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The Association Podcast

The Association Podcast

Written by: Jake Toohey Ben Muscolino Gretchen Steenstra
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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.

© 2026 The Association Podcast
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Episodes
  • Growing SABR: Community, Baseball Research, and Balancing Legacy with Innovation with Scott Bush
    May 14 2026

    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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    40 mins
  • Career Pivots, AWTC Recognition, and Workforce Development in the Age of AI with Lacey Pope
    May 7 2026

    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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    40 mins
  • Building Responsible AI: Innovation, Leadership, and the One-Pizza Team with Jamie Atchison
    Apr 23 2026

    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

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    46 mins
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