Fuel up for revenue excellence with a high-energy morning meetup that kicks off the day’s strategy, connection, and inspiration over breakfast at RevUP.

From Stakes to Strength: The Membership Tipping Point

Speaker:
Phil Putnam, Workplace Strategist

Associations are in a high‑risk era as the multigenerational workforce evolves and people’s relationships with associations become more complex. Gen Z membership growth is at a standstill, the future leadership pipeline is cracking as Gen X professionals are laid off in record numbers, and revenue of all types is harder to win.

The same multigenerational shifts that are disrupting membership are also reshaping where nondues revenue will come from next—and the associations that excel are the ones that design for both together. The real questions become: What will people pay for if not dues? And what is the smartest way for suppliers and providers in your market to reach them?

The stakes are higher than ever, but they are solvable if leaders start now. In his RevUP 2026 keynote, “From Stakes to Strength: The Membership Tipping Point,” workforce strategist Phil Putnam will share solutions tailor‑made for association executives to understand and activate today’s multigenerational workforce, address the looming membership tipping point before it breaks their models, and ensure the future of our industry is driven by intention and design—not left to chance.

Recharge while engaging with RevUP PARtners, asking questions, and exploring practical ideas and solutions to strengthen your association’s revenue strategy.

Details coming soon...

Refuel and connect with fellow RevUP attendees over lunch, building new relationships and informal conversations that spark fresh thinking around revenue excellence and association growth.

LEAD: The Invisible Sales Pitch: How AI Is Deciding Your Revenue Conversations Before They Begin

Speaker:
Dr. Charles Smitherman, PhD, JD, MSt, CAE CEO, APRO

Before your sponsorship deck reaches a prospect, before a potential member visits your website — a conversation has already happened. A partner asked AI about your credibility. A prospective member asked whether your credential is worth the dues. The AI answered without your input.

Seventy percent of Google searches end without a click. Fifty-one percent of B2B buyers begin research in an AI chatbot before Google — up from 29% one year ago — and the pre-contact favorite wins 80% of deals. Associations face a vulnerability others do not: paywalled content is invisible to AI, and most have never invested in SEO. GEO requires rethinking that posture.

This session draws on APRO’s GEO initiative as a case study — how CEO direction, marketing, and BD aligned to close an AI narrative gap. Participants complete an AI Visibility Audit, draft a prioritized action plan, and leave with frameworks from Smitherman's recent book: Reclaiming Authority: How Institutions Teach Truth in the Age of AI.

LEARN: Beyond Education Revenue: Learning as a Business Development Engine

Speakers:
Veronica Diaz, PhD, CAE, EDUCAUSE
Gayle Claman, MS, CAE, ASCE
Todd Slater, NIGP
Jeff Cobb, Tagoras

Education is often viewed as one revenue line among many, but it can be the hidden engine that powers membership growth, sponsorship value, product innovation, and business development. This session reframes learning portfolios as strategic revenue platforms that reveal what members need, what partners value, and where associations can create high-value offers and desirable partnerships.

Through three association case studies and a moderated discussion, participants will explore how learning engagement, member data, market signals, and sponsor/partner goals can connect to create valuable and durable revenue opportunities. The session goes beyond “sell more products” and focuses on how a learning business can be an association-wide capability—generating market insight, strengthening relationships, supporting new product development, and creating revenue opportunities across membership, sponsorship, events, and education.

EARN: Your Most Powerful Intent Data Doesn't Come From Digital: Turn a 3-Day Experience Into an Always-On Growth Engine

Speakers:
Donna Page, AVIXA
Megan Martin, Bear Analytics

Most corporate event marketers treat the event week as the finish line. The teams pulling away from the pack treat it as the start line.
Every event generates intent signals richer than anything in your marketing automation platform. Most teams capture none of it. The few that do, capture it accidentally.

This session presents a live case study from AVIXA and their implementation of the Signal-to-Scale System at InfoComm 2026, one of the largest professional AV trade shows in North America. Donna Page, VP of Marketing at AVIXA, and Megan Martin, Head of Partnerships at Bear Analytics, walk through how InfoComm was structured to capture in-person intent signals, classify attendees into behavioral personas that predict buying behavior, and pre-purpose content into a 365-day pipeline engine.

InfoComm runs in June 2026. This session delivers the complete picture: what AVIXA built, how they built it, and what the data showed. Real results. Live implementation. No hypotheticals.

LEAD: The Loyalty Revenue Model: What Commercial Programs Know About Earning — and Keeping — Member Dollars

Speaker:
Laurent Guinand, Founder & CEO, Aramis Advisors, LLC

Starbucks Rewards members spend three times more than non-members. Amazon Prime subscribers are exponentially less likely to cancel than non-subscribers. B2B SaaS companies with loyalty-tier models see 30–40% higher renewal rates. The commercial world cracked the member retention and revenue code decades ago — and most associations haven't borrowed a single page from their playbook.

