Blog: Wes’s thoughts, articles, and insights

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My most recent posts

Blog post themes over 20 years…

By Wes Trochlil | August 5, 2026

Blog post themes over 20 years… I’ve been writing blog posts for nearly 20 years now. WordPress tells me I’ve written over 1,200 posts. So I asked AI to analyze my 1,200+ posts and give me my top three themes. Here’s what it came up with: Data management and data quality – these posts emphasize that data management is […]

Lots of feedback is a GOOD thing!

By Wes Trochlil | July 29, 2026

Lots of feedback is a GOOD thing! A client in the middle of their AMS implementation said to me: “I’m getting a LOT of feedback from staff about what the system can and cannot do. Is that good or bad?” My response: “Feedback means they’re actually in the system and using it! That’s a good […]

Doing the reps…

By Wes Trochlil | July 22, 2026

Doing the reps… I’m helping a client with the implementation of a new AMS. During a recent call, their internal project manager said “I’m still not as familiar with the system as I’d like to be. I need to get in there more often and play around.” I responded: “That’s exactly right. I suggest you […]

Add one, remove one

By Wes Trochlil | July 15, 2026

Add one, remove one In the world of home-organizing, there’s the “one in, one out” rule. Simply put, for every new item that enters your home, one similar item must leave, helping to maintain a constant level of possessions and prevent clutter accumulation. This would be a great rule for database managers when considering adding new fields […]

Spring cleaning, all year long

By Wes Trochlil | July 8, 2026

Spring cleaning, all year long I talk frequently about “weeding the garden,” the idea that proactively managing your data, consistently, over time, is a better practice than trying to clean up the data in one big effort once every couple of years. But beyond the data itself, weeding the garden should also include making sure all […]

Older Posts

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 […]

New Article Posted – It's time to get rid of the membership grace period

April 18, 2016

I started my career as a membership assistant at a trade association. We had 500 organizational members, and dues renewals […]

Significant changes at Personify

April 5, 2016

I had the opportunity to meet recently with Marc Bernstein and Andre Pavovlic from Personify. Marc is Vice President & […]

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