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

New Article Posted – What's Plaguing Associations – 2013

September 24, 2013

I’ve posted a new article on my website. For seven years I have conducted a one-question, non-scientific survey of association executives, […]

Obamacare and Your New Website

September 23, 2013

The launch of the Obamacare state exchanges are scheduled for October 1, and the experts expect the launch to be […]

Hear the man – Free webinar on growing non-dues revenue with Wes Trochlil

September 16, 2013

On Tuesday, September 24, I’ll be having a conversation with Dan Kasprow, CTO of ACGI Software, on growing non-dues revenue. […]

Job Listing in DC Area (Arlington, VA)

September 12, 2013

My colleague Mary Pat Paris at the the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) is seeking to fill a database position […]

A short interview of me on Big Data

September 12, 2013

I recently did an interview with Linda Popky, president of L2M Associates, on Big Data. You can find that podcast […]

What's next for the AMS Space?

September 10, 2013

Nice blog post from ASAE today on the future of the AMS space for associations. Click here to read.

Last Chance to Participate in my Seventh Annual One-Question Survey!

September 3, 2013

Since 2007, I’ve been conducting an annual non-scientific survey of associations, asking them what their biggest data management issues are. […]

Significant Acquisition in the AMS Space

August 21, 2013

Abila, formerly Sage Nonprofit Solutions, which focuses on nonprofit organizations and government agencies, has acquired  Avectra, one of the major AMS […]

Two New Articles Posted

August 20, 2013

I’ve posted two new articles on my website. The first article is entitled Do You Trust Your Vendor? The second is […]

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