The Association Podcast

Jake Toohey (Adage Technologies), Gretchen Steenstra (DelCor) and Ben Muscolino (Breezio and AMS Geek) bring you The Association Podcast. With a combined five decades of experience in the association tech space, they explore challenges facing associations and bring fresh ideas to address them using strategy, design, analytics, and technology.

The Association Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 112 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts The Association Podcast, a business show with 112 episodes published.

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  Episode #112

  ASAE 2026 Live: Ginger Ausloos on Leadership, Member-as-Customer, and the Power of Professional Growth

  Aug 25, 202633 min

  Live from ASAE Indianapolis 2026, The Association Podcast sits down with Ginger Ausloos, PMP®, AAiP, Vice President of Information Technology, at AACSB. Ginger shares a leadership approach centered on empowerment, open dialogue, mutual respect, and aligning team ideas to mission, vision, and values through strategic planning with a “member first” lens. She discusses the evolution of viewing members as both family and customers, why associations need a sales mindset and stronger cross-sell across departments, and how CRMs and processes are often underused without proper training. Ginger recaps her “AMS Exodus” session on shrinking all-in-one AMS reliance over a 10-year journey, emphasizing data portability, a central data warehouse, and modern integrations. She also highlights building a high-trust culture focused on continuous professional development, communication, business analysis, and project management practices like lessons learned and standups. 00:00 Live at ASAE 2026 00:46 Meet Ginger Osloos 01:12 Leadership Through Trust 02:26 Aligning Ideas to Strategy 03:58 Members Versus Customers 05:52 Everyone Is in Sales 08:22 Cross-Sell for Value 10:55 CRM Training Gap 12:16 AMS Exodus Debate 14:08 Warehouse First Architecture 16:15 The Warehouse Battle 16:50 Affordable Data Integrations 17:26 Growth Mindset Culture 19:24 Hiring for Hunger 21:15 Celebrating Team Wins 23:11 Training People Up 25:17 Skills for Modern IT 26:49 Project Management Habits 28:59 Documentation and Change 29:53 Process Improvement Mindset 30:56 Conference Wrap Up

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  Episode #111

  AI That Teaches, Not Replaces: Practical Innovation with Liz Peuster

  Jul 14, 202654 min

  Liz Peuster, Chief Communications Officer at the South Carolina Association of CPAs and founder of LP Innovates, joins The Association Podcast for a conversation that goes far beyond AI hype. Liz shares her career journey through the association world, why storytelling is at the heart of member value, and how associations can use AI to create better member experiences while developing, not replacing, their staff. From building custom AI assistants that coach employees into stronger writers to helping professionals navigate AI adoption with confidence, Liz offers practical ideas that any association can implement immediately. Whether you're just beginning your AI journey or looking for smarter ways to serve members, this episode is packed with actionable advice and fresh perspectives. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and Liz's association career journey 03:40 There's an association for everything 07:40 Why storytelling starts with understanding your members 12:00 Turning member challenges into advocacy success stories 14:20 AI concerns facing the accounting profession 17:00 Helping members evaluate AI vendors and technology 21:40 Building custom AI tools inside associations 24:00 Creating "Paige," an AI copy editor that teaches instead of rewrites 28:00 Why AI should focus on upskilling staff, not replacing them 30:30 Reclaiming time for member relationships 34:00 Teaching the next generation to use AI responsibly 37:00 Launching LP Innovates 39:30 Practical AI strategies anyone can implement tomorrow 41:00 Custom Copilot prompts that sound like you 43:00 AI workflows that eliminate inbox distractions 45:00 Saving hundreds of hours through small AI improvements 47:00 Final advice: Start with what frustrates you most

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  Episode #110

  AMC Tech, NetForum Solutioning, and Using AI to Improve Requirements & QA with Megan Paulini

