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

Distinguish between "can't" and "don't"

June 3, 2016

I often hear from my clients something along these lines: “We’d like that data but we don’t have it.” I […]

My interview with Aptify

May 23, 2016

On a range of database management issues. You can read it all here: http://bit.ly/1sMrmN0

New Article Posted – The Cycle of Doom vs. the Cycle of Virtue

May 19, 2016

It is said that if an organization is not growing, it is dying. In other words, there is no such […]

Things change during a project

May 2, 2016

When I work with my clients on implementing a new software system, one of the first things I tell them […]

Effective vs. efficient

April 29, 2016

Often my clients will tell me they want to be more efficient with how they manage data. And that’s important. […]

Sometimes it's really NOT the software that is the problem

April 27, 2016

I once met with a potential client who was seeking a new database. In a conversation with the executive director, she […]

The fallacy of "sunk cost"

April 22, 2016

As we all know, a sunk cost is a cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered. A […]

Do you have a test database?

April 21, 2016

A test database is a more-or-less exact copy of your live/production database environment. I often refer to this as a “sandbox” because the […]

Interactions, not just transactions

April 20, 2016

Working with a client last week on their selection of a new AMS, I was again reminded of how important […]

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