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Innovation (2)

An illustrative vector drawing of a vintage steam train with an orange-red locomotive and a very long line of alternating colored (yellow, green, pink) freight cars. The train travels along a single, winding track that curves up and over large, rolling, sage-green hills, receding into the distance against a plain, light beige sky. Greenish-gray steam billows from the locomotive's stack.

4 min read

The Little Models That Could: How AI Got 200x Cheaper in Three Years

Mallory Mejias: Apr 20, 2026, 6:30:00 AM

In early 2023, if you wanted access to the smartest AI available, you paid about $30 per million tokens to use GPT-4. It was expensive, it lived in...

AI Models Innovation Model compression

A minimalist illustration of an empty 24/7 hotel front desk at night, with brochures, a bell, a laptop, a lamp, and a star-filled window.

7 min read

Your Members' Expectations Are Being Set by Amazon, Not Your Peers

Mallory Mejias: Mar 25, 2026, 6:30:00 AM

Your members don't compare your website to other association websites. They compare it to every other digital experience they have in a day —...

Member Services Innovation Experimentation

A table-top comparison of two conceptual sketches for an AI audio agent. On the left, a crumpled napkin shows a rough hand-drawn flowchart. On the right, a neat engineering blueprint transforms the sketch into a technical, labeled architectural diagram of deep neural networks and NLP engines.

6 min read

From Hackathon to Live Product in 60 Days: A Playbook for Association AI Experiments

Mallory Mejias: Mar 24, 2026, 6:30:00 AM

In late January, a group of 14 people gathered at a beach house in Florida for six days. They worked 16 to 18 hour days, mostly self-directed, with...

AI Agents Member Services Innovation AI Audio

Flat illustration of a small charcoal robot with sage accents sitting at a sage-green desk on its first day, reviewing documents labeled “How We Work” beside a key and notebook, with a simple org chart pinned on a cork board behind it.

5 min read

Your Next Team Member Might Not Be Human: What Associations Need to Know About AI Agents

Mallory Mejias: Mar 10, 2026, 12:10:29 PM

For a long time, the conversation around AI in associations has been about tools — things you ask, things that respond, things that complete a task...

AI Agents Innovation

Geometric globe in sage and teal with missing panels revealing a charcoal wireframe, while peach, gold, and cream tiles float nearby as if assembling against a dark background.

4 min read

World Models Are Here — What Association Leaders Need to Know

Mallory Mejias: Feb 25, 2026, 6:30:00 AM

If you've been following AI developments, you've probably seen impressive image generators and video tools. You type a prompt, you get a visual....

Artificial Intelligence Innovation google World Models

Oversized peach and salmon price tag dissolving into small pixel fragments from the bottom, set against a dark charcoal background with subtle sage and teal circuit board lines.

3 min read

The Shrinking Cost of AI (and Why Your Association Strategy Should Account for It)

Mallory Mejias: Feb 24, 2026, 12:22:02 PM

Most association leaders making AI decisions right now are doing something that feels responsible but is actually a strategic mistake: they're...

Innovation Inference Microsoft

Chalk-style classroom illustration with a smiling map of Africa as the teacher pointing to a chalkboard that reads “Machine Learning,” while four small figures sit in mismatched chairs facing the board, with crumpled paper on the floor against a dark background.

4 min read

What the World's Largest Machine Learning Community Can Teach Associations About Connection

Mallory Mejias: Feb 19, 2026, 6:30:00 AM

Most associations were built on a promise that still holds: bring the right people together and good things happen. That idea launched thousands of...

Innovation AI Education