The Member Engagement Show

Hosted by Higher Logic

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111

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Jun 2026

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About the show

The Member Engagement show is the podcast for anyone tasked with boosting retention, gaining new members, and deepening member engagement for associations and organizations. Guests share expert advice on the many facets of building and providing ongoing value to association members. You’ll come away from each episode with strategies proven to transform your organization.

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June 1, 2026Episode 11049 min

Navigating Change Management in AI Transformation with Ashleigh Brookshaw

Our guest on this episode of Higher Logic’s The Member Engagement Show is Ashleigh Brookshaw, a strategic advisor at Higher Logic who is also a Prosci-certified change manager and agile & traditional project manager. As more associations adopt AI, Ashleigh touches on several topics related to the challenges and opportunities that can bring: How organizations can adopt AI successfully. Why AI is first and foremost a change management challenge, not a tool implementation challenge. What are the key components of AI readiness? Is the quality of your data good enough to get high quality AI outputs? Implementing AI with both members and internal staff in mind. How to decide what AI initiatives to prioritize. The right way to do staff enablement. The skills or mindset shifts that people need the most in AI adoption. Involving members in your AI adoption. The signals of a successful AI implementation?

April 16, 2026Episode 10947 min

Association Email in the Age of AI with Amber Worthen

Our guest on this episode of The Member Engagement Show is Amber Worthen, Founder and CEO of Email Maven. She’s an email strategist who’s spent years helping member organizations rethink how they connect with members through email. Most recently, she’s been exploring the effect of AI on email inboxes. Topics covered include: What is changing in the email landscape now that AI has come along? What’s under your control and what’s in the email recipients’ control. How traditional email metrics like opens, clicks, and deliverability are being impacted. The new goal for inbox targeting. A reality check for those who think sending more emails is the answer. The rising importance of segmenting and email preference options. Making data-driven decisions around email. Know your email platform. The power of engagement scoring, personas, and dynamic content. The 10 main things to future-proof your inboxes. Why it’s a good idea to test how AI is summarizing your newsletters. Resources Download the episode transcript. Explore Email Maven's resources. Check out Higher Logic's 2025-2026 Association Email Benchmark Report. Watch Higher Logic's recent webinar, Relevance Wins: What 2026 Benchmarks Reveal About High Performing Emails.

March 26, 2026Episode 10842 min

Launching with Purpose: Build an Engaging Association Community with Andrew Hohman

In this episode of The Member Engagement Show, our guest is Andrew Hohman, Senior Implementation Advisor at Higher Logic. about the best practices for launching and sustaining successful online communities. We talk about identifying and addressing project risks and helping associations make their new communities successful. Topics covered include: What separates successful online communities from ones that struggle The importance of assigning at least one community "owner" The importance of tying community to your associations strategic goals Launch tips The decisions associations should make before launching a community Building momentum in the community Ways to support new community members Learning from your members, especially in the early days Some Helpful Links Member Engagement Show episode with Georgina Donahue Higher Logic Association Community Benchmark Report Higher Logic Association Email Benchmark Report

February 27, 2026Episode 10645 min

Improving Your Association's Value Proposition with Sarah Spinosa

Our guest on this episode of The Member Engagement Show is Sarah Spinosa, Director of Product Marketing for Higher Logic. Sarah discusses value propositions for associations and how they can be activated, elevated, and improved. Topics covered include: Why the pressure to hone a clear value proposition is increasing Recognizing Members as consumers, with expectations influenced by their experience outside the association People aren't joining professional associations by default Ways associations can use product marketing principles to refine and define their value proposition Talking about outcomes, not just what you offer The importance of mapping value at different career stages The difference between professional and trade association value propositions The importance of knowing your members and knowing when their needs change Communicating the value proposition continuously, not just at sign-up Aligning internal stakeholders around the value proposition Some helpful links: Higher Logic 2026 Association Trends and Predictions webinar MGI Membership Marketing Benchmark Report Higher Logic Association Member Experience Report

February 10, 2026Episode 10728 min

Videos Tips for Associations with VideoRequest's Terry Nawrot

Our guest on this episode of The Member Engagement Show is Terry Nawrot, co-founder and CEO of VideoRequest, a video creation, editing, and sharing platform. Terry talks about the many ways associations can use video and make video creation do-able. Topics covered include: What's changed in terms of how people prefer to consume video content? Who should "own" and be making video content in organizations? Leveraging existing association content for video. The value of getting information from human beings. Video as a strategy, not a one-off project. Video is a relationship, not a marketing, tool. The many ways associations can use video. Producing video using the resources you have available to you. The amazing things today's video tools can do. Myths and misconceptions about video. How to measure the performance of your videos. Does one video channel work any better for associations than another? Learn how you can make video easy for your association: Record, collect, and polish videos from staff or members and share them directly in your community or emails with Higher Logic Thrive Video, powered by VideoRequest.

