My name is Susan Kistler, and I am the Executive Director for the American Evaluation Association. I contribute each Saturday’s aea365 alert. Summer is winding down and I know that over 2500 of you are finalizing your plans for attending AEA’s annual conference this November in San Antonio. Even if you won’t be able to join us in Texas, evaluators are a traveling bunch – from visiting clients to conducting site visits to providing capacity building and training, evaluators are out and about. So, this week I’m sharing three resources that I have found to be invaluable in preparing for travel.

Hot Tip – SeatGuru: SeatGuru provides airlines seating charts for almost all flights on major airlines. You enter an airline and a flight and it shows you the type of plane and then a seat map indicating which seats are good, get mixed reviews, or are bad, including providing information about such things as ending up beside lines to the lavatories or non-reclining seats. I never choose seats on a long flight without a quick check on SeatGuru first. A few years ago, thanks to SeatGuru, my husband and I shared the only pair of seats that had extra legroom and were two-across in coach from the United States to South Korea! These seats didn’t even appear on the airline’s own online seat charts.

Hot Tip – CompareAirlineFees: This site does exactly what you would expect. It provides a chart comparing airline fees (baggage fees, change fees, unaccompanied minor fees) for US-based airlines. While many sites have such charts, and none are always accurate given the rapidly changing landscape of fees, I find the ones here to be most regularly updated and formatted for easy reading.

Hot Tip – TripAdvisor: TripAdvisor is a group-sourced travel website with reviews of hotels and destination activities as well as ideas for what to do (check out the traveler lists). The key to TripAdvisor is to be a smart consumer of the reviews – look for recommendations that have been reviewed by multiple travelers and give more weight to reviews from people who have provided lots of reviews across different places (click on a contributor’s name to see all of her or his reviews).

The above opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the American Evaluation Association. See you in San Antonio!

This contribution is from the aea365 Tip-a-Day Alerts, by and for evaluators, from the American Evaluation Association. Please consider contributing – send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org.

conference, flights, Travel

My name is Matt Keene and I work with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Evaluation Support Division, where I help to coordinate the Environmental Evaluators Network (EEN). The purpose of the EEN is to advance the field of environmental evaluation through more systematic and collective learning. The EEN’s 5^th annual Forum will be held in Washington D.C. June 7-8, 2010.

A hurricane is a powerful and complex system. As it spins and gathers strength out over the ocean, some of its energy is transferred to the water’s surface… stirring it up, causing chaos. But nature seeks stability. The new energy in the ocean organizes into waves that move away from the hurricane’s eye and toward a destination where it will get to work on a rocky point or a sandy beach.

Hot Tip: Join the EEN LinkedIn Group to connect and collaborate. I like to think about the Environmental Evaluators Network as part of the organizing process existing mainly in the space between the eye of the storm and the coast. Demands for evidence of ‘what works’ have stirred things up and the resulting groundswell causes some to float and some to sink though they may be distant from decisions to measure and evaluate. There are many and diverse interests in the space between storm and shore. The EEN facilitates more efficient self-ordering in that space so that we are more systematic and purposeful in channeling information flows and surfacing goals and incentives that sustain a more effective environmental community. Join the EEN LinkedIn Group at http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1773788&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr.

Rad Resource: Have a gander at the website www.nfwf.org/een and agendas, presentations and participants of past and future EEN events. The emphasis on evidence is not exclusive to one country or one organization but is globally disperse, so – naturally – EEN nodes are forming. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and The George Washington University Trachtenberg School as co-sponsors. And in addition to the annual Forum in Washington D.C., Environment Canada will host its 3^rd EEN event in September 2010, while planning is underway for 2011 events in Europe, Mexico and the Hawaiian Islands.

Rad Resource: Check out journal editions written and edited by EEN participants.

