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 […]

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New Article Posted

February 17, 2020

Over the course of my 20 years of consulting to associations, I’ve run into several situations where the association is […]

Some problems are not problems

February 12, 2020

Some problems are not problems “A problem with no solution is not a problem, it’s a fact of life.” This […]

UI Matters!

January 29, 2020

UI Matters! Almost since I began consulting over 20 years, I’ve noted how important the user interface (UI) of a […]

Be careful with absolutes

January 28, 2020

Be careful with absolutes When I speak with clients I try to be careful about speaking in absolutes. I’ll catch […]

New Year’s Resolutions

January 22, 2020

New Year’s Resolutions Why do New Year’s Resolutions fail? Research suggests that part of the challenge is that the actual […]

Why Process is So Important

January 15, 2020

Why Process is So Important One of my favorite business authors is James Clear, who writes all about habit creation and management. […]

The Significant Change of SaaS Software

January 7, 2020

The Significant Change of SaaS Software One of the most significant technological changes in the AMS world is the advent […]

Always, ALWAYS budget for more training

December 18, 2019

Always, ALWAYS budget for more training Always, ALWAYS budget for more training. I don’t know how else to say this. But for […]

We’ve always done it that way

December 11, 2019

We’ve always done it that way A couple of weeks ago I wrote about approving memberships, and how some associations make it […]

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