Blog: Wes’s thoughts, articles, and insights

My most recent posts

Data integrity reports

By Wes Trochlil | July 9, 2025

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

By Wes Trochlil | June 25, 2025

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

By Wes Trochlil | June 18, 2025

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 […]

Discipline. Always discipline.

By Wes Trochlil | June 11, 2025

Discipline. Always discipline. I’ve been producing a newsletter in some form for over 25 years now. I’ve found that certain topics are evergreen; they come up all the time and I feel compelled to write about them again and again. One of those topics is discipline. A quick search of my blog posts shows I’ve […]

Simpler is better

By Wes Trochlil | June 4, 2025

Simpler is better Recently, a client of mine was discussing how they manage membership reinstatements. For example, if a member doesn’t renew within the grace period, is dropped from membership, and then rejoins in less than a year from dropping, are they called a new member, a renewed member, or a reinstatement? After several minutes […]

Older Posts

Trends don’t need perfect data

September 27, 2023

Trends don’t need perfect data When it comes to analyzing data trends (changes in data over time), it’s important to […]

Start with “Why” before you move to “How”

September 20, 2023

Start with “Why” before you move to “How” Something I’ve noticed over my years in consulting is that when there […]

The power of users groups!

September 13, 2023

The power of users groups! Last week I had the honor and pleasure of speaking at the NetForum Users Group Conference. […]

Associations are complex businesses!

September 6, 2023

Associations are complex businesses! One of the reasons managing data at an association can be so challenging is because associations are very […]

Snapshots are required

August 30, 2023

Snapshots are required Recently a couple of different clients have asked me why it’s necessary to take a snapshot of […]

“It’s in the database…”

August 16, 2023

“It’s in the database…” I often joke with my clients that AMS nirvana looks like this: When someone asks “Where […]

Using the Pomodoro Technique for data management

August 9, 2023

Using the Pomodoro Technique for data management I’m a huge fan of the Pomodoro Technique, which is a time management technique […]

You need a PLAN to deal with duplicates

August 2, 2023

You need a PLAN to deal with duplicates Here’s the thing about duplicate records: No matter what you do, you’ll […]

Asking for more is a good sign…

July 26, 2023

Asking for more is a good sign… A client who had recently implemented a new AMS told me: “I’m concerned […]

Scroll to Top