What makes an association irreplaceable — and what's putting real pressure on the model right now? In this episode of Built to Connect, Jackson meets with David Gammel, Executive Director of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, two-time association CEO, and former Chief Practice Officer at McKinley Advisors, to explore what decades of moving between the consulting world and the corner office actually teaches you about leading associations through change.

David argues that the association model's slowness and consensus-driven governance aren't weaknesses — they're what makes it last. He shares how AAPM is approaching AI with a membership that's been doing machine learning research for decades, why creator-led communities are more opportunity than threat, and why the most important thing a leader can do right now is stay optimistically grounded.

Topics covered:

• Consulting vs. staff leadership: what the back-and-forth really teaches you
• Why associations are slow — and why that's not entirely a liability
• AI adoption inside a scientifically forward membership
• Creator-led communities: competition, acquisition, or opportunity?
• The annual meeting model and the case for year-round engagement
• Manufactured serendipity: using data to connect members more meaningfully
• Servant leadership and the legacy of developing other leaders

What does it take to lead a complex scientific association through rapid change and actually come out ahead? In this episode of Built to Connect, Jackson speaks with Christie Tarantino-Dean, CEO of the Institute of Food Technologists and former head of Association Forum, to explore what great association leadership looks like when the stakes are high and the pace of change is relentless.

Christie shares how decades of watching associations grow — and struggle — shaped the board culture she built at IFT, why the best innovation often starts with a simple concierge service, and how a Jobs-To-Be-Done research framework led to the launch of CoDeveloper, IFT's own AI-powered tool for food science product developers.

And she leaves us with a reminder that every association leader building something new needs to hear: "You need the operational thinkers, but you also need some that can dream of what is possible."

Topics covered:

• From Association Forum to IFT: the lessons that stuck
• Board governance: what to model and how to build credibility fast
• IFT's board onboarding process: setting members up from day one
• From member research to AI product: the origin story of CoDeveloper
• Planting seeds: how IFT connects young people to a career that matters
• Beyond the annual meeting: what member engagement can actually look like

What if the association business model is fundamentally broken — and has been for decades? In this episode of Built to Connect, Jackson sits down with Dr. James Young, founder of Product Community and two-time chief learning officer, to challenge the way associations think about revenue, member engagement, and the value they deliver to their communities.

James introduces concepts like the "forever member journey," compound value, and micro-community design as a path toward a more engaged, financially resilient model — one where members don't just consume value, but actively create it.

James's one piece of advice for every association leader: stop putting all your eggs in one basket, and start co-creating longitudinal journeys with your members instead of just serving them.

Topics covered:

• Why the association business model is broken
• Community as a differentiated value proposition
• The "forever member journey" & serving the next generation of members
• Good revenue vs. bad revenue
• Small experiments, cohorts & compound value
• Real-world models: New Century College & impact networks
• What associations should stop doing and what comes next