Small But Mighty: The Two-Person Team Behind 600 Member Organizations

Michele Morgan runs the iMIS Users Group on a staff she describes as "maybe two whole people." That team serves more than 600 member organizations and somewhere between five and seven thousand individuals. She closes on Emergence, the merged iUG annual conference and ASI iNNOVATIONS event landing in Arlington this November, and on why she thinks showing up in person still matters. Her worry is specific. Not that people stop meeting, but that the ideas they would have picked up off each other never get generated at all. If you lead, work in, or build for a membership organization, this show was built for you. 📄 Show notes, transcript, and links: https://www.burstingsilver.com/podcast/ep18 🎟 Emergence 2026, Arlington, early November: https://emergence.imis.comEarly early bird promo code for new registrants: emergence26eebRegister with your ASI login, not your iUG credentials. ⏱ Chapters0:00 Cold open: there is a lot of power in getting together1:05 Riley introduces Michele Morgan and the iMIS Users Group2:09 What Emergence is, and why two conferences became one4:17 The early 90s at NKBA, and picking iMIS out of three packages5:54 Volunteering her way in, and 23 years leading the organization7:14 The biggest misconception: iUG is not ASI9:27 What independence buys you11:01 How member feedback actually reaches the product12:21 Ellen's story, and the emails that make Michele's week14:11 Amazing volunteers, and the growth from 75 companies to 60015:58 The iUG Community Impact Award18:07 Why compete for the same education dollars19:35 Two whole people, and what to carry out of Arlington20:52 More than just tech: who the conference is actually for24:29 Registering for Emergence, and the early early bird code26:00 The one takeaway: you can't break it, you can only scar it28:11 What iUG membership includes, and how to reach Michele 🔗 About Bursting SilverWe're a fully remote consultancy specializing in modern CRM, iMIS, and AI solutions for membership organizations across North America.Website ▸ https://www.burstingsilver.com/LinkedIn ▸ https://www.linkedin.com/company/bursting-silver 🌐 Follow the showInstagram ▸ https://www.instagram.com/burstingsilver/X / Twitter ▸ https://x.com/burstingsilverFacebook ▸ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579548728138TikTok ▸ https://www.tiktok.com/@burstingsilverYouTube ▸ https://www.youtube.com/@BurstingSilver 🎵 MusicFresh Start by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarudCreative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_fresh-startMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/XN-tBgJ5CVw #TheModernMembershipOrg #Associations #iMIS #MembershipManagement #iMISUsersGroup #Emergence2026 #Volunteers #BurstingSilver