Blog: Wes’s thoughts, articles, and insights

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My most recent posts

Why bother with a consultant when I have AI?

By Wes Trochlil | October 14, 2026

Why bother with a consultant when I have AI? As AI becomes increasingly powerful, the value of using an AMS selection consultant (and many other types of consultants!) starts to come into question. After all, with very well-constructed prompts and responses, an association could develop a very solid needs analysis and RFP that could be used to […]

Guardrails can be helpful!

By Wes Trochlil | October 7, 2026

Guardrails can be helpful! When selecting a new AMS, I find my clients are often very tempted by custom software or “platform” systems (e.g., built on Salesforce or MS Dynamics) because these systems are infinitely configurable. After all, if I can make the system do anything I want, that’s a good thing, right? Well, maybe. In […]

“If you knew this information, what might you do differently?”

By Wes Trochlil | September 30, 2026

“If you knew this information, what might you do differently?” I had a conversation with a client recently about developing KPIs, reports, and queries from their forthcoming data warehouse. My client said: “We have a ton of requests for KPIs and reports. How do we determine which to focus on first?” My response: “When someone requests a dashboard […]

Showing is not teaching

By Wes Trochlil | September 23, 2026

Showing is not teaching In my experience, when new staff members are taught how to use their AMS (or LMS, CMS, FMS, etc.) they aren’t really taught how to use the system, they are shown how to use it. So what’s the difference? In a nutshell, showing only covers the “how” and “what.” But teaching […]

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 […]

Older Posts

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 […]

You can’t outsource buy-in

December 16, 2021

You can’t outsource buy-in One factor consistent with all of my most successful projects is that there is strong buy-in […]

Use it or lose it!

December 8, 2021

Use it or lose it! I’m referring here to the data you collect. If you are collecting data that you’re […]

“If I could only do one thing…”

December 1, 2021

“If I could only do one thing…” Managing data throughout your organization can be overwhelming. Do you have the right people […]

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