The most important meal of the day wouldn't be the same without you! Join your fellow RevUP friends and colleagues for the first cup of joe and Annapolis' favorite breakfast treats. Registration opens at 8 a.m.

Location: Atrium/Exhibit Space

Breakfast of Champions is sponsored by Association Revenue Solutions.

Speaker: Sean Soth, Society for Clinical Research Sites and PAR Leadership Advisory Board Chair

Get ready to Take Care of Business! PAR Chair Sean Soth will highlight the latest trends and opportunities shaping association success. Get motivated to connect, innovate, and lead your organization toward stronger revenue and lasting impact.

Location: Atrium/Exhibit Space

Lead Like It Pays: Change Leadership is Taking Care of Business

Speaker: Rhonda Payne, CAE

Revenue doesn’t rise on ideas and strategy alone. It rises—or stalls—on how well your organization adapts to, anticipates, and accelerates change. Launching new offerings. Entering new markets. Optimizing portfolios. Increasing margins. Shifting behaviors. Every one of these efforts depends on your ability to lead change that actually sticks. If you’re responsible for growth, programs, development, or strategy, you’re in the business of change leadership—whether you like it or not.

So, let’s break down why more than half of association change initiatives fail—and what most growth leaders miss. We’ll pregame with a quick 15-minute self-assessment taken in advance to discover your personal change leader style before we even get started. Then together, we’ll unpack how to leverage that style (and when not to) to lead smarter, more targeted change efforts that are more likely to succeed. You’ll also learn how to spot and activate complementary styles within your team, across departments, and with volunteer leaders—so you’re not pushing uphill alone.

Outcomes:

• Find your direction. Discover your personal change leader style and how it shapes the way you lead innovation, influence stakeholders, and champion new initiatives.
• Chart smarter paths. Learn how to apply your style to the right kind of change—at the right time—for greater adoption and business results.
• Build momentum. Lead by activating a diverse network of change leaders across your organization who can help you move farther, faster.

Connect with colleagues and spend some time getting to know our RevUP PARtners in the Atrium.

Location: Atrium/Exhibit Space

Stay tuned for exciting announcements about our keynote speakers! We’re bringing in visionary leaders who will inspire and equip you to take your association’s business to the next level. Don’t miss the powerful insights and energy they’ll bring to RevUP 2025.

We like to connect a bunch at lunch. Grab a plate and check-in with other RevUP peers, exhibiting business PARtners and speakers. What have you learned and what will you explore during breakouts this afternoon?

Location: Atrium/Exhibit Space

LEAD

Selling a Big Idea: How to Pitch (and Win) Bigger Dollar Sponsorship and Ad Campaigns

Speaker:
Krystle Kopacz, CEO, Revmade

How can associations turn sponsorship scraps into 6-figure campaigns? It’s the art of selling a big idea, something creative and media agencies have long perfected and profited from. In this presentation, we’ll break down the 3 essential steps to turn your organization into a campaign powerhouse: Nailing the concept, pitching like a pro and being relentless about following up. You'll discover the secrets agencies use to pitch deals that feel unresistable and walk away with an understanding of the role sales and marketing play at each stage of the sales cycle.

LEARN

Combining Forces: Leveraging Relationships to Design Courses That Sell

Speakers:
David Sensenig, Sr Instructional Designer, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Ana Leirner, Sr. Director, Professional Learning and Education Products, Sustainable Forestry Initiative

Too often, educational products are handed from team to team like a baton—someone comes up with an idea for a course, the Education team creates it, Marketing crafts a message, and Sales sees if it sells. But what if you had customers lined up for your products before you created them? By leveraging the relationship your sales team has with organizational clients, you can design educational courses that you know will meet the needs of the institutions you’ll sell to, because they were part of the design process! Using training courses for certificate programs as a case study, we’ll explore how to test ideas with real clients, gather meaningful feedback, and develop courses that meet practical training needs and business goals. Attendees will leave with tools for conducting front-end analysis, managing stakeholder relationships, and crafting courses that resonate with institutional clients.

EARN

AI-Powered Sponsorship Sales: Driving Revenue Through Intelligent Automation

Speaker:
Amy Michalski, Chief Business Development Officer, Association of Intelligent Information Management (AIIM)

Learn the 5-step process that Amy Michalski of the Association of Intelligent Information Management uses to boost sponsorship revenue while cutting admin time in half. This practical session walks through Michalski's daily process—finding ideal sponsors, crafting personalized outreach, capturing meeting insights, and creating proposals in minutes. Real examples and prompts will show you how to apply AI to different sponsorship types while keeping relationship-building front and center. Walk away with a ready-to-use framework—no prior AI experience needed!

