Blog: Wes’s thoughts, articles, and insights

[ai_chat_window]

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

Take advantage of your vendor's training programs

March 16, 2016

I wrote recently about one vendor who provides free training to new employees. It’s a brilliant idea that all vendors […]

Be aware of implied interest

March 15, 2016

Many of my clients track “areas of interest” within their database (maybe you do, too). These are typically checkboxes of dropdown […]

Not everything needs to be automated

March 14, 2016

One of my favorite activities with clients is to work on redesigning their business processes and workflows to make them […]

Data governance is not a technology issue…

March 11, 2016

In a session at the recent Abila Users and Developers Conference (AUDC), a speaker from the American Hospital Association (AHA) […]

Focus on User Experience Demonstrates Maturity of Industry

March 10, 2016

I had the opportunity to attend the Abila Users and Developers Conference (AUDC) last week in Austin. During the roadmap […]

Vendors: Provide free training for new employees!

February 24, 2016

I was sitting in a demo with a client last week and the vendor providing the demo said “We provide four […]

New Article Posted – Should You Use an Implementation Partner?

February 22, 2016

There are well over 50 companies that provide AMS products to the association market. They range from products designed for […]

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 […]

Scroll to Top