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

Happiness = Reality divided by Expectations

June 29, 2016

I recently heard the author James Altucher make this statement, and a subsequent google search attributes it to the author Jodi […]

The Five Elements of Healthy Vendor Relationship (plus a bonus!)

June 27, 2016

I recently moderated a keynote presentation at ACGI’s Knowledge Days in Baltimore. The session, entitled “How to Keep a Healthy Marriage with […]

New Article Posted – It's time for your association to create a data records manager position

June 20, 2016

Several years ago, I suggested to a client of mine that they needed to add a new position to their […]

Rule of 100 and 1000 for ongoing data management

June 10, 2016

Many years ago I coined the Rule of 100 and 1,000, as it pertains to data conversions. (Click here to read […]

FREE Training Audio Recording

June 9, 2016

I while back I recorded a webinar on database training called “Don’t Waste Another Dollar On Training: How To Ensure Your Training […]

Take snapshots of your membership data for historical review

June 8, 2016

One of the more common requests I hear from my clients is that they’d like to be able to compare […]

Are you using "secret shoppers"? You should.

June 7, 2016

Every time I call my haircut place to make an appointment, I have the same experience. The person taking the […]

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

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