LEAD

From AI to Data to Decisions: 2025 Sponsor and Exhibitor Benchmark Report

Speaker:
Joe Colangelo, CEO, Bear Analytics

What do sponsors and exhibitors really want? Using AI tools, Bear Analytics has evaluated over 50,000+ sponsor and exhibitor purchases to understand the benchmarks that define exhibitor and sponsor success. This session will dive into Bear Analytics' 2025 Exhibitor and Sponsor Benchmark Report and will unpack the metrics that matter, reveal industry trends, and provide actionable insights to elevate your event strategies. Whether you're looking to enhance sponsor satisfaction or boost exhibitor engagement, this session offers the tools and knowledge on how to leverage AI to transform data into impactful outcomes.

LEARN

Who Are We? Why Should They Care? - the Importance of Brand Messaging & Positioning

Speaker:
Ron Zywicki, President and Partner, David James Group

Before launching any membership, product, or event marketing campaign to drive revenue, it’s critical to ask: Who are we? What makes us valuable? And why should our audience care? In this session, we’ll walk through a strategic approach to answering those questions through discovery, messaging development, and brand positioning. You’ll learn how to align internal insights with external needs to create clearer, more compelling marketing communications. We’ll share real-world case studies from associations—including a higher-ed membership group and a global standards organization—to show how this strategy led to sharper messaging and more focused outreach. Attendees will leave with practical ideas and tools they can use to clarify their own organizational value and connect with the right audiences.

EARN

Not All Corporate Partners are Created Equally: How to tell the difference between transactional relationships and partnerships, and why you need both!

Speakers:
Kim Ford, Senior Manager of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO)
LaTosha McNeal, Senior Director Business Development, National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO)

Associations offer a powerful platform for corporate partners to connect with their target audiences by sharing expertise and building credibility. While some partners seek deep, year-round engagement aligned with the association’s brand, others prefer one-time, transactional opportunities. In this session, learn how NACUBO successfully nurtures both types of partnerships—creating long-term value for business partners while driving meaningful revenue for the association. You’ll walk away with strategies for tailoring engagement opportunities to meet partner needs without compromising your mission or member experience.

Get your afternoon sugar fix with RevUP PARtners in the Expo Hall.

Location: Atrium/Exhibit Space

LEAD

Boardroom to Bottom Line: Building Strategic Board Partnerships That Drive Revenue

Speakers:
Tara Puckey, Executive Director, Radio Television Digital News Association
Lindsay Currie, Executive Officer, Council on Undergraduate Research

Your board can be your greatest strategic asset—or your biggest barrier to revenue growth. This session will equip association executives with the tools to turn governance into a growth engine. Through real-world examples, practical frameworks, and interactive discussion, we’ll explore how to align board vision with revenue strategies, create a revenue-minded culture at the top, and navigate board dynamics during times of change. Whether you’re launching new programs, shifting business models, or strengthening existing streams, this session will help you engage your board as proactive partners in your organization’s financial future.

LEARN

Grow Sponsorship Revenue and Avoid the Ick From Next-Gen Members

Speakers:
Alexis Redmond, Senior Director, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Pauline Roa, Associate Director Sponsorships, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Traditional sponsorship models often feel inauthentic to next-generation members who value transparency and genuine connections over overt commercialization. This session explores innovative approaches to sponsorship that prioritize trust-building and mutual value creation. Learn how to develop partnerships that seamlessly integrate with member experiences while delivering measurable results for sponsors. We'll cover strategies for transparent communication about commercial relationships, creative integration methods that enhance rather than interrupt member engagement, and frameworks for ensuring sponsor alignment with member values. Discover how to position your association as a trusted curator of valuable partnerships rather than a pusher of unwanted advertisements. Through practical examples and actionable frameworks, you'll leave equipped to build sponsorship programs that increase revenue while actually strengthening member trust and satisfaction.

EARN

Proving Your Value as a BD Professional: Why Profit Beats Revenue

Speaker:
Dr. Michael Tatonetti, Founder, Pricing for Associations

Business development professionals are often judged by top-line metrics—deals closed, clients won, revenue generated. But in today’s margin-conscious environment, it’s not enough to grow revenue; BD leaders must demonstrate their role in creating value and delivering profit. This session explores the shift from revenue-focused strategies to a value-based pricing approach that empowers BD professionals to align with organizational profitability goals. Attendees will walk away with actionable frameworks, client communication techniques, and pricing insights that reframe BD from a cost center to a strategic growth engine.

Association partnership takes center stage as Pierre Award finalists share their stories, highlighting the value of mission-driven business growth. Honoring the life and association career of Christine Pierre, this special program will embrace the connection power of associations and the markets they serve! 

To find more information and submit a nomination, visit the Pierre Award page here.

Pierre Award 2025 is sponsored by EMC Outdoor.

Cheers! Celebrate the RevUP Summit while doing good. Enjoy a selection of beers and wine from local breweries and wineries while teaming up with your PAR colleagues in a project for community good.

Location: Atrium/Exhibit Space