Mallory Mejias

Mallory Mejias is passionate about creating opportunities for association professionals to learn, grow, and better serve their members using artificial intelligence. She enjoys blending creativity and innovation to produce fresh, meaningful content for the association space. Mallory co-hosts and produces the Sidecar Sync podcast, where she delves into the latest trends in AI and technology, translating them into actionable insights.

A frustrated man tries to hammer a nail with a Swiss Army knife, multiple tools extended, while a real hammer sits unused in the background.

5 min read

Start With Reality: Why Deployment-First Beats Technology-First

Your association just spent six months building a new member portal. The features are impressive. The interface is clean. Leadership loves the demo. Three months after launch, usage sits at 11%. Sound familiar? The problem isn't your technology. The...

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Blueprint-style orchestra of AI agents led by an association professional conductor, labeled like schematics.

7 min read

Episode 100 to 200: Why Agents Will Define the Next Era of Association AI

In Episode 100 of the Sidecar Sync, we made several predictions about what's coming. One stood out: by Episode 200, hundreds of associations will...

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Sidecar Sync Episode 101 featuring Mallory Mejias and Shekar Sivasubramanian

35 min read

Scaling AI for Social Good with Wadhwani AI | [Sidecar Sync Episode 101]

Summary: In this special interview edition of the Sidecar Sync, Mallory Mejias sits down with Shekar Sivasubramanian, Head of the Wadhwani Institute...

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Retro 1960s-style illustration of a pit crew of men and women in business attire rapidly replacing “Manual Processes” with “AI Tools” on a sleek race car, under a stopwatch reading “6 Months,” while a rusty old car labeled “Traditional Tech Adoption” lags behind after “3 Years.”

4 min read

From Spectators to Participants: The Surprising Speed of Association AI Adoption

Looking back at the Sidecar Sync podcast journey from Episode 1 (October 2023) to Episode 100 (September 2025), what has surprised the Sidecar team...

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A person looks sadly at their reflection in a mirror. Their real name tag says “Hi I’m Not Technical,” while the reflection smiles confidently with a tag reading “Hi I’m More Capable Than I Think,” surrounded by floating code symbols and tool icons.

5 min read

The Death of "I'm Not Technical" - How AI is Demolishing Your Biggest Excuse

In honor of 100 episodes of the Sidecar Sync, I wanted to analyze all our episodes with Claude. Simple enough goal, except our transcripts were...

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A comic-style illustration of a scholar in robes carrying heavy books and documents, moving slowly on a racetrack, while a smiling skateboarder zooms past with a selfie stick, scattering sticky notes to cheering professionals.

7 min read

Why Your Best Content Might Not Be Enough

Your association produces the industry's gold standard content. Peer-reviewed research. Expert-validated best practices. Comprehensive certification...

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Sidecar Sync Episode 99 featuring Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias

37 min read

100 Episodes Later: A Look Back at What We’ve Learned—and What’s Coming | [Sidecar Sync Episode 100]

Summary: In this special 100th episode of Sidecar Sync, co-hosts Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias take a celebratory stroll down memory lane,...

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Bird’s-eye view of a conference room split in half: left side shows rows of professionals seated in theater-style, isolated and focused on laptops or phones; right side shows small round tables with groups leaning in, talking, gesturing, and collaborating.

4 min read

The Cohort Solution: Why Small Groups Drive Big Engagement

After formal education ends, professionals lose their built-in peer groups. No more classmates, no more study partners, no more cohorts. Just...

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Retro Pac-Man style maze of a conference center with blue ghost association vs yellow Pac-Man influencer, member icons as dots, power-ups, and scores 300K vs 60K.

4 min read

When Influencers Become Your Competition

A 75-year-old association with 300,000 members. A six-year-old startup that's already reached one-fifth of that scale. One has decades of...

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