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

Be deliberate, but act quickly

October 23, 2019

Be deliberate, but act quickly Be deliberate, but act quickly. These are my words of advice when it comes to […]

Why associations don’t like the “S” word

October 16, 2019

Why associations don’t like the “S” word A couple of weeks ago I asked my readers why associations seem to […]

The “S” stands for “Standard”

October 9, 2019

The “S” stands for “Standard” In a conversation with a past client, we were discussing the importance of standard operating […]

New article – What’s Good in Data Management

September 27, 2019

I recently read the book Factfulness, which highlights ten things about the world that are better than most people think. (The […]

Is that meaningless data?

September 25, 2019

Is that meaningless data? I’m not a big quotes guy, but one of the few I love comes from Peter […]

Be aware of unintended consequences

September 18, 2019

Be aware of unintended consequences I’ve written before that every decision involves a trade-off. When considering the trade-offs that every […]

Positive change is harder to see

September 11, 2019

Positive change is harder to see Humans are wired to see negative change because we need to protect ourselves; a […]

MVP: Minimum Viable Product

September 4, 2019

MVP: Minimum Viable Product In product development there is a concept known as MVP, or minimum viable product. Simply put, […]

You always need a reason for collecting data

August 28, 2019

You always need a reason for collecting data When you ask for data from someone (member, customer, prospect, etc.) there […]

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