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

What's with the surcharge?

February 19, 2016

Back in 2012, gas prices in northern Virginia (where I live) pushed to $4 a gallon and higher. As a […]

Just because you can doesn't mean you should

February 16, 2016

One of the great things about the latest generation of AMS products is their incredible flexibility. They’ll allow you to […]

How do you respond when someone contacts you via your website?

February 4, 2016

In the past week, on behalf of a client, I’ve had to contact three different software vendors. In all three cases, […]

Be sure to check out the new Learning – Technology – Design Conference

February 3, 2016

Tagoras Consulting is presenting their first-ever Learning • Technology • Design™ (LTD) conference on May 18 and 19, 2016, in […]

Take snapshots of data

January 29, 2016

One of the most common requests I hear from my clients is the ability to compare year-over-year statistics on things […]

Beware self-inflicted data management issues

January 28, 2016

Managing data is difficult. It takes time. It can be tedious. And it’s a never-ending task. So it’s very important […]

Director of Education position in Northern Virginia

January 27, 2016

A client of mine located in Ashburn VA is seeking a director of education. This is a small (3 FTE) […]

Survey results from SCIPP's Data Breach Preparedness Survey Now Available

January 27, 2016

The results from SCIPP International’s recent survey of association’s data breach preparedness are now available on SCIPP’s website by clicking […]

New Article Posted – Managing Data at an Association is NOT the Same as a For-profit Business

January 19, 2016

One of the more common lamentations I hear from my association clients is that associations need to manage their database […]

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