Blog: Wes’s thoughts, articles, and insights

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My most recent posts

AI is a journey, not a destination

By Wes Trochlil | April 15, 2026

AI is a journey, not a destination Lately I’ve noticed a lot of associations talking about AI like it’s a moon shot. “We need an AI project.” “We’re rolling out AI in Q4.” That language suggests AI is something you implement once and then check off the list. It isn’t. AI is a journey, and […]

Action produces information

By Wes Trochlil | April 8, 2026

Action produces information “Action produces information. If you’re unsure of what to do, just do anything, even if it’s the wrong thing. This will give you information about what you should actually be doing.” – Brian Armstrong, co-founder of Coinbase This is the great thing about data and why I’ve been in this business so long. […]

Why a single source of truth is so beneficial…

By Wes Trochlil | March 25, 2026

Why a single source of truth is so beneficial… The holy grail of data management is the “single source of truth.” As I like to characterize it, when someone asks “Where is the data about X?” everyone knows the answer and everyone gives the SAME answer. One of the most common challenges I hear from my […]

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should

By Wes Trochlil | March 18, 2026

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should I’ve worked in and with associations for well over 37 years now. And one of the things I’ve always loved and appreciated about association staffers is their willingness to do whatever is needed to get the job done. But the problem is this “Yes, we can!” attitude can also […]

Data doesn’t need to be perfect to be useful

By Wes Trochlil | March 4, 2026

Data doesn’t need to be perfect to be useful “Your data doesn’t have to be perfect to be useful.” – (Borrowed with permission from Intellidata’s Slice newsletter.) In my experience, many associations hold themselves back from cleaning up their data, because they are overwhelmed with where to start, and they also think success can only be achieved […]

Older Posts

Trust is critical to success

September 9, 2008

It may be a cliche, but one of the most critical elements to the long-term success of your database is […]

Staff News

September 4, 2008

I have a client who sends an every other week email newsletter, nicely formatted and designed, simply called “Staff News.” […]

Zappos and Facebook

September 2, 2008

Admittedly, I’m not much of a social media maven. I’m on Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, and maybe a couple of others, […]

Carefirst Gets it Wrong and Then Gets it Right

August 28, 2008

I recently had need to call Carefirst (my health insurance company) because they had made a billing error. I had […]

Centralized vs. decentralized data entry

August 26, 2008

There was a discussion on a users group listserver a few days ago about the pros and cons of centralized […]

Changing from a staff-centric to customer-centric view

August 21, 2008

One of the most significant changes to occur over the past couple of years in database management is the idea […]

Get your IT people on the team

August 19, 2008

By show of hands, how many of you have an “IT” person on your senior management team? Is the most […]

Check your metrics

August 14, 2008

When I work with my clients on the implementation of a new database, there is a tendency to focus on […]

When you compromise, no one is happy

August 12, 2008

I recently traded emails with an association colleague of mine, an executive director of a small association, asking him how […]

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