Blog: Wes’s thoughts, articles, and insights

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My most recent posts

Blog post themes over 20 years…

By Wes Trochlil | August 5, 2026

Blog post themes over 20 years… I’ve been writing blog posts for nearly 20 years now. WordPress tells me I’ve written over 1,200 posts. So I asked AI to analyze my 1,200+ posts and give me my top three themes. Here’s what it came up with: Data management and data quality – these posts emphasize that data management is […]

Lots of feedback is a GOOD thing!

By Wes Trochlil | July 29, 2026

Lots of feedback is a GOOD thing! A client in the middle of their AMS implementation said to me: “I’m getting a LOT of feedback from staff about what the system can and cannot do. Is that good or bad?” My response: “Feedback means they’re actually in the system and using it! That’s a good […]

Doing the reps…

By Wes Trochlil | July 22, 2026

Doing the reps… I’m helping a client with the implementation of a new AMS. During a recent call, their internal project manager said “I’m still not as familiar with the system as I’d like to be. I need to get in there more often and play around.” I responded: “That’s exactly right. I suggest you […]

Add one, remove one

By Wes Trochlil | July 15, 2026

Add one, remove one In the world of home-organizing, there’s the “one in, one out” rule. Simply put, for every new item that enters your home, one similar item must leave, helping to maintain a constant level of possessions and prevent clutter accumulation. This would be a great rule for database managers when considering adding new fields […]

Spring cleaning, all year long

By Wes Trochlil | July 8, 2026

Spring cleaning, all year long I talk frequently about “weeding the garden,” the idea that proactively managing your data, consistently, over time, is a better practice than trying to clean up the data in one big effort once every couple of years. But beyond the data itself, weeding the garden should also include making sure all […]

Older Posts

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 […]

Working with your vendor

July 18, 2007

Many associations struggle with the relationship they have with their software vendor. There are many reasons for this, but a primary […]

L-Soft Voluntarily Enters Bankruptcy

July 17, 2007

A client of mine sent me a note last week pointing out that L-Soft, the makers of Listserv software, has […]

iMIS 15: Color Me Unimpressed

July 17, 2007

On behalf of a client, I had the opportunity to see a brief demo of iMIS 15 last week. My […]

New RFP Shell Available (Shameless Plug)

July 16, 2007

Over the years I’ve frequently heard and read about associations looking for good RFP models for selecting a new association […]

Active vs. Passive Data Management

July 13, 2007

The key to successful data management is not choosing the right AMS (though obviously that's critical) but rather how you […]

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