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 institutional knowledge, governance structures, and established partnerships. The other? One person with a LinkedIn and podcast following and a subscription model.
This comparison, highlighted by Jackson Boyar (co-founder and CEO of Rallyboard) on a recent episode of the Sidecar Sync podcast, reveals something association leaders need to understand: Individual creators are building association-like businesses, and they're growing fast.
Boyer's observation about SHRM and the Josh Bersin Academy (now Galileo Learn) sparked an important conversation about the future of professional communities. The parallels are impossible to ignore.
The New Competitor
Scroll through LinkedIn, YouTube, or even TikTok, and you'll find them—former executives, consultants, and industry veterans who've turned their expertise into media empires. They're not calling themselves associations, but look at what they're offering:
- Membership subscriptions
- Annual conferences
- Research reports
- Learning platforms
- Professional development certificates
- AI-powered tools for practitioners
- Exclusive member communities
Josh Bersin exemplifies this trend. After retiring from leading Deloitte's HR practice, he launched what looked like a simple content platform. Today, Galileo Learn (his rebranded academy) offers everything an HR professional might want from a traditional association—for one monthly fee.
The Bundle vs. Unbundle Dynamic
Here's an interesting contrast: Many traditional associations unbundle their offerings—separate fees for membership, certification prep, annual conferences. Each represents a distinct value proposition and purchasing decision.
Creator-led organizations often take the opposite approach. One subscription, everything included.
Why does this matter? The bundled approach reduces decision fatigue. HR directors going to their CHRO for budget approval prefer making that request once rather than multiple times throughout the year. The unbundled approach offers flexibility—members can choose exactly what they need without paying for what they don't.
Both models can work. SHRM's unbundled approach serves hundreds of thousands of members with varying needs. Bersin's bundled model has attracted tens of thousands who want simplicity. The key observation isn't that one is better—it's that creators are finding success with different pricing strategies that match their audience's expectations.
Your members' preferences, your value propositions, and your organizational structure all factor into which approach makes sense. What's worth noting is that new entrants aren't bound by traditional models, and they're experimenting freely.
The Distribution Advantage
Here's what keeps association executives up at night: You can have the best educational content, the most rigorous certification program, and the deepest industry expertise, but if someone with a million LinkedIn followers launches "good enough" content, they might still win.
Josh Bersin has over a million LinkedIn followers. Every post, every article, every product announcement reaches that audience instantly. No email open rates to worry about. No competing with inbox clutter. Just direct access to professionals who've chosen to follow his thoughts.
This is the infrastructure versus influence divide. Associations have:
- Employer relationships that recognize their certifications
- Decades of trust and credibility
- Established networks of professionals
- Quality assurance and educational rigor
But influencers have distribution. They have aspirational brands. They have the ability to move quickly, test ideas, and pivot without committee approval.
Imagine if your industry's most prominent influencer launched a competing certification program tomorrow. Even if it were less comprehensive than yours, what if it came with weekly live sessions with the influencer themselves? Which would younger professionals choose—the thorough, validated program or the one with direct access to their industry hero?
Speed as a Competitive Weapon
When Josh Bersin sees an opportunity, he can launch a new program within weeks. When associations see the same opportunity, they form a task force, conduct member surveys, get board approval, and launch—maybe—the following year.
This isn't a criticism of governance. Associations have fiduciary responsibilities, member obligations, and quality standards to maintain. But while they're ensuring every stakeholder has input, creators are already capturing market share.
The creator economy has normalized this founder-led pace. Members now expect rapid response to industry changes, immediate content about emerging trends, and platforms that evolve as quickly as their professional challenges.
Turning Competition into Collaboration
Before you restructure your entire organization or panic about disruption, consider this: These influencers often share your mission. They want to elevate the profession, support practitioners, and drive industry standards—same as you.
Instead of viewing creators as pure threats, what if associations explored partnership opportunities? Here are some possibilities worth considering:
Revenue sharing models: Imagine combining your institutional trust with their distribution reach. They could bring non-members into your ecosystem while you provide the infrastructure they can't build alone.
Co-created programs: Your association has the network; influencers have attention. What if you partnered with your industry's top YouTube creator to develop a young professionals program? They could provide the face and marketing while you provide substance and credibility.
Strategic outsourcing: You don't need to be good at everything. If an influencer has mastered short-form video content that reaches emerging professionals, could you partner with them for distribution while focusing on what associations do best—creating standards, facilitating peer connections, and providing career-long professional development?
Peer group facilitation: Many successful creator-led communities charge premium prices for small-group masterminds. Your association already has the members. What if influencers facilitated these groups for a fee, bringing their expertise and energy to your member base?
As creators continue building their own professional communities, associations that think creatively about collaboration might find opportunities where others only see threats.
The Reality Check
Look across any industry—healthcare, marketing, manufacturing, education—and you'll find creators building paid communities. They might not call themselves associations, but they're competing for the same professional development dollars and member attention.
What matters now is recognizing that professional learning has new delivery channels. Members expect both the institutional trust associations provide and the personal connection influencers cultivate.
Organizations that can deliver both—whether through internal transformation or strategic partnerships—will define the next era of professional development. Those waiting for the trend to pass might find their members have already moved on.
According to Jackson Boyar, the future of professional learning won't be owned. It will be earned. And earning it might mean acknowledging that the creator with a podcast and a Patreon might be your next board advisor, not your competition.
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