Blog: Wes’s thoughts, articles, and insights

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My most recent posts

Data management is improvisation

By Wes Trochlil | September 16, 2026

Data management is improvisation I was listening to a podcast recently featuring TV writer Rob Long. During the podcast he said (I’m paraphrasing) that, in order to be successful, one needs to learn to improvise, because nothing in life ever goes as planned. One of my favorite sayings is, “If you want to make God […]

Who own the AMS company is like the weather…

By Wes Trochlil | September 9, 2026

Who own the AMS company is like the weather… When I work with clients to find a new AMS, one of the most common questions I get is: “Is the software company owned by private equity or is it privately owned?” While I think this is a legitimate question to ask and have answered, it […]

“As good or better than me.”

By Wes Trochlil | September 2, 2026

“As good or better than me.” I was recently speaking with a software developer working on AI and we were discussing using natural language querying in an AMS. I told him, “The biggest challenge you face is that the first time the AI is wrong, staff will never use it again.” He agreed but then added: “The […]

Documentation is insurance

By Wes Trochlil | August 26, 2026

Documentation is insurance In a conversation with a client about their data management needs, the client pointed out that if they lost one or two key staff members, so much institutional knowledge would go with them that the association would have real difficulty managing their AMS. I recommended that they should document all of their key processes so […]

It all comes down to fundamentals

By Wes Trochlil | August 12, 2026

It all comes down to fundamentals I’m preparing for a webinar that I’m presenting in a couple of weeks, on using data to improve marketing and communications. This is a presentation (in one form or another) that I’ve made for nearly 20 years, and it includes an excellent case study of one association that dramatically improved their […]

Older Posts

Free Articles (Shameless Plug)

July 31, 2007

Don’t forget, in addition to all of these brilliant blog posts, you can find a bevy of free articles on […]

Management by Data in the Wall Street Journal

July 30, 2007

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article (subscription required) a few days ago talking about the trend in "management […]

Dashboards or Charts?

July 27, 2007

On his Membership Marketing Blog, Tony Rossell has a post about membership dashboards. He provides a link to a chart […]

Taking Prudent Risks

July 26, 2007

In this tip, I discuss how considering “worst-case” scenarios can help you decide whether or not to do something. There […]

Computility Demo

July 25, 2007

I had the opportunity to view a demo of the Computility AMS recently. For very small associations, I think the […]

Managing to the Exception

July 24, 2007

I often tell my clients to avoid managing (or programming) to the exception. What I mean is too often when […]

One for the AMS Vendors: Get PROACTIVE

July 23, 2007

I was trading emails with my colleague (and fellow AMS consultant) George Breeden recently, and he raised an issue that […]

Are you providing opt-out information?

July 20, 2007

Recently I began receiving emails from a political advocacy organization that has views that are, shall we say, completely counter […]

Association IT Salaries

July 19, 2007

In this post I talked about IT salaries in the general population. At the time I wasn’t aware that ASAE […]

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