Sidecar Blog

Ready to take the first step toward AI education? 

A single beam of sunlight illuminates an open ledger in a dusty archive room.

5 min read

The Spirit Airlines Lesson: How Associations Can Monetize Hidden Data

When a company goes bankrupt, its physical assets are typically the first things auctioned off to pay creditors. When budget carrier Spirit Airlines shut down operations in May under the weight of billions in debt, the expected items went on the...

Read More
A luthier adjusting the tuning peg on a wooden cello in a workshop.

5 min read

Beyond the Stochastic Parrot: Tuning AI for Original Association Research

A persistent critique of artificial intelligence is that the technology is nothing more than a sophisticated autocomplete. Critics often refer to...

Read More
A magnifying glass focused on a ledger while a red bird sits unnoticed on the handle

5 min read

The Gorilla in the Room: How AI Cures the Association Multitasking Myth

There is a famous psychology experiment involving a video of a basketball court. Viewers are asked to watch the players moving around and count the...

Read More
Episode 149 of the Sidecar Sync Podcast cover art featuring Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias

38 min read

Spirit Airlines' Data Sale, the Model Too Powerful to Ship, & the Landlords of AI | [Sidecar Sync Episode 149]

Summary: When Spirit Airlines went bankrupt, its planes and gates weren't the only assets on the auction block — Google paid $10 million for its...

Read More
Charcoal keyhole framing a colorful winding landscape, with the scene continuing faintly beyond it.

6 min read

You Are Using AI Through a Keyhole

There is a conversation that repeats itself constantly with association staff who use AI every day. They describe themselves as heavy users, and by...

Read More
Three colorful engine blocks connect by dotted lines to the same vehicle chassis slot.

4 min read

You Can't Predict Who Leads AI in Three Months. Build Accordingly.

Consider where things stood in the middle of 2024. If your association was trying to do something serious with AI, the decision was close to...

Read More
Two smooth curves cross on a cream background: a coral curve rises quickly and levels off, while a teal curve climbs steadily and finishes higher.

4 min read

AI Is Overhyped and Underhyped. The Difference Is Timing.

Ask ten association leaders what they make of AI right now and you'll get two answers that seem impossible to reconcile.

Read More
Episode 148 of the Sidecar Sync Podcast cover art featuring Amith Nagarajan and Mallory Mejias

28 min read

Fundamentals of AI, Part 1 | [Sidecar Sync Episode 148]

Summary: AI may feel like it arrived overnight, but its foundations have been decades in the making. In part one of a refreshed Foundations of AI...

Read More
A close-up of a restorer's hand using a swab to clean a painting, revealing original details.

6 min read

AI Watermarking: Why It Won't Solve Your Content Vetting Problems

The pressure on association leaders to maintain the integrity of their content has never been higher. Whether you are managing a peer-reviewed...

Read More