Wes’s Wednesday Wisdom

Don’t miss this year’s DAN Science Fair! I’m taking a break from my weekly tips to make the following important announcement: **The third annual Data Analytics Network Data Science Fair is coming on Tuesday, October 7, 2025!**  This is a FREE in-person event in Arlington, VA, taking place from 3pm-5pm (with a happy hour sponsored by Higher […]

Just start. And it’s never done. Last week I had the opportunity to lead a panel discussion about data clean up at the quarterly NetForum Users Group meeting. (Quick plug: If you’re not a member of your AMS users group, join now! And if there isn’t a users group, start one!) At the end of

Don’t ask if you’re not going to answer! In the past week, on three different occasions, I’ve filled out forms on websites requesting more information from the company about their services. These forms are on their websites explicitly for potential buyers to complete so that the company can provide a quote or more specific information about

Seek forgiveness rather than permission “Seek forgiveness, not permission.” I can’t remember when I first heard it, but it made so much sense to me. Rather than asking for permission to do something (which may then require a lot of discussion and haggling), just do what you’re going to do and see what kind of response

Is a 360 degree view necessary? “A 360 degree view of our members should NOT be our goal.” – Joe Colangelo, CEO of Bear Analytics For years, nay decades, I have talked about the desire to have a 360 degree view of our members and customers. It is the holy grail of data management, to be

Why data matters I write about data because managing our data effectively will help us better manage our organizations. Better data can lead to improved marketing and communications, improved revenue, and ultimately help us achieve our mission. Which is why I become so frustrated when I receive email marketing messages from organizations that clearly demonstrate the organization

It’s about process I’m in the midst of adding an AI agent to my website that will allow visitors to query all of the content I’ve created over the past quarter century. I asked the agent what my most common themes have been, and one of the answers I received was “business process.” This doesn’t

Data integrity reports I speak and write a lot about data integrity reports. So I was pleased to see a post recently on ASAE’s Collaborate from Shaun Holloway, Director of Information Technology, at the American Motorcyclist Association, outlining a list of what he called “data hygiene checks.” As a reminder, the purpose of a data integrity

The most important training tip I’ve been sitting in a lot of database training sessions recently, and I’ve been reminded of the following: whether you are doing the training yourself, or you use your vendor or a third-party for training, when you’re teaching a process… Tell them what you’re going to do Do it Tell

Be careful about getting tangled “We had done a lot to tangle ourselves up.” – Bridget Walsh, Chief Operating Officer at Emergency Nurses Association In a discussion at AMS Fest this week, this is how Bridget Walsh characterized what their AMS of 17+ years looked like as they worked to move from their legacy system to a