January 20, 2026Episode 10557 min

The Forces Shaping Associations with Erin Fuller

Our guest on this episode of The Member Engagement Show is Erin Fuller, Global Head of Association Solutions for MCI Group in Geneva, Switzerland and Chief Strategy Officer for MCI USA. As we head into 2026, Erin discusses learnings from the MCI Association Engagement Index, tipping us off to the forces shaping associations in the year ahead. Topics include: The generational changes in association membership Global trends for associations Customized educational pathways The sub cohort of Gen Z called Gen Q Association-specific uses of AI more organizations can embrace Changes to events, continuing education, and credentialing How successful associations think about non-dues revenue How associations can expand into global markets Why associations should move from membership as a status to membership as a service Helpful Links MCI Association Engagement Index (Updated Data & 10-Year Retrospective Coming Soon!) Higher Logic Association Member Experience Report

December 15, 2025Episode 10436 min

Successful Events with Hillary Chambers

Our guest on this episode of The Member Engagement Show is Hillary Chambers, Manager of Global Meetings and Events for the Higher Education Users Group (HEUG), a leading global user community in higher education built on Higher Logic’s online community software. Hillary also leads planning and promotion for Higher Logic’s annual Super Forum conference. We talk about how to maximize engagement at every stage of the event lifecycle and how to apply some community strategies to successful event planning. Topics include: Have events fully bounced back post-Covid? Event timelines and planning for an event. Learning from attendee feedback. Distinguishing between a blip and a real trend in sentiment. Handling the awareness and communication process. Getting event ideas by listening to the community. Using community to find and foster speakers. Using video to communicate event information. The pain points faced in today’s event planning. The balance: making a live event a can’t-miss while not excluding virtual attendees. Helpful Links Christin Berry podcast episode on data Super Forum 2026

November 10, 2025Episode 1031 hr 8 min

From Vibes to Value: Communities That Drive Growth with Georgina Donahue

Our guest on this episode of The Member Engagement Show is Georgina Donahue, Higher Logic’s Director of Community Innovation and AI Strategy. With over 10 years in community leadership (having started out as a community manager) Georgina shares her wealth of expertise in community leadership, and user-focused community advocacy. Topics covered include: How community is the engine that drives alignment between organizations and members. Tips for growing online communities, based on Georgina's experience taking a community she managed from 0 to 50,000 members. Key metrics for measuring the success of a community. How to get leadership buy-in for community Busy vs. meaningful engagement. Engagement myths…busted! Tips to drive the member journey, from onboarding to advocacy Selling the importance of community internally. Community and member engagement trends for the year ahead. A sneak peek from Kelly at some insights from the upcoming Member Engagement Report. Helpful Links Peggy Hoffman episode on community volunteering Community Manager Toolkit

October 16, 2025Episode 10250 min

2025 Association Community Benchmarks, Trends, and Tips

Today’s episode of The Member Engagement Show is a special presentation of a recent webinar covering the release of Higher Logic’s 2025 Association Community Benchmark Report: “From Data to Action.” Kelly and her guests Eileen Quinn and John Micah Yates, strategic advisors on the Higher Logic customer success team, walk through the results of the study and offer strategies to increase member participation and engagement. Topics include: Highlights from the report Strategies for increasing engagement in your online community Average community size, logins, and discussions The most common types of engagements What kinds of engagements are lagging Community digest open rates How many users make use of resource libraries If AI is pulling people away from online communities Login trends based on months of the year The inverse trend between size and participation The relationship between community age and engagement How automation rules impact engagement How gamification impacts engagement How volunteering, mentoring, and job boards impact engagement Tactics for growing communities Ways to increase discussion and contribution activity How much, if any, of your content should be gated Tips for avoiding over-emailing Some Helpful Links: Webinar Recording 2025 Association Community Benchmark Report Podcast episode with Christin Berry of ASAE Podcast episode with Karen Saverino of Smithbucklin

October 2, 2025Episode 10144 min

Cybersecurity for Associations with 501CISO's Brian Scott

Our guest this episode of The Member Engagement Show is Brian Scott, President and CISO of 501CISO, who talks about the increasing prevalence of cybercrime targeting nonprofits and associations. We discuss the industrialization of cybercrime, the unique vulnerabilities of smaller organizations, and the importance of cybersecurity education and training. Topics covered include: Why cybercrime is worse than it’s ever been. The global industrialization of cybercrime. How AI is helping cybercriminals be more effective. Why nonprofits and associations are becoming a bigger target. Are Managed Service Providers (MSPs) always reliable protection? Tips for hiring and using MSPs. The impact of being the target of cybercrime. Key things associations should do to protect their security and data. The '501 CISO Big Six' essential protections to implement. Why cybersecurity is not just an “IT problem.” Some Helpful Links: Episode on AI use and data privacy with guest Amanda DeLuke. Explore more resources from Brian Scott & 501CISO: cleartoneconsulting.com/publications/