored everything, and that was a turning point for me and my career and finding my voice and just putting me in a leadership position, where I still work on this now, but where people see me as a leader and I also finally see myself as one too.   Lowell Aplebaum  02:48 I love that.  Hopefully, as we were able to go into a discussion around workforce development, that sort of transformational journey from an employee to a profession to a leader, hopefully we can dig in a little more on those stages as well as we think about that, Joe, please.   Joe Lindhal  03:03 Yeah, so I'm Joe Lindahl. I serve as the CEO for Mission MSA, which is a nonprofit organization for patient advocates and research around multiple system atrophy, which is a rare neurodegenerative disease closely aligned with Parkinson's, but h

In our inaugural episode, recorded live at the ASAE Annual Meeting and Exposition in Cleveland, we hand over the hosting duties to Kiki L'Italien, host of Association Chat. Kiki engages in a lively discussion with Virginie De Visscher, executive director of business events for Destination Canada, on the crucial topic of sustainability in events. Together, they explore how sustainability spans environmental, sociocultural, and economic dimensions, advocating for a holistic approach. Virginie provides inspiring examples from Canada, including innovations like green roofs, urban beehives, and local food initiatives, underscoring the importance of incorporating cultural elements to enhance event experiences. This episode is sponsored by Destination Canada.  Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.    Transcript Michelle Mason  00:04From ASAE, this is Associations NOW Presents, a podcast for association professionals tackling issues and challenges that affect our community. I'm Michelle Mason, CEO of ASAE. We hope you enjoythis episode. Now, let's tune in and hear what the experts are discussing. Kiki L'Italien  00:22All right, we are live. Do you hear this background noise? We are live at ASAE annual, at the Super Bowl of meetings in Cleveland, Ohio. I am Kiki L'Italien, and I am guest hosting the inaugural podcast episode of ASAE's new podcast. I usually host a podcast over Association Chat. I got a chance to jump over here. And with me is our inaugural podcast guest Virginie De Visscher  00:53Virginie De Visscher. Kiki L'Italien  00:54I wish you could say that as well as you do. With the last name, L'Italien, and you think I'd be better at this. But anyway, I'm so glad that we're here. I'm so glad that we're talking and I saw you on stage today, and can I just say you were fantastic. It looked like you were like born to do this. You just dominated the stage. You were radiant.  Virginie De Visscher  01:17I think I was inspired by who we were introducing, Amanda Gorman. Kiki L'Italien  01:21I know. Weren’t we all? Amanda Gorman is not just inspirational. I do believe she's a magical being. I You though, let me tell you, you had an important message, and Team Canada has an important message. That's why you're here. Let's talk about the keyword sustainability, sustainability. We could say it together, sustainability. So I'm super excited to talk to you because for several reasons. One is because I love Canada, but the other is because this is the inaugural episode, inaugural episode of the first ASAE podcast, and they're launching it here. This is supposed to be somewhat of a different format than all of the rest. We get to be the lucky ones. And I'm looking at this list of questions, but all I can do is stare across at you right now and see that you're beaming. You're radiating. I saw you on stage this morning with Amanda Gorman also sharing the stage opening keynote. And you're up there and you're talking about sustainability and being maybe when people hear the word sustainability, they don't think of it as being particularly exciting. But at the same time, a lot of travel here was disrupted because of harsh climate conditions, right? We had these horrible storms. People had a hard time getting to ASAE Annual. Interesting that one of the big features that you're talking about for Canada is Destination Canada is doing some amazing things with sustainability. So I want to go into that. I want to open with that and talk about the fact that it is a really important topic. It is something that I think more and more event planners are finding to be increasingly important for the way that they decide where they're going to post their meetings. And I think that when people start looking for is there something meaningful behind the word sustainability that's happening? They're going to ask these questions. So sustainability, what's happening? Why is this such a focus for you and Destination  Canada? And

The American Society of Association Executives presents the all-new Associations NOW Presents – an original podcast series featuring prominent podcast hosts from within the association community, engaging in candid and in-depth conversations with industry experts. Each episode explores key topics relevant to association professionals, discussing the challenges and opportunities in the field today, and highlighting the significant impact associations have on the economy, the U.S., and the world. The podcast complements the existing Associations NOW publication, providing a well-rounded resource for association professionals.  Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.