Our guest on this episode of The Member Engagement Show is Higher Logic’s own Senior Product Manager, Aaron Novelle. Aaron has been a leader in the development of AI enhancements to the Higher Logic Thrive platform. With those enhancements now in beta, we wanted to catch up with Aaron about how associations can leverage AI to continuously improve the member experience. Topics covered include:

• What Higher Logic AI tools are available now and what’s on the horizon.
• What AI search assistants are and what they can do when connected to online communities.
• A primer on RAG (Resource Augmented Generation) LLMs vs. the global LLMs that power general AI tools like ChatGPT.
• How associations can deploy AI while keeping their data safe.
• Associations as the bastions of specific expertise and knowledge.
• The importance of aggregating and categorizing your association’s knowledge base - and how to make that easier.

Some Helpful Links:

Learn About Higher Logic's AI Search Assistant (and Turn it On in Your Community!)

Higher Logic's AI Toolkit

ASAE Webinar: Embracing AI Safely (with Higher Logic's Amanda DeLuke)

On this episode of Higher Logic’s award-winning “Member Engagement Show,” we talk with Karen Saverino, CMO at Smithbucklin. Karen has over 25 years of experience in marketing and communications, most with nonprofits and associations. She is one of the authors of Smithbucklin’s recent report on the Perceptions and Evolving Role of Associations. Listen to the episode for insights from that report and to hear ways associations can apply those insights to attract and retain members.

Topics covered include:

• What are members' most valuable benefits from their association?
• Do members currently trust their association?
• The importance of education and professional development.
• Is AI a threat to online community participation?
• What prevents people from becoming members?
• Four fundamentals you should focus on based on the report’s data.
• Some pointers on doing your own member research.

Helpful Links:

Smithbucklin’s Perceptions and Evolving Role of Associations Report

Learning management and trends podcast episode with Bluesky

Our guest this episode of the award-winning Member Engagement Show is Romeo Talento, Customer Success Advisor at Higher Logic and a career expert in SEO strategies, who talks about some of the ways associations and non-profits are approaching and should approach those SEO strategies. Prior to his role at HL, Romeo managed membership and marketing for associations like the American Bar Association and the Merchant Risk Council. Topics covered include:

• A primer on what SEO is (and isn’t).
• How search engines work.
• The importance of keyword research and wording things correctly.
• The steps to incorporate into your day-to-day work to optimize content for search engines.
• Recommendations for one-person marketing teams juggling multiple hats.
• The three types of SEO you need to know.
• The importance of alt text in images, page titles, and working links.
• Tips for page design and backlinks.
• The power of data and numbers in your web content.
• Suggestions for long-term SEO wins.
• How AI and voice searches are changing SEO

Helpful Links

On-Demand webinar with Alec Cole, Founder of Salt Rock SEO, on AI’s Impact on SEO

SEO Checklist: 41 Tips to Optimize Your Website

Higher Logic Thrive

Our guest on this episode of The Member Engagement Show is Peggy Hoffman, Founder of Mariner Management. Mariner Management is an association management company providing full management services to small associations and counsel to global associations seeking to improve member communities and volunteer development. Peggy also works as a member community strategist, volunteer management consultant, national speaker and trainer for volunteers and staff.

In this episode, we discuss the current state of association volunteer systems, with topics covered including:

• What research tells us about the current landscape of association volunteer programs.
• What are the reoccurring challenges?
• What adjustments to volunteer systems make a difference?
• The demand for shorter-term volunteering.
• What keeps volunteers engaged?
• What kind of information do volunteers really want when it comes to a program’s goals and achievements?
• What draws in and engages the next generation of volunteers?
• Why you should ask volunteers to “get milk on their way home, not go out of their way.”
• Determining when to sunset a volunteer program that's not performing.
• The critical role of the staff liaison.
• Just how important is it to have a volunteer program?

Peggy will be presenting a session at Higher Logic's Super Forum Conference, March 26-28 in Nashville, TN, on "Igniting Engagement: Empowering Members to Lead." Join this interactive session to learn how to shift your perspective and your strategy around volunteering to ignite engagement.

