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

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 […]

Don't ask me to volunteer if you're not going to use me

January 15, 2016

I received an email from a software company whose software I use. The software vendor asked “Can we share your […]

Low-hanging fruit

January 13, 2016

I’ve always loved the phrase “low-hanging fruit.” It creates such a great visual in my mind, the idea that I […]

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