Blog: Wes’s thoughts, articles, and insights

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My most recent posts

AI is a journey, not a destination

By Wes Trochlil | April 15, 2026

AI is a journey, not a destination Lately I’ve noticed a lot of associations talking about AI like it’s a moon shot. “We need an AI project.” “We’re rolling out AI in Q4.” That language suggests AI is something you implement once and then check off the list. It isn’t. AI is a journey, and […]

Action produces information

By Wes Trochlil | April 8, 2026

Action produces information “Action produces information. If you’re unsure of what to do, just do anything, even if it’s the wrong thing. This will give you information about what you should actually be doing.” – Brian Armstrong, co-founder of Coinbase This is the great thing about data and why I’ve been in this business so long. […]

Why a single source of truth is so beneficial…

By Wes Trochlil | March 25, 2026

Why a single source of truth is so beneficial… The holy grail of data management is the “single source of truth.” As I like to characterize it, when someone asks “Where is the data about X?” everyone knows the answer and everyone gives the SAME answer. One of the most common challenges I hear from my […]

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should

By Wes Trochlil | March 18, 2026

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should I’ve worked in and with associations for well over 37 years now. And one of the things I’ve always loved and appreciated about association staffers is their willingness to do whatever is needed to get the job done. But the problem is this “Yes, we can!” attitude can also […]

Data doesn’t need to be perfect to be useful

By Wes Trochlil | March 4, 2026

Data doesn’t need to be perfect to be useful “Your data doesn’t have to be perfect to be useful.” – (Borrowed with permission from Intellidata’s Slice newsletter.) In my experience, many associations hold themselves back from cleaning up their data, because they are overwhelmed with where to start, and they also think success can only be achieved […]

Older Posts

The rise of the "Chief Data Officer"

March 25, 2014

Here’s an interesting article from IBM on the rise of the Chief Data Officer position within Fortune 500 companies. This […]

"Are we the worst you’ve ever seen?"

March 24, 2014

This is not an uncommon question for me to hear from my new clients. As we start digging into how […]

What's a Director of Data Integrity? – Interview with Chris Dugmore

March 20, 2014

Chris Dugmore is the Director, Data Integrity, for the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. When I first […]

New Article Posted – The Seven Deadly Sins of Database Management

March 18, 2014

I’ve posted a new article on my website. In Christianity there is a commonly known list of “seven deadly sins,” which […]

If you're wondering, just ask

March 13, 2014

As a sort of corollary to my recent post on seeking to understand, I marvel at how often people fail […]

Seek first to understand

March 12, 2014

I sit in a lot of meetings with my clients. These could be meetings where I’m interviewing them, or they […]

Observations at AUDC – Part 4

March 11, 2014

And a final note on the AUDC. This 10th annual event is its last, in this iteration. With the acuisition […]

Observations at AUDC – Part 3

March 10, 2014

Over the course of 2 ½ days at the AUDC, more than 60 sessions were presented, ranging from how to […]

Observations at AUDC – Part 2

March 7, 2014

Abila hosted two sessions on the first day of AUDC, one focused on the netFORUM Pro roadmap, the other on […]

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