Blog: Wes’s thoughts, articles, and insights

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My most recent posts

Improvement is never linear

By Wes Trochlil | June 10, 2026

Improvement is never linear One of the many lessons one learns over a lifetime is that improvement, regardless of what you’re trying to improve, is never linear. That is, you’ll always have days where you’re better, and days where you don’t improve, or maybe even fall back. And so it is with data management. Even if you […]

Don’t forget to take a “before” picture!

By Wes Trochlil | June 3, 2026

Don’t forget to take a “before” picture! Whenever I start on a big home clean up or renovation project, I like to take a “before” picture, so that I can see the progress that was made when the project is complete. (Ironically, even though I’m the son of an award-winning amateur photographer, I often forget […]

Are you being penny wise and pound foolish?

By Wes Trochlil | May 27, 2026

Are you being penny wise and pound foolish? Two quick customer service stories to illustrate a point: First story: I’ve used the same email provider for more than 20 years. But for technical reasons, recently I needed to switch providers, so I canceled my service with them a few weeks in advance of my renewal. […]

AMS Products are getting better – and what that means for you

By Wes Trochlil | May 20, 2026

AMS Products are getting better – and what that means for you I’ve been working in and with AMS products for 36 years (27 years of consulting, nine years as an association staffer). And I can say with great confidence that the systems available today are much better than they were 36 years ago! (Shocking, I know.) But […]

Using AI beyond content generation

By Wes Trochlil | May 13, 2026

Using AI beyond content generation Recent surveys by ASAE and others suggest nearly 90% of associations are using AI for some type of content generation (e.g., creating blog posts, newsletter articles, “canned” responses to inquiries, etc.). That is great, but when it comes to data management, there are so many more opportunities for leveraging AI. Here are some ideas […]

Older Posts

The unified shopping cart: Dreams vs. reality

January 21, 2026

The unified shopping cart: Dreams vs. reality One of the more common requests I hear from my clients is “We […]

Don’t forget to celebrate!

January 14, 2026

Don’t forget to celebrate! Truth be told, I’m not a big celebrator. (Maybe it’s because I grew up with eight […]

Three thoughts on duplicate records

January 7, 2026

Three thoughts on duplicate records Duplicate records are a reality in any database of any size, so as database managers, we always […]

Please don’t do this…

December 17, 2025

Please don’t do this… I’ve noticed a trend among online retailers that I want to warn associations away from. That […]

AI is perpetually patient

December 10, 2025

AI is perpetually patient My friend and colleague Noel Shatananda of fusionSpan was providing me some tips about using AI. During […]

User adoption is (almost) all that matters…

December 3, 2025

User adoption is (almost) all that matters… I was speaking with an association recently about their needs for a new AMS. […]

When “overcommunicating” becomes overwhelming

November 19, 2025

When “overcommunicating” becomes overwhelming There is a common belief in project management and general business management that overcommunicating is better than undercommunicating. And […]

Communicating when there is a major technology change

November 12, 2025

Communicating when there is a major technology change For those of you who are ASAE members, you may be aware […]

Everything works, until it doesn’t.

November 5, 2025

Everything works, until it doesn’t. “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” – Stein’s Law I was talking […]

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