Blog: Wes’s thoughts, articles, and insights

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My most recent posts

Improvement is never linear

By Wes Trochlil | June 10, 2026

Improvement is never linear One of the many lessons one learns over a lifetime is that improvement, regardless of what you’re trying to improve, is never linear. That is, you’ll always have days where you’re better, and days where you don’t improve, or maybe even fall back. And so it is with data management. Even if you […]

Don’t forget to take a “before” picture!

By Wes Trochlil | June 3, 2026

Don’t forget to take a “before” picture! Whenever I start on a big home clean up or renovation project, I like to take a “before” picture, so that I can see the progress that was made when the project is complete. (Ironically, even though I’m the son of an award-winning amateur photographer, I often forget […]

Are you being penny wise and pound foolish?

By Wes Trochlil | May 27, 2026

Are you being penny wise and pound foolish? Two quick customer service stories to illustrate a point: First story: I’ve used the same email provider for more than 20 years. But for technical reasons, recently I needed to switch providers, so I canceled my service with them a few weeks in advance of my renewal. […]

AMS Products are getting better – and what that means for you

By Wes Trochlil | May 20, 2026

AMS Products are getting better – and what that means for you I’ve been working in and with AMS products for 36 years (27 years of consulting, nine years as an association staffer). And I can say with great confidence that the systems available today are much better than they were 36 years ago! (Shocking, I know.) But […]

Using AI beyond content generation

By Wes Trochlil | May 13, 2026

Using AI beyond content generation Recent surveys by ASAE and others suggest nearly 90% of associations are using AI for some type of content generation (e.g., creating blog posts, newsletter articles, “canned” responses to inquiries, etc.). That is great, but when it comes to data management, there are so many more opportunities for leveraging AI. Here are some ideas […]

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Protech Users Conference 2009

May 7, 2009

I attended the Protech Users Conference last week in Washington DC. Here are some random thoughts on what I saw: […]

So many "leaders." Who do I follow?

May 5, 2009

I track nearly 40 different software companies that provide association management software of some form or another. And I chuckle […]

AMS Learning and Demo Days is Just Days Away

April 30, 2009

If you’re considering the search for a new association management system in the coming months, make sure you don’t miss […]

When should I hire full-time database help?

April 28, 2009

I get this question a lot from my clients, especially “smaller” clients (those under 25 staff). This issue becomes particularly […]

Paradigms shifting

April 23, 2009

I’m not a big fan of the phrase “paradigm shift,” but I recently experienced one first hand that I found […]

An amazing factoid

April 21, 2009

This information is two years old, but I suspect it hasn’t changed much. “The average middle manager spends about two […]

More shocking survey results

April 16, 2009

In this survey, Campbell Rinker asked a series of questions of non-profits about their primary donor/member management software. On page […]

Sorry, Guy, I Disagree…

April 14, 2009

In this article on destinationcrm.com, Guy Kawasaki says: “I think it’s inherently arrogant if you think that you are worth […]

Stop hoarding data!

April 7, 2009

When working with my clients on data conversions, I always point out that they should convert as little data as […]

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