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

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

On this episode of The Association Podcast, we welcome Jamie Atchison, MSMIT, Senior Director of Innovation and Strategy at the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH). Jamie shares her unique journey from public health programming into technology leadership, highlighting how she bridges business needs and digital innovation within her organization.

We explore ASPPH’s groundbreaking AI chatbot, built in just eight weeks, and the intentional, human-centered approach behind it. Jamie dives into how associations can responsibly adopt AI, the importance of curated and trusted content, and how vertical AI models can combat misinformation in complex fields like public health.

The conversation also covers leadership philosophy, including servant leadership, psychological safety, and building high-performing “one-pizza teams” that can move quickly without losing alignment. Jamie offers a forward-looking perspective on how AI and agentic AI will reshape associations, emphasizing augmentation over replacement and the need for strong critical thinking in an AI-driven world.

00:00 Welcome and Introduction

00:01 Rapid Fire Questions

02:00 Jamie’s Career Journey and Path into Technology

05:00 Transition from Program Work to Digital Innovation Leadership

07:00 Building High-Performing “One-Pizza Teams”

09:00 Inside the AI Chatbot Project (8-Week Build)

12:00 Team Structure, AWS Partnership, and Knowledge Transfer

13:00 From Problem to Solution: Why a Chatbot?

14:30 Responsible and Ethical AI in Public Health

17:00 Guardrails, Curated Content, and Vertical AI Models

18:00 Data Considerations and Content Strategy

20:00 Member Feedback and Adoption of AI Tools

21:30 Human-Centered Design vs. Over-Reliance on AI

23:00 Broader AI Strategy and Task Force Initiatives

26:00 Building a Digital Innovation Team in Associations

29:00 Bridging Business Strategy and Technology Execution

32:00 Future Trends: AI, Agentic AI, and Workforce Impact

36:00 Servant Leadership and Building Trust in Teams

39:00 Culture, Collaboration, and Crisis Response in Tech Teams

40:00 AWTC Recognition and Team Success

42:00 Aligning Personal Values with Organizational Mission

44:00 Where to Learn More About ASPPH’s AI Initiatives