  Jun 9, 202644 min

  On this episode of The Association Podcast, Megan Paulini of Associations International, Senior Technical Solutions Specialist and recent AWTC Champion Award winner, shares how she accidentally entered the association world via a temp role and grew from member services into tech solutioning, QA, and deep NetForum work. She explains how an AMC’s shared-services model supports multiple association clients across varied tech stacks and why clear definitions, overcommunication, and documentation prevent costly misunderstandings. Megan reflects on recognition through AWTC, her preference for puzzle-style projects, and practical ways she uses AI daily, including having it review requirements for gaps, interview her with follow-up questions, generate test cases, and build a project forecast spreadsheet to reduce QA bottlenecks. The conversation also touches on realistic personalization, data foundations, and balancing customization with guardrails. 00:43 Guest Intro 01:16 Rapid Fire Questions 03:23 How Megan Found Associations 04:32 From Member Services to Tech 07:26 Inside the AMC Model 10:06 Patterns Across Clients 12:22 Translating Business to Tech 15:56 AWTC Award Spotlight 20:37 Favorite Projects and Puzzles 21:53 Switching to Maybel Setup 22:23 Daily AI Wheel Spin 22:59 AI for Better Requirements 24:27 AI as Interviewer 25:51 Forecasting QA Bottlenecks 27:10 Choosing AI Tools 30:05 Data Personalization Reality 32:52 Progressive Profiling Vision 33:23 Career Path Marketing 35:12 Role Evolution at AMC 38:43 Guardrails Over Customization 40:27 Office Rundown Analogy 41:03 Closing Takeaways

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  Episode #109

  Growing SABR: Community, Baseball Research, and Balancing Legacy with Innovation with Scott Bush

  May 14, 202640 min

  On this episode of The Association Podcast, Scott Bush, CEO of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), shares his path from mechanical engineering to a decade in minor league baseball, leading to his role at SABR focused on growing revenue and membership. He explains SABR’s origins in 1971, its mission of sharing baseball research, and its structure of 85 worldwide chapters and 34 research committees spanning analytics, history, and niche topics, including projects restoring grave markers for former players. Bush discusses how technology, the pandemic, and virtual engagement expanded access and community, while emphasizing “humanity first” in member communication. He outlines strategies to improve retention, build fundraising, and expand student membership through baseball analytics courses, and details current debates on content strategy, AI-driven declines in search traffic, and potential paywall or newsletter approaches. He also previews SABR 54 in Cleveland (July 29–Aug 2), featuring Guardians speakers, research presentations, a game, League Park visit, and a Major League screening with director David Ward. 00:00 Cold Open Setup 00:14 Welcome and Guest Intro 00:45 Rapid Fire Questions 02:34 Scott Career Journey 05:59 What Sabre Does 07:52 Tech and Pandemic Shifts 10:14 Chapters and Committees 13:30 Sabre and Analytics Origins 18:44 Growing Sabre Revenue 21:25 Student Analytics Boom 22:15 Courses and Portfolios 23:16 Favorite Committees Talk 24:06 Legacy Versus Innovation 29:47 Human Touch and Tech 32:55 Content Strategy Debate 36:33 SEO and AI Disruption 38:07 SABR 54 Cleveland Preview 41:02 Wrap Up and Thanks

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  Episode #108

  Career Pivots, AWTC Recognition, and Workforce Development in the Age of AI with Lacey Pope

  May 7, 202640 min

  On this episode of The Association Podcast, we welcome Lacey Pope, MBA, CAE, Customer Success Manager at Web Scribble, to discuss her career journey in associations and her transition to the industry partner side. Lacey shares how she entered the association world through temp work, earned her CAE, and later drove process improvements at the Oncology Nursing Society that increased live support and boosted customer satisfaction by nearly 10%. She reflects on leading membership technology modernization at Shriners International—including AI translation tools, a new LMS, project management platform, and Power BI reporting—work that earned her recognition at the AWTC Awards. The conversation also explores hiring in the age of AI, daily AI use in customer success, and how associations can build stronger workforce development pipelines beyond a basic job board. 00:00 Welcome and Introductions 00:36 Rapid Fire Questions 02:17 Lacey Association Journey 03:26 Process Improvement Wins 04:55 Career Pivot and Web Scribble 07:22 Awards and Title Tradeoffs 09:32 Vendor Side and Member Value 12:05 Meet Mabel Topic Wheel 13:23 Hiring in the Age of AI 17:44 Daily AI and Policies 20:01 Using AI On The Side 20:51 Five-Year Career Pivot 22:17 Recruited To WebScribble 23:00 Industry Credibility Matters 24:58 Networking And Job Boards 27:02 Daily Wins And Parenting 28:21 AWTC Recognition And Belonging 30:52 Recognition And Community Growth 33:24 Customer Success Trends 34:51 Advice For Student Pipelines 36:42 What WebScribble Does 38:32 Final Thanks And Wrap

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