Blog: Wes’s thoughts, articles, and insights

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My most recent posts

Improvement is never linear

By Wes Trochlil | June 10, 2026

Improvement is never linear One of the many lessons one learns over a lifetime is that improvement, regardless of what you’re trying to improve, is never linear. That is, you’ll always have days where you’re better, and days where you don’t improve, or maybe even fall back. And so it is with data management. Even if you […]

Don’t forget to take a “before” picture!

By Wes Trochlil | June 3, 2026

Don’t forget to take a “before” picture! Whenever I start on a big home clean up or renovation project, I like to take a “before” picture, so that I can see the progress that was made when the project is complete. (Ironically, even though I’m the son of an award-winning amateur photographer, I often forget […]

Are you being penny wise and pound foolish?

By Wes Trochlil | May 27, 2026

Are you being penny wise and pound foolish? Two quick customer service stories to illustrate a point: First story: I’ve used the same email provider for more than 20 years. But for technical reasons, recently I needed to switch providers, so I canceled my service with them a few weeks in advance of my renewal. […]

AMS Products are getting better – and what that means for you

By Wes Trochlil | May 20, 2026

AMS Products are getting better – and what that means for you I’ve been working in and with AMS products for 36 years (27 years of consulting, nine years as an association staffer). And I can say with great confidence that the systems available today are much better than they were 36 years ago! (Shocking, I know.) But […]

Using AI beyond content generation

By Wes Trochlil | May 13, 2026

Using AI beyond content generation Recent surveys by ASAE and others suggest nearly 90% of associations are using AI for some type of content generation (e.g., creating blog posts, newsletter articles, “canned” responses to inquiries, etc.). That is great, but when it comes to data management, there are so many more opportunities for leveraging AI. Here are some ideas […]

Older Posts

Opting out and communication preferences

September 4, 2024

Opting out and communication preferences Last week’s newsletter discussed the need for associations to collect mobile phone numbers for use in […]

Are you collecting mobile phone numbers? You should be.

August 28, 2024

Are you collecting mobile phone numbers? You should be. Are you collecting (and using) the mobile phone numbers of your […]

Spend less time on data management and more on higher value activities

August 21, 2024

Spend less time on data management and more on higher value activities Data management is very often tedious work. It’s important, […]

Change anything you want, except your name!

August 7, 2024

Change anything you want, except your name! This is an oldy but a goody, but since it came up with […]

If you don’t trust your vendor…

July 24, 2024

If you don’t trust your vendor… When I start an AMS selection project with a client, one of the first […]

Your RFP should go to no more than five vendors!

July 17, 2024

Your RFP should go to no more than five vendors! As a rule, when I send an RFP to vendors […]

Be concise!

July 10, 2024

Be concise! I started a monthly newsletter almost 25 years ago (which I recently discontinued). And almost six years ago […]

A great example of a data integrity report!

June 26, 2024

A great example of a data integrity report! A couple months back I discussed the importance of data integrity reports. […]

“If you keep doin’ what you’re doin’, you’ll keep gettin’ what you’re gettin’.”

June 5, 2024

“If you keep doin’ what you’re doin’, you’ll keep gettin’ what you’re gettin’.” I saw this line recently (“If you […]

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