James D. Feldman Named CEO and Chief Transformation Officer of the International Platform Association
The AI transformation strategist takes the helm of one of America's oldest speakers' organizations — and gets it moving again.
CHICAGO, IL — July 20, 2026 — James D. Feldman once spent five and a half hours trapped in an elevator in a 70-story Chicago high-rise — stuck in a pitch-black shaft with no openings in between, until a rescue crew cut through and hoisted him out on a harness toward a single light at the 42nd floor. He knows what stuck feels like. He also knows how you get moving again.
That may be why the International Platform Association — one of America's oldest and most storied speakers' organizations, founded in 1831 and later led by the likes of Daniel Webster — has named Feldman its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Transformation Officer. For the better part of two decades, a 195-year-old institution sat stuck between floors of its own. Feldman's job is to get it moving. His first stop: the Exchange, the association's first live gathering in years, on October 7, 2026, at Maggiano's Little Italy in Chicago.
"I'm not here to explain AI. I'm here to help this industry win. The IPA has been stuck between floors. My job is to cut through the ceiling and get it moving again — and to make it the room where the best speakers in the country meet the people who book them"
Feldman brings four decades on the platform to the role. A Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), he is the creator of 3D Thinking™ and the author of Shift Happens!®, and has been recognized among the 100 Most Innovative professionals in his field. He has served on boards, delivered keynotes worldwide, and earned more than 1,000 perfect audience evaluations — credentials that answer the only question that matters in a leadership appointment: is this the right person to do the job?
Feldman's immediate priority is the Exchange, a curated one-day showcase on October 7, 2026, in Chicago, connecting credentialed professional speakers with meeting planners who hold real booking authority. The event is built around a simple promise: every speaker in the room is vetted, every buyer in the room is real, and the ratio is protected so the connections actually happen. It is the first expression of what Feldman calls the association's next chapter — "Beyond the Platform"
"Finding Jim Feldman was a blessing for IPA, as he brings his knowledge and connections with meeting planners and how AI is changing the business"
Feldman frames the appointment the same way he closes his keynotes: "If you've spent a lifetime on the platform, the most profitable chapter is still ahead of you" The relaunch, he says, is proof of exactly that.
About the International Platform Association
Founded in 1831, the International Platform Association is one of the oldest organizations of speakers, lecturers, and platform professionals in the United States. Now relaunching under the banner "Beyond the Platform," the IPA connects credentialed professional speakers with the meeting planners and buyers who book them. Learn more at internationalplatform.org.
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