Blog: Wes’s thoughts, articles, and insights

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My most recent posts

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 […]

Who own the AMS company is like the weather…

By Wes Trochlil | September 9, 2026

Who own the AMS company is like the weather… When I work with clients to find a new AMS, one of the most common questions I get is: “Is the software company owned by private equity or is it privately owned?” While I think this is a legitimate question to ask and have answered, it […]

Older Posts

Are you attending your users conference?

May 3, 2010

A recent notice for an AMS vendor’s annual users conference reminded me of how supremely important user conferences are. I’ve […]

Three Reasons Why You Need a Formal Tracking System – New Article Posted

April 20, 2010

A new article has been posted to my website. When issues are raised during a project, there are three challenges […]

It's like testing a new plane with passengers on board…

April 8, 2010

Would you fly in an airplane that had never been tested? Of course not. Yet every day, associations are using […]

Kudos to ASAE for Responding to Survey Results

April 6, 2010

In the past I’ve written about how much I hate taking surveys. (Read that here.) One of the reasons I […]

Avectra Appoints New CEO

March 26, 2010

Avectra has appointed Richard Davis as CEO of the company. You can read all the details here: http://www.avectra.com/Pages/AvectraAppointsNewCEO.aspx Changes at […]

Don't Just Do Something, Stand There! – New Article Posted

March 23, 2010

A new article has been posted to my website. Sometimes, no action is better than some action. It’s times like […]

CDC Acquires Computility

March 19, 2010

CDC Software has purchased Computility, an AMS provider. You can read more about the acquisition here. CDC also recently purchased gomembers, […]

Some Data Conversion Tips

March 9, 2010

I was recently asked for some guidelines on data conversion, when moving from one database to another. Here are some […]

2010 Snowpocalypse Survey Results

March 1, 2010

David Gammel has a nice post on the results of our Snowpocalypse Survey. Click here to see that post. As David […]

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