Top 5 Association Podcasts of The Week! – 06/28/2024

Welcome to your weekly digest of the top 5 association podcasts every association professional should listen to IMMEDIATELY.

Sponsored by Big Red M

1) D2L’s Learning by Association – How Supporting Staff Creates Better Member Experiences (with Tracy Folkes Hanson of CSAE)

How have I NOT listened to this podcast until just now? Host Bill Sheehan has a fantastic voice for interviewing people, and his genuine interest in his guests is obvious…which should be the norm for every podcaster, but I’m here to tell you that it is not.

In this episode of D2L’s Learning By Association, Bill talks with Tracy Folkes Hanson of CSAE about associations and how a happy association staff makes for better member experiences. It’s true…we gotta treat our team well and tend to the association’s culture! It really does make a difference – go figure!

**Fun story! I started listening to this podcast because I had the good fortune of talking with Bill this week during the Association Chat Weekly Recap, which is an hour of discussion on Zoom where the Association Chat community members can join me for a talk around a hot topic.

This discussion was so good, Bill and I ended up talking about turning it into a webinar or podcast later, so watch for that soon.

You should join me for a future Weekly Recap Discussion on Thursdays at 3 pm ET. They’re awesome!

2) 6 Degrees of Associations – Building Healthier Futures Through a Strategic Devotion to Community (with Jean C. Accius of CHC: Creating Healthier Communities)

Community is one of my favorite topics to learn about, talk about, and explore, so this discussion was a treat for me, though I think it would benefit everyone to listen to this episode.

Guest Jean Accius of CHC talks about health inequities and the Black Maternal Health Initiative along with importance of community engagement, mental health awareness, and trust.

Quote I enjoyed: Host Lucas McCann mentioned that he sees nonprofits as the “launchpad to reaching the world,” which I found inspiring.

Interesting Note: Lucas always asks his guests some fun questions at the end of the episodes that have nothing to do with the topic of the discussion, and I look forward to hearing how people will answer them every time.

3) Radio Free 501c (with Norman Fortenberry of Great Minds in STEM)

Host Cecilia Sepp is a CONTENT MACHINE!

This discussion goes deep on DEI in STEM being driven by a real statistical NEED in the US beyond an altruistic desire – guest Norman Fortenberry brings it home by saying that we MUST increase diversity in STEM fields because there are simply not enough numbers of individuals currently to fill the talent needs.

This conversation was fascinating to listen to as both Cecilia and her guest shared some interesting tales from their personal experiences as well as some history lessons for all of us – including some background on the establishment of St. Louis, Missouri (Missouri is my home state, so my ears always perk up on all things from the Show Me State!)

4) Better By Association – Nurturing a Strong Staff Culture (with Tiffany McGee of Texas Trial Lawyers Association)

Steven Stout and Katy Markert co-host this show; listening to their banter is a blast. In this episode, they talk about the prep for their Annual Conference (which I’d love to attend again someday…I think it’s been over 10 YEARS since I last attended).

The topic is staff culture, a subject that Steven and Katy are truly passionate about… These two kick off every interview by asking about the guest’s “fall in” story, as in how their guest fell into the association industry.

(I LOVE hearing these types of stories! I hope they keep doing this FOREVER!)

Guest Tiffany McGee is fun to listen to and though this episode runs just over 30 minutes, the time just flies by!

5) Association Chat – New Member Onboarding and Dining with Anthony Bourdain

In this episode of the Association Chat Podcast, I talk about some of the most effective and innovative ways to onboard new members.

This episode is short but mighty, and that’s why I love it! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did creating it.

Don’t forget to check out our upcoming interview with Jeff De Cagna on the role of association boards which will be livestreamed next Tuesday at 2 pm ET if you want to ask Jeff your questions directly [watch it live here] …but I will also be releasing one of these short, weird podcast episodes later in the week, too.

Listen to ALL of this week’s Top Pods on the Association Chat Top Pod Playlist