Helpful Links & Resources Mentioned in the Episode:

Article: Why Volunteering Needs a Transformation

Article: Create Better Volunteer Experiences Through Feedback

Report: A Holistic Approach to Association Volunteer Management

Executive Summary: A Holistic Approach to Association Volunteer Management

Report: Mutually Beneficial Volunteerism

Guide: The Decision to Volunteer - Why People Give Their Time and How You Can Engage Them

Simplified Engagement Loop from MCI's Engagement Index

Report: Chapter Performance and Benchmarking Report

On this episode of Higher Logic Thrive’s The Member Engagement Show, our guests are Andrea Wieters, Director of Strategic and Future Focused Research for the ASAE Research Foundation, and Jennifer McNelly, CEO of the American Society of Safety Professionals. Both work on ASAE ForesightWorks, a program focused on major trend analysis and forecasting to equip associations and their volunteer leaders for effective environmental scanning and planning for change. Andrea, Jennifer, and Kelly discuss ForesightWorks' continuous strategic intelligence on drivers of change in the association industry and practical applications for the insights provided by this program. Topics covered include:

• What the ASAE Research Foundation and ForesightWorks does - including their list of "Drivers of Change".
• The newest Drivers of Change: AI, emerging Gen Z, and the talent drought.
• The ways the world of work is changing and why every association leader needs to understand it.
• The importance of a systems-based approach.
• Six key thematic areas of change explored in the ForesightWorks list of Drivers of Change.
• Advice for association leaders on how to apply drivers of change to strategy.

Some Helpful Links

ASAE ForesightWorks

Why Associations Need Foresight

The CDC’s Future of Work

Higher Logic Thrive

On this special episode of The Member Engagement Show, we give you exclusive listener access to a recent webinar: “What Do Members Want? Tips and Trends from Higher Logic’s 2024 Association Member Experience Report.” Presenters Higher Logic Content Marketing Manager Kelly Whelan, Director of Product Marketing Sarah Spinosa, and Strategic Advisor Bekah Weidner reveal insights gleaned from the study and add their thoughts on how you can use these insights and best practices to improve your member engagement. Topics covered include:

• Why members leave their associations.
• How often do members interact with their association?
• What are the top member benefits?
• Member education needs and trends.
• How associations can participate in targeted initiatives members look for.
• Member communication preferences.
• How important is personalization and segmentation to members?

Helpful Links

Watch the Webinar: What Do Members Want? Tips and Trends From the 2024 Association Member Experience Report

2024 Association Member Experience Report

Association Community Benchmark Report

Higher Logic Thrive Learn

Higher Logic Post on Engagement Scoring

Super Forum 2025 Registration

In this episode of The Member Engagement Show, we explore educational trends and best practices for associations, as well as Learning Management Systems (LMS) with two fantastic guests from Blue Sky eLearn: Chief Revenue Officer Mark L. Jones, CAE, and VP Association Solutions Liam O’Malley CAE, PMP. We cover all things related to empowering associations to create powerful learning opportunities for members, including topics such as:

• What a Learning Management System (LMS) is.
• Education as a huge driver for Non-Dues Revenue.
• Education for membership expansion.
• Bringing data management and technologies like AI into association education.
• How to diversify your educational experiences.
• How the right platform can create a coherent and efficient learning ecosystem.
• Why a learning program doesn’t need to be a heavy administrative lift.
• Tips for adopting and launching learning programs and an LMS.
• The biggest gap in most association learning programs.

Higher Logic partnered with Blue Sky eLearn to launch our newest offering, Higher Logic Thrive Learn.

Helpful Links:

Higher Logic Thrive Learn.

Blog post with Blue Sky on AI-powered learning.

The 2024 Association Member Experience Report.

In this episode of The Member Engagement Show, we talk with Angela Costa, TD SYNNEX Marketing Strategist, and Kendrick Johnson, TD SYNNEX Digital Marketing Specialist about how to strategize and set up your community to attract sponsors and generate content and value for members. It’s a great listen for any association interested in monetization and non-dues revenue. Topics covered on this episode include:

• Creating an environment where members, content, and sponsors can come together in mutually beneficial ways.
• Strategizing to drive traffic to your community: "If you build it they won’t necessarily come."
• Ways to monetize your platform.
• How to effectively use gated content.
• The importance of keeping fresh content in your community.
• Sponsorable newsletters as revenue and traffic drivers.
• Using editorial calendars to avoid “random acts of marketing.”
• Leveraging sponsors for thought-leadership content that helps your community users.
• The importance of having a dialogue and sharing tips with your sponsors.
• Being patient and testing things out.

TD SYNNEX is a leader in IT solutions orchestration and global technology distribution. They connect the technology ecosystem and manage relationships with major technology partners for organizations.

Helpful Links:

Higher Logic's Community Content Calendar Template

Higher Logic's Community Manager Toolkit

The TD Synnex Level Up Community