Blog: Wes’s thoughts, articles, and insights

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My most recent posts

Perfection is expensive (in fact, it’s not possible!)

By Wes Trochlil | April 22, 2026

Perfection is expensive (in fact, it’s not possible!) “Perfection is expensive. The last 5 percent of quality almost always costs a disproportionate amount of time and money.” – James Clear “Seek success, not perfection.” – Alan Weiss When I give presentations on data management, I almost always mention this concept. Too often we’re caught up in the […]

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 […]

Older Posts

Your Vote Counts! ASAE Releases Data Standards Draft

May 30, 2007

The ASAE Data Standards Task Force announced the release of a draft standard for expressing constituent records in XML. This […]

Documenting Your Processes

May 29, 2007

I spoke at a users group meeting a few weeks ago, and asked if anyone in the audience had a […]

Do Your Business Rules HINDER Success?

May 28, 2007

I was reading this article about the introduction of IBM's Thinkpad laptop and was struck by these two thoughts: At […]

JL Systems' Users Group Meeting

May 25, 2007

I spent the day at the Users Group meeting for JL Systems last week. JL is introducing a new product, […]

Weeding the Garden and Data Management

May 23, 2007

I was weeding my garden the other day, which is an activity I engage in exactly once per year. As […]

It's About the Money

May 22, 2007

I’m working with a client who has a custom database application to manage their website and database. It’s actually a […]

Some Fascinating Data Management Statistics

May 22, 2007

I had not seen these stats before, but they are striking. From a 2004 Gartner report entitled "CRM Demands Data […]

When your Software is TOO Good

May 21, 2007

I was recently called by a potential client who was looking to move from their existing software to another AMS […]

IT Salary Survey

May 18, 2007

I received a complimentary copy of Global Knowledge's IT salary survey a couple of weeks ago. The survey covered over 1,600 IT […]

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