Wes's Weekly Wisdom Archives

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 […]

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 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 […]

Baby Steps A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. You have to walk before you run. Baby steps. Just do it. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. (My personal favorite.) My clients often lament how overwhelming it can be to think about cleaning up their data. […]

Sometimes what you’re using IS the best option I love technology and I’m inherently lazy, so I love it when technology can do the work for me. But sometimes, there is no technology to do the task at hand, or the technology is too expensive or “too big” for the job. For example, I was […]

Do they hate the system? When an association asks me for help finding a new AMS, I always ask if there’s any chance the association would be interested in keeping their current system (perhaps upgrading it to the latest version). Fixing what you have is almost always less expensive and less disruptive than implementing a […]

Artificial Intelligence is the next revolution in data management I’ve been in the data management business for over 35 years now (and even longer if you count my days in 4-H!). And over those years I’ve seen many examples of what was supposed to be “the next revolution in data management.” In my opinion, there have […]

There’s always gonna be something I’ve been consulting for 26 years now and I’m still sometimes surprised to learn that no matter how much due diligence you do, you’ll still miss things. Case in point: Working with a client recently on a system conversion, we discovered that the new system placed Puerto Rico, Guam, and […]

Eyes wide open and affirmative decision-making When I work with my clients on any type of project, whether it’s selection of a new system or improving data management within the organization, I always emphasize one thing: When we make decisions, we want to make them with eyes wide open. What I mean is this: Any […]

Honoring an industry legend I’m taking a break from my usual data management tips to acknowledge the passing of an industry legend. Last week, Loretta DeLuca, CEO of DelCor, passed away. For those of you who didn’t know Loretta, she was the CEO of DelCor, an IT consulting firm, that has served the association market for […]

You CAN compete with the big guys… In my experience, associations often undersell their actual ability to provide high level service to their members and customers. I often hear association staff say “We can’t compete against the huge budgets of giant for-profit companies.” But I think it’s important that we keep in mind that even […]

Join (or start) your users group! Today’s message is simple: If the AMS you’re using has a users group, you should join it and be active in it. If they don’t have one, start one on your own! (Click here for tips on how to do that.) On an almost weekly basis I’m reminded of […]

They don’t care, until they care. One of the more common questions I get from my clients is “How can we keep contact info up to date on our members, especially when they change jobs?” My (glib) answer is always the same: “Your members don’t care about you or even think about you…until it matters […]

Longfellow and data management “We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing while others judge us by what we have already done.” – From the novel Kavanagh by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow And what does that have to do with data management, you ask? The first half says “we judge ourselves by what we feel capable […]

Do you really need all that historical data? A question I’ll often get from my clients as they’re making the transition from one AMS to another is “How much historical data do we need to convert?” My preferred answer is always “None.” The easiest data conversions are those with the least amount of data. But […]

AI actually requires thinking “I don’t think AI introduces a new kind of thinking. It reveals what actually requires thinking.” – Chip Huyen, author of the book AI Engineering. I have very little to add to the current expansive discussion of AI surrounding us, but this simple quote encapsulates an important point. AI won’t replace the thinking […]

It’s not the mistakes, but how you respond Recently a client was complaining about a bug that had been introduced in the latest release of their software. She was very upset that the bug hadn’t been caught before the release. While I understand her frustration, bugs are a reality of software. The real test here is how the […]