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 – The Four Key Ingredients to a Successful AMS Implementation

June 22, 2012

I’ve posted a new article on my website. There are several ingredients to a successful AMS implementation. I’ve identified four key […]

MGI Benchmarking Report has some interesting results

May 29, 2012

If you haven’t already, you should download and read Marketing General’s 2012 Membership Marketing Benchmark Report, which you can request […]

Join me next week on David Nour's IMPACT Webinar

May 24, 2012

I’ll be a guest next week on David Nour’s IMPACT Webinar Series, from noon to 1pm Eastern, on Tuesday, May […]

Member Engagement – It's all the rage!

May 22, 2012

You’d have to be under a rock not be familiar with the phrase “member engagement.” A google search on the […]

New Article Posted – Four Areas Where Most Associations are Underutilizing Their AMS

May 21, 2012

I’ve posted a new article on my website. When I meet with association management software (AMS) vendors to discuss their products […]

Would you trust a mechanic with decades-old tools?

May 10, 2012

If you have a car that was manufactured in the past ten years and you’ve taken it into the shop, […]

Two New AMS Vendors Added to the List

May 8, 2012

I recently viewed demos from two new AMS vendors (well, new to me), which I’ve added to my list of […]

Kudos to ASAE

April 19, 2012

I’ve served as a volunteer for ASAE for many, many years. (My first volunteer effort was writing an article for […]

How Training Should be Done

March 23, 2012

I’ve written many times about the importance of training. (I’ve even done a teleseminar on it!) And far too often, […]

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