Delivering warm, captivating, impactful virtual and in-person programs for staff and volunteer leaders of professional communities, associations, societies, and conferences. 

Amanda pulls attendees out of their busy world into an immersive space where they can play with novel member engagement strategies.

Every presentation is a one-part campfire story, one-part demonstration, and one-part co-creation that taps into the best of our collective intelligence.

Participants leave with hundreds of ideas tailored to their unique audience. 

Amanda delivers keynotes, breakout sessions, and workshops and facilitates retreats for staff, volunteer, and board teams. 

“MASTER CLASS in engagement. DANG!”

“Your webinar flipped ALL my membership thinking upside down!”

“When I booked Amanda for our speaker, I knew in my heart that she would be amazing – and boy, did she go beyond my expectations! Amanda took the time to understand our organization and incorporated that knowledge into the presentation in a way that was very relatable for all our participants. Our participants, who talk to members daily, now see how vital their role is in fostering member engagement. I will scream it from the rooftops to anyone and everyone – work with Amanda – she knows her stuff!”

Kim Knapp
Membership Operations Manager
Illinois Farm Bureau

“Incredibly inspiring!”

Amanda’s Super Popular
Keynote

Elevating Engagement

Uncommon Strategies for Creating a Thriving Member Community

We worry that new members won’t try their benefits. Then we lose sleep when they don’t participate. Even our most loyal members hesitate to volunteer, which is agonizing. If it feels like member engagement is in shorter supply than ever before, you are right!

Members’ needs are changing—they require more than value to engage with your association; they also want memorable, positive experiences. It is time for every association leader to take on the role of CEO. Chief Experience Officer that is! 

Join us as author Amanda Lea Kaiser walks you through how engagement builds from our members’ points of view. No matter the size or type of your association, and no matter your current role, see how you, too, can distinguish and propel your organization. Using uncommon strategies from her book Elevating Engagement, learn how to create an energized and highly motivated membership. 

By the end of the keynote, you’ll have the mindset of a Chief Experience Officer. Are you ready to go, CEO?

Audience members share their experiences…

“Our attendees shared so many positive comments about Amanda’s keynote. "Amanda Lea Kaiser's session was fantastic!” was just one of many. Not only did our attendees like Amanda, but working with her was easy for us, too. With her preparation before the conference, we could tell that everything would work seamlessly, which was a massive lift from our staff’s shoulders. I liked that she got everyone participating because that helped set a great vibe for the rest of the conference.” 

Adrian Hochstadt, JD, CAE
Chief Executive Officer
Veterinary Medical Association Executives

Amanda’s Super Popular
Workshops

“Engaging and fun…relevant and scalable ideas.”

Do you worry that some new members join and never use their benefits? According to the New Member Engagement Study, nearly three-quarters of your colleagues worry about this trend and the high number of new members who don’t renew. The good news is that we can take a few crucial steps to engage this sometimes tricky segment.

Join Amanda Lea Kaiser, author, and member engagement strategist, as we explore new members' go and no/go decisions at this stage of the member journey. You will learn about solutions you can easily add to what you already do, be surprised by the data, and experience fun new ideas. You’ll leave this 1-hour program with simple processes you can implement or action with your staff team. Together, let’s elevate new member engagement!

Elevating New Member Engagement

“Amanda Lea Kaiser's session was fantastic!”

Got crickets in your event or online community? Do the usual suspects come to networking events with few new faces? How about mailbox members? They renew, might even open newsletters, and occasionally log into the website. However, these members seem immune to the many opportunities to participate, attend, contribute, or volunteer. 

Likely, these members feel the urge to participate, but participating can feel scary. Amanda Lea Kaiser discovered in her research that participation is the gateway to more meaningful forms of engagement, and she has identified many ways to prime members to participate.

During this session, you'll demo tested strategies that get members to participate—in events, communities, social media, and more. By the end of the presentation, you’ll know the principles that get people to leave their fear behind and jump right in. It is time to prime your members to participate!

Elevating Participant Engagement

“Amanda gave us so many ways to engage.”

Elevating Online Community Engagement

Got lurkers? A lot of lurkers? Does it feel like there are too many lurkers, not enough participation, and few substantive conversations in your online community? Together, we will figure out how to raise the energy in your community so your members can get the conversation started—many conversations started.

Join us and learn a few simple but powerful strategic processes you can implement immediately or take action with your staff team. You’ll start to map out the member culture that benefits your unique community. And you leave with a handful of ways to prime members to participate. Turn your lurkers into active, engaged, energetic participants!

“Loved the content shared by Amanda Lea Kaiser!!!”

Elevating Prospective Volunteer Engagement

Do you sometimes feel like you are taking on more than your fair share of the association leadership duties? Wouldn’t it be great if other members stepped up? In 477 conversations with members from various associations, Amanda Lea Kaiser found a complicated tangle of reasons more members don’t become volunteer leaders. Still, the energy of many active volunteers is the secret sauce for the most successful professional communities. 

We will explore this engagement stage and learn how to welcome potential leaders and extinguish burnout for long-time leaders. Leave with many ideas to encourage more collaborators, contributors, and leaders. Get a sneak peek of crucial learnings from Amanda’s new book, Elevating Engagement: Uncommon Strategies for Creating Thriving Member Communities.

“Yesterday’s 2-hour workshop on member engagement for our council’s volunteer leaders was terrific! Your presentation is the best virtual session I have attended. I am amazed that the group created, under your guidance, a member engagement handbook, which gives them something for “show and tell” when they go back to their councils. Thank you, Amanda!Our attendees shared so many positive comments about Amanda’s keynote. "Amanda Lea Kaiser's session was fantastic!” was just one of many. Not only did our attendees like Amanda, but working with her was easy for us, too. With her preparation before the conference, we could tell that everything would work seamlessly, which was a massive lift from our staff’s shoulders. I liked that she got everyone participating because that helped set a great vibe for the rest of the conference.” 

Michael Kenyon
President & CEO
National Association of Charitable Gift Planners

Now booking 2025

“Amanda engaged our crowd of 140+ leaders from start to finish. She kept everyone involved and constantly kept track of audience responses to ensure concepts connected with participants. Amanda was a joy to work with, and her message of engagement is essential to remaining relevant in a constantly changing marketplace.”

Larry Wade, Sr., M.Div., SNS
President
School Nutrition Association of Virginia

Amanda Lea Kaiser, MBA

Amanda Lea Kaiser is a member engagement strategist and author of Elevating Engagement: Uncommon Strategies for Creating a Thriving Member Community. She has been studying engagement for over 25 years—first, consumer engagement while managing the beloved Crayola brand and now member engagement for associations and professional communities. As a researcher, author, and co-creator of the New Member Engagement Study and the Virtual Networking Incubator, she is at the forefront of exploring how member and attendee engagement is rapidly changing.

Amanda has presented at 167 events and counting!

Resources for Meeting Pros

“I’ve attended a handful of Amanda’s collaborative virtual events, and she did a great job of creating space for attendees to learn, network, and get to deeper realizations. Virtual events like these require the right balance of tech and facilitation. Amanda did an outstanding job striking that balance.”

Allen Lloyd
Executive Director
Montana Society of CPAs