I started a monthly newsletter almost 25 years ago (which I recently discontinued). And almost six years ago I started writing these "Wednesday Wisdom" missives. I've received more compliments about my Wednesday Wisdom in six years than I have for my monthly newsletter in nearly 25 years ago.

Why? Because these missives are concise. They focus on a single, simple point. And as a result, they're "easier" to read than my longer monthly columns were.

Several readers have said some variation of "I know I can read this right away as opposed to setting it aside to read later, which I know I won't do." (One reader even told me: "Yours is the only newsletter that I don't immediately delete.")

What's this got to do with data management? Ultimately, everything we do involves communication. How we communicate with our members. How we communicate with our software vendors. How we communicate with other staff. That includes the data we collect and the data we use.

If we can be more concise in all of these communications, we're more likely to get our message across to whomever it is we're communicating with.

I've already gone on too long! Be concise.