A comprehensive recap of the ASAE Annual panel discussion featuring Mollie Pillman, CAE (ACEP), Rick Burt, CAE (AWHONN), and Kurt Heikkinen (Forj)
The future of membership organizations lies in empowering members to drive their own communities. That was the central message from our recent ASAE panel, where two association leaders shared their transformative journeys from outdated community platforms to thriving, member-led engagement hubs.
The session opened with a critical insight: there's a growing member experience gap between what members expect and what associations deliver. As member expectations continue to rise over time—driven by their increasingly personalized, fast, and seamless digital experiences in other areas of life—many association experiences are falling behind.
Our 2025 State of the Member Experience research reveals the fundamental drivers behind membership decisions. The data shows that members join and stay for two primary reasons:
Yet many associations struggle to deliver effectively on these core value propositions, creating the gap that drives member frustration and disengagement.
The Mission: The American College of Emergency Physicians (38,000+ members) exists to "promote the highest quality of emergency care and advocate for emergency physicians, their patients, and the public"—a mission requiring rapid knowledge sharing and peer connections that match the pace of emergency medicine.
The Challenge: Emergency physicians needed a platform that could move with them across their demanding schedules—whether they were in the emergency department, between shifts, or managing their complex professional lives. Traditional desktop-focused platforms simply didn't fit their mobile-first reality, creating frustration so intense that a young physician on their finance committee questioned why they were paying for software so unusable he refused to engage with it.
The Key Insight: Emergency physicians don't want to discuss immediate clinical decisions in online forums. Instead, they crave connections around shared interests, specialized medical topics, and long-term professional discussions about evolving science and practice—conversations that can happen in brief moments throughout their shifts rather than during extended desktop sessions.
The Mission: The Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (25,000+ members) works to "empower and support nurses caring for women, newborns, and their families through research, education, and advocacy"—a mission demanding 24/7 peer support and knowledge sharing across diverse specialties and work environments.
The Challenge: Nurses working around the clock across multiple time zones, including often-neglected night shift workers, needed an always-on community that was mobile-optimized, easy to navigate, and highly personalized to their interests. Instead, they had what staff described as an unorganized space where content was posted without strategy or clear pathways for meaningful engagement.
The Key Insight: Nurses needed intentional content planning and strategic organization that respected their varied schedules and expertise levels. Rather than a free-for-all posting environment, they required curated spaces where they could quickly find relevant discussions and contribute their specialized knowledge without wading through irrelevant content.
Based on the panel discussion and presentation insights, both organizations implemented a comprehensive approach built on three core strategies:
Rick's Emphasis on Strategic Planning:
Mollie's Focus on Ease of Access:
Shared Wisdom on Getting Started:
Before their transformations, both ACEP and AWHONN were trapped in a cycle that will sound familiar to many association professionals.
The transformation created a fundamentally different dynamic. Instead of staff serving as bottlenecks, intelligent tools now allow valuable discussions to flow freely. This shift freed up staff to focus on what they do best: developing strategic initiatives that serve member needs and advance organizational missions.
The session's audience poll revealed a common organizational dynamic: while most attendees considered themselves change agents, significantly fewer felt their organizations and boards fully embraced change. This highlights a persistent challenge in association leadership.
Key Leadership Insights:
Before selecting any technology, clearly define success metrics and desired outcomes. What does meaningful community engagement look like for your specific membership? How will you measure progress toward your association's core mission?
Both organizations emphasized the critical importance of member input across key segments. Don't assume you know what barriers exist—ask members directly about their engagement challenges and what they've seen work effectively elsewhere.
Recommended Actions:
Create a core implementation team and identify key stakeholder groups who will champion the change. Focus on small, achievable milestones that can demonstrate value quickly and build organizational momentum.
Celebrate wins along the way to maintain team and member enthusiasm throughout the transformation process.
This transformation extends far beyond technology selection. Look for partners who will work with you "in the trenches" to develop comprehensive strategies covering:
The associations positioned for long-term success are those recognizing community not as an optional add-on, but as a core delivery mechanism for their primary value propositions: peer connections and learning opportunities.
The transformation challenge isn't whether to invest in community-led growth—it's how strategically and quickly you can begin the journey while staying true to your mission and member needs.
Remember: Your members are already connecting and learning elsewhere if you're not providing these experiences effectively. The question is whether you'll be part of that conversation or left behind.