This session translates the proven mechanics of commercial loyalty programs directly into the context of association revenue. Attendees will learn how tiered membership architecture, personalized lifecycle triggers, ROI visibility dashboards, and co-creation models can be deployed to increase per-member revenue, reduce lapse rates, and build deep organizational loyalty that turns members into champions. Drawing on frameworks from Strategic Loyalty and case studies from trade associations, professional societies, and B2C membership organizations, this is a practical, revenue-focused session with zero theory.

LEARN: Don't Lose Your Shirt: How to Validate ROI on your Deal

Speaker:
Leah Lang, EDUCAUSE

Is your partnership strategy proactive or reactive? Do your partnerships clearly add value or feel like "extra work?" EDUCAUSE has been working hard to move to a proactive partnership strategy that ensures ROI with each relationship. This session will cover where we've been, where we're going, and how we're getting there - including practical proposal templates, criteria for identifying partners, and worksheets for calculating ROI and relationship value.

EARN: Using Recognition, Scarcity, and Deadlines to Close Faster and Increase Revenue

Speakers:
Maria Jaba, Society of Critical Care Medicine
Kenneth Klarich, Society of Critical Care Medicine

This session takes a case-based approach to show how behavioral levers can accelerate revenue in complex sales environments. It begins by framing common challenges—stalled sales cycles, budget hesitancy, and difficulty differentiating value—then introduces the core insight that buying decisions are emotional first and rational second.

The session breaks down three key drivers: Recognition (prestige and external validation), Scarcity (selective access and high standards), and Deadlines (structured timelines that prompt action). Attendees will see how these levers can be intentionally built into both the offer and the sales process to elevate perceived value, create urgency, and engage executive stakeholders.

It concludes with a practical, repeatable playbook and messaging examples that participants can apply immediately to design stronger offers, shorten sales cycles, and improve conversion.

Recharge while engaging with RevUP PARtners, asking questions, and exploring practical ideas and solutions to strengthen your association’s revenue strategy.

LEAD: WTF Just Happened? How to Stop Being Blindsided by Your Competition

Speaker: Tirrah Switzer, CAE, Momentive Software

Someone out there is quietly building the thing that makes your membership value proposition obsolete. The question is whether you'll see it coming.

New associations, niche communities, and scrappy platforms are launching constantly and most association teams have no system for tracking any of it. No CI practice. No monitoring. Just vibes and the occasional Google search. That's not a judgment. It's reality. And this session is here to fix it.

We'll build the case for why CI is no longer optional, then move fast into how to build a practice that works for lean teams with real constraints. No dedicated analyst. No six-figure software. Just a repeatable system for knowing what your competitors are up to before it blindsides you.

Then comes AI because of course it does. It can accelerate your CI workflow. It can also hand you a hallucinated competitor strategy with complete confidence. We'll show you exactly where it earns its place and where it will get you in trouble. 

LEARN: Your Trade Show Exhibitors Need Your Help - Here's Where to Start

Speaker: Robyn Davis, Exhibitors WINH

Trade shows are a major revenue driver for associations, but CEIR says only 30% of trade show organizers offer any education to their exhibitors. Even though it isn't technically your responsibility to help your exhibitors succeed, it is in your best interest... especially if you want to increase your exhibitor satisfaction and retention scores!

So, in this session, you'll discover who needs your help, what types of support you should be providing, and how you can better serve your exhibitors (even if your time, budget, and other resources are limited). If there's a chance you aren't doing everything you can for your exhibitors yet, you aren't alone. Come to this session with an open mind and leave with plenty of ideas to make a meaningful impact (to benefit them and you)!

EARN: From Job Board to Strategic Growth Hub: Reimagining Career Centers as Non-Dues Revenue Powerhouses

Speaker:
Jamila Perry Harley, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, CAE, ASHA
Eli McLean, MBA, ASHA

Many associations face increasing pressure to grow non-dues revenue, yet career centers often remain underleveraged beyond transactional recruitment advertising. Traditional recruitment advertising models are plateauing, and metrics such as job views and applications no longer fully capture the value associations deliver to employer partners.

This session explores how associations can reposition career centers as strategic engagement and revenue engines by activating assets such as job boards, career content, hiring events, and other member touchpoints. Through practical examples and an interactive career moment mapping exercise, attendees will learn how to identify high-value career moments, strengthen employer value propositions, and connect audience engagement to measurable recruitment advertising ROI and non-dues revenue opportunities.

Attendees will leave with actionable ideas to reposition their career center as a strategic organizational asset.

Inside the PAR Revenue Playbook

Speaker: Sean Soth, Professionals for Association Revenue

This session introduces PAR’s new, practical roadmap for modern association revenue, featuring the Book of Knowledge, Competency Model, and Skills Assessment that leaders can use to build and benchmark high-performing revenue teams. You’ll explore the core capabilities that drive revenue excellence, identify gaps and strengths in your own organization, and leave with a concrete framework to plug into your organization's revenue strategy.

Community Excellence: Pay It Forward is a dedicated hour where RevUP attendees come together to support meaningful community initiatives, channeling their time, talent, and resources into hands-on service that creates real impact.

Step into the Revenue Royale Reception, where Casino Royale–inspired fun meets serious revenue strategy as leaders mix, mingle, and swap high-impact ideas for winning big in association business.