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

It's all about information management

February 17, 2014

Association Laboratory has released their most recent environmental scan of the association industry. Go here and read it as soon […]

Chief Data Officer?

February 3, 2014

Interesting article here on ZDNet about the rise of the “chief data officer” in the corporate world. As the article […]

New Article Posted – The Single Most Important Quality of a Project Manager

January 23, 2014

I’ve posted a new article on my website. Over the past 15 years of my consulting work, I’ve had the opportunity […]

Membership and Marketing Director Job Listing in DC Area (Tysons)

January 9, 2014

The American Association of Tissue Banks is seeking to fill a new position, Director, Membership & Marketing. For more information […]

Free information on Association Learning

January 3, 2014

My friend and collegaue Jeff Cobb of Tagoras Consulting has just released a new white paper entitled “Association Learning and […]

New Article Posted – Enough Answers; Are You Asking the Right Questions

December 20, 2013

I’ve posted a new article on my website. The best consultants don’t just supply answers, they ask the right questions. Here […]

Yet another article in The Washington Post about embezzlement at a non-profit

December 2, 2013

In late October there was an article in The Washington Post about poor financial controls at DC non-profits. Last week […]

Auto-renewing membership

December 2, 2013

I’m often asked by my clients about using credit card auto-renewal for membership dues (or donations or other recurring charges). […]

You won't learn if you don't want to

November 25, 2013

In a meeting with a client recently, we were discussing some of the challenges the association was having with managing […]

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