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

Quoted in CRMBuyer.com

October 29, 2007

I provided my thoughts on the Gartner CRM Summit these posts. But I was recently quoted on CRMBuyer.com for my […]

Avectra Scores BIG VC Money

October 26, 2007

The association management software world is known more for its smaller “mom and pop” vendors than for big software players. […]

The Wisdom of Children

October 25, 2007

At the dinner table with my family the other day, I was discussing an issue as my nine-year-old son listened […]

Data Management Malpractice

October 15, 2007

UPDATE: Link fixed  Terry Dowdy forwarded me his thoughts about this recent story in The Washington Post about The Nature Conservancy's […]

Soliciting Feedback from Members and Customers

October 12, 2007

Aside from your annual “member survey,” what kind of mechanisms does your organization have in place to collect feedback from […]

"Overreacting to Blips"

October 10, 2007

At the Gartner CRM conference I attended recently (see my posts here), an analyst listed five key points about metrics. […]

Impressive Customer Service Follow Up

October 5, 2007

I recently placed an online order at Jockey.com for some t-shirts. My order was delivered as promised, but what really got […]

Registration Kiosks

October 4, 2007

I've been hearing a lot lately from vendors about "registration kiosks." These are computers or kiosks set up in a […]

Copies of Copies

October 3, 2007

I went to see my doctor the other day. At the end of the appointment, the doctor asked the receptionist […]

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