For an online membership directory + speaker bureau platform — especially tied to your International Platform Association / ExpertClick ecosystem — these are the strongest software choices right now:

Best Overall Choices

1. eSpeakers

Best for: Professional speaker bureaus

Why it fits:

• Built specifically for speakers and bureaus

• Speaker profiles & videos

• Booking management

• Calendars & inquiries

• Proposal system

• Speaker applications

• CRM functions

• Bureau commission tracking

• Event planner portal

Strong match for:

• SpeakerBank.com

• InternationalPlatform.org

• Expert speaker directories

Weakness:

• Less flexible for SEO-heavy public content than ExpertClick-style press rooms

2. MemberClicks

Best for: Membership organizations

Features:

• Membership directory

• Member renewals

• Payments

• Events

• Member applications

• Committees/groups

• Website integration

• Email marketing

Good for:

• Associations

• Platform memberships

• Tiered memberships

Weakness:

• Not speaker-bureau-centric

3. Wild Apricot

Best low-cost option

Features:

• Member directory

• Membership payments

• Event registrations

• Website builder

• Public/private member profiles

Good for:

• Startup bureau

• Freemium membership model

• IPA membership management

Weakness:

• Limited sophistication for large-scale media/search systems

4. YourMembership

Best enterprise association platform

Features:

• Advanced member database

• Career center

• Private communities

• CRM

• Event management

• Certifications

• Committees

Good for:

• Large expert association

• National-level organization

Weakness:

• Expensive

• Longer implementation

5. Brilliant Directories

Best for SEO public directories

This one is VERY interesting for your model.

Features:

• Public searchable expert directory

• Paid/free memberships

• Lead generation

• SEO landing pages

• Topic/category pages

• Monetization

• Content publishing

• Google-friendly profiles

Could power:

• ExpertClick

• InterviewClick

• IPA speaker directory

• ExpertScore rankings

Strong advantages:

• SEO-first architecture

• Fast setup

• Highly customizable

• Supports free + paid tiers

Weakness:

• Less mature booking workflow than eSpeakers

Best Combination For Your Vision

Your model is really a hybrid:

• Speaker bureau

• Membership association

• Media expert directory

• Press room system

• SEO publishing engine

• Interview matching system

So the strongest architecture may actually be:

OPTION A — Practical Fast Launch

• eSpeakers = speaker bureau backend

• ExpertClick = SEO/news distribution

• WordPress front-end

• Stripe memberships

This is likely the fastest path.

OPTION B — Strong SEO Growth

• Brilliant Directories

• Custom ExpertScore ranking

• Public expert profiles

• InterviewClick integration

• News release feeds

• IPA membership layer

This may best fit your "Yearbook of Experts" vision.

OPTION C — Enterprise Vision

Custom platform using:

• WordPress

• MemberPress

• GeoDirectory

• BuddyBoss

• HubSpot CRM

• AI matching engine

Most flexible long-term.

Important Features You Probably Want

For your specific ExpertClick/IPA direction:

Must-have

• Public SEO profiles

• Video embedding

• Speaker topics/tags

• Press room/news releases

• Search by expertise

• Membership levels

• Payment system

• Calendly integration

• Speaker inquiry forms

• Ranking/score system

• Google indexing

• RSS feeds

• AI search/chat assistant

Nice extras

• Media request board

• Journalist login

• Proposal generator

• Virtual event booking

• Affiliate tracking

• Revenue sharing

• ExpertScore badges

Speaker Bureau Software Specifically

Traditional bureaus often use:

• eSpeakers

• SpeakerFlow

• HubSpot

• Airtable

• Custom WordPress systems

My Recommendation For You

Given your:

• SEO focus

• press releases

• Google News distribution

• InterviewClick concept

• IPA speaker bureau

• public expert rankings

• media positioning

I would seriously evaluate:

1. Brilliant Directories

2. eSpeakers

3. WordPress + MemberPress hybrid

That combination most closely matches the long-term ExpertClick / SpeakerBank vision.