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

Ask your members to update their info

March 2, 2022

Ask your members to update their info One of the greatest data management challenges any association faces is keeping individual contact information […]

Customer vs. staff

February 23, 2022

Customer vs. staff In a properly designed AMS, when the customer goes online to your website to do business with […]

Measuring customer service

February 16, 2022

Measuring customer service When I work with clients on AMS selection, one question that often comes up is: “How good […]

Iterate or innovate?

February 9, 2022

Iterate or innovate? When moving to a new association management system, there is often an implicit question of whether the move […]

Who is in control?

February 2, 2022

Who is in control? Speaking with a client once about their database project, the client said something I found rather […]

Sometimes Staff Has to do the Work

January 26, 2022

Sometimes staff has to do the work… As a child, I was attracted to computers because of the games. As […]

Documentation and the Great Resignation

January 19, 2022

Documentation and the Great Resignation Unless you’ve been living under the proverbial rock, you’ve heard of the Great Resignation. (If […]

Data Management Strategy

January 12, 2022

Data Management Strategy Do you know what your data management strategy is? If you have one written down, congratulations! If […]

It’s always about trust

January 5, 2022

It’s always about trust When I work with clients on almost any data management project, a very common theme is […]

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