Segmentation, Sponsors, and Smart Tech: Inside AAJA’s Formula for Stronger Member Engagement

How do you create events that feel intimate, inclusive, and insightful when your community spans dozens of cultures, chapters, and job types?

This is a challenge that Felicia Chenko, Director of Special Initiatives at the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), knows all too well. With over 2,000 members, AAJA serves a broad ecosystem of journalists and institutions committed to better, more inclusive reporting.

And for AAJA, events are a vital engine for connection, growth, and member support.

From a 1,500-person annual convention to intimate book launches and mid-size brunches, Felicia and her lean team of six create experiences that prioritize connection and meaningful interaction (much needed in these turbulent times).

Let’s dive into how they do it!

Personalized Programming That Resonates With Members

When putting together their annual 1,500-person convention, Felicia and her team start with segmentation in mind. Due to the diversity of their audience they have to think in terms of unique needs, identities, and goals.

With members representing over 50 ethnicities and a wide range of journalism disciplines, AAJA created an open programming suggestion inbox. 

Members use the suggestion box to voice what matters most to them, allowing the planning team to identify topics that matter most.

That information then flows through committees, where it’s reviewed and translated into relevant sessions. As Felicia puts it:

“It's a way for us to allow them to show us what they're interested in, what really matters to them. We work with different committees to kind of digest that. And that's the type of relationship that us as producers of the overall event, we want to have that touch point with our members”

This member-led model ensures programming is rooted in reality, not assumption. It’s one reason AAJA’s events resonate so deeply across chapters.

Events Built for People, Not Personas

While AAJA’s convention draws large crowds, the team never loses sight of the individual experience. Felicia’s mindset is clear: each attendee should feel seen, supported, and able to participate at their comfort level.

From a tech-inclusive approach that blends mobile tools with printed options, to pre-convention Slack channels that spark roommate requests and impromptu yoga meetups, every touchpoint is designed for access and agency.

Inclusivity also means designing for intersectional needs. Whether it's through the event layout, session timing, or communication style, the team ensures attendees — be it first-timers, existing members, freelancers, or job seekers — have what they need to show up fully.

How Guidebook Powers Connection, Clarity, and Confidence

To manage the complexity of a 1,500-attendee convention with minimal stress, AAJA leans on Guidebook’s event management technology.

Here's how it's made a difference:

• Push Notifications: No more last-minute reprints or confusion. Attendees can trust their mobile schedule is always current.
  
• Sponsor visibility: Guidebook lets sponsors connect with attendees in advance, creating ROI that goes beyond the booth.
  
• Gamification: With Guidebook’s leaderboard feature, AAJA is able to transform regular usage of their app into a fun, prize-winning challenge. Overall, this means a boost in early engagement and helping attendees familiarize themselves with the guide before day one.
  
• Data-driven insights. From check-ins to session attendance, AAJA plans to use Guidebook’s tracking features to identify what content resonates most and where to expand capacity.

Sponsorship that Goes Beyond Booth Visits

At AAJA, sponsors aren’t simply vendors; they’re part of the community. And that means their success is measured by more than just booth traffic or logo impressions within the app.

From the moment a sponsor signs on, Felicia’s team is focused on fulfillment. That includes everything from aligning programming with sponsors’ DEI and hiring goals, to ensuring meaningful attendee engagement before, during, and after the event.

With Guidebook’s event app, sponsors aren’t left waiting at a table, hoping for passersby. Instead, they’re equipped with real tools for visibility and connection, such as:

• Access to attendee lists for early outreach
• The ability to run “Sponsor Academy,” where a sponsor is allowed to program one of AAJA’s convention rooms for four to six hours. This helps foster mentoring, recruiting, and dialogue.
• Session check-ins and attendee tracking to understand who showed up and how to follow up

Felicia summed it up best by explaining that they often tell sponsors:

"You have access to any of the attendees right now on Guidebook. You can actually start this conversation now. You don't have to keep it on Guidebook, but it's one way to have a touch point that is associated with a time, a space, and an opportunity."

This level of intentionality gives sponsors more than impressions. It delivers insights, influence, and a true sense of belonging within the AAJA community.

AAJA’s Impact, By the Numbers

• 2,000+ members across 20+ chapters
• 1,500 attendees at their flagship annual convention
• 6 core staff, supported by active board members and volunteers
• 100+ active users on Guidebook’s leaderboard feature
• Dozens of programming ideas sourced directly from members
• Multiple event sizes: from 20-person book launches to 300-person brunches

Real-World Strategies You Can Steal from AAJA

Whether you’re planning a 100-person meetup or a national convention, AAJA’s playbook offers tested strategies for creating meaningful, mission-aligned events:

1. Crowdsource your programming and collaborate

AAJA doesn’t guess what its members want. It invites them to submit session ideas through a structured suggestion process, then works with committees to shape those ideas into high-quality content that reflects real needs and timely conversations.

2. Support different levels of tech literacy

A mobile app is powerful for member engagement — but only if everyone can use it. To cater to the varying levels of tech literacy amongst its members, AAJA complements their event app with printed guides, info desks, and trained volunteers.

3. Make your event app the single source of truth

Guidebook helps AAJA streamline communication across a large, complex event. Real-time notifications, personalized schedules, and centralized information reduce confusion and save staff hours, without overwhelming attendees.

4. Help sponsors go deeper than the booth

With Sponsor Academies and attendee engagement tools like Guidebook’s QR check-ins, AAJA gives sponsors access to the communities they care about and the data to follow up as needed.

5. Gamify onboarding to drive early engagement

Guidebook’s leaderboard feature played an important role in getting attendees to explore the app before the event even started. In fact, according to Felicia:

One thing that we saw a lot of engagement around was the leaderboard from Guidebook...The more that people can [use the app] beforehand and the more that people have proficiency around it, then they're just going to be super users...So, we do gamify that experience.

Delight And Engage Members With An Association App

If you’re ready to simplify logistics, deepen engagement, and create events your members (and sponsors) love, we’re here to help.

Book a demo with one of our product experts and see how Guidebook can support your goals this season.