• New Directions in Evaluations – Environmental Program and Policy Evaluation: New Directions for Evaluation, Summer 2009*
• Evaluation and Program Planning – Challenges in Evaluation of Environmental Education Programs and Policies, May 2010

Cool Tricks: Getting to work as performance requirements pound the coast…

*If you are an American Evaluation Association member, you have free electronic access to all past volumes of New Directions – just sign on to the AEA website using your AEA username and password and navigate over to the journals under the Members Only menu.

conference, Environment, Environmental Program Evaluation, EPE, Linkedin

My name is Jane Peters, and I am the owner of a 19 person firm in Portland Oregon that conducts process and market evaluations of energy efficiency, renewable energy program and other resource conserving programs. I am a 20-year member of AEA and a board member of the International Energy Program Evaluation Conference (IEPEC), which holds a biannual conference on energy program evaluation. I have been doing energy program evaluation since the early 1980s and have seen interest in energy efficiency wax and wane several times. Today, energy efficiency is a top-of-mind issue and evaluation for energy programs is a growth field.

Energy program evaluation functions in a regulatory environment. Regulators set the policies that provide the funds for energy programs and typically require evaluations to assess program saving impacts and make recommendations to improve the program cost effectiveness. Regulators are very busy and most do not have a deep understanding of evaluation, as a consequence many tend to have high expectations for evaluation.

Hot Tip: Outreach and inclusion of regulators increases their understanding of evaluation. The IEPEC does outreach to regulators about IEPEC conferences, provides funding for regulators to attend the conference, sponsors panels at each conference including regulators, and including at least one regulator on the planning committee. This approach brings those who really need evaluations to see how as one of my colleagues says “the sausage is made.” They hear of various methodological issues that contribute to confusing results and learn of programs that are being effective.

This intentional strategy of engagement has been beneficial to evaluators who learn more of the regulatory point of view and to regulators who become more cognizant of the challenges and opportunities of program evaluation.

Hot Tip and Invitation: To learn more about energy program evaluation visit www.iepec.org. For over 25 years energy program evaluators have wrestled with issues of estimation of gross and net savings, how to improve energy programs, how to reach different audiences as well as barriers and opportunities to adoption of energy efficient equipment and behaviors. To help new energy program evaluators be effective, the IEPEC has posted electronic copies of all papers that have been published in conference proceedings since 1999; earlier conference proceedings may be posted in the near future.

Funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy is increasing and is likely to continue to grow in the future. Because this is policy based, opportunities for evaluators to engage with energy programs will expand along with the funding.

This contribution is from the aea365 Daily Tips blog, by and for evaluators, from the American Evaluation Association. Please consider contributing – send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org.

conference, energy, Environment, Environmental Program Evaluation, papers, regulators

We are the Green Team, aka Kim Walker and Karen Truesdale, members of the organizing committee for the 2010 Conference of the Canadian Evaluation Society. Our role is to encourage practices that optimize the environmental impact of this large conference.

Why worry about being “green”? …. during a typical five day conference, 500 attendees will use 62,500 plates, 87,500 napkins, 75,000 cups or glasses and 90,000 cans or bottles. Plus there are all the greenhouse emissions from people traveling to and from the conference and paper and plastic waste from conference handouts. (www.meetgreen.com)

There are many online resources that can help and specialists who can offer estimates in advance and both quantitative and qualitative assessments after the event. Here is just one company that provided this service for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC (www.offsetters.ca).

Rad Resource: Optimizing the environmental impact of a project such as this large conference involves assessing the potential for both negative and positive impacts. We developed a green conference checklist to help us identify where we can make environmentally friendly choices with our venue, programming and other conference activities. We also considered offsite activities, or secondary effects related to the conference – and have given delegates information on what they can do personally to reduce their carbon footprint and support environmentally sustainable practices during their visit (http://www.vanaqua.org/oceanwise/sustainable-seafood.html).

Our environmental evaluation will include input from the attendees via a post-conference survey, interviews with other members of the organizing committee, and observations made during the conference. Our checklist provides the framework for survey questions and observations.

Including an environmental evaluation component to this year’s conference is particularly apt, given focus of our conference – Going Green, Gold and Global: New Horizons for Evaluation (http://c2010.evaluationcanada.ca). What could be more appropriate than to plan for, and then evaluate green initiatives for our conference!

Rad Resource: One of our keynote speakers is Simon Jackson, founder of the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition. Simon was noted as one of Time Magazine’s 60 Heroes of the Planet and he will be speaking on “The Power of One”. We also have a great lineup of workshops and presentations on evaluation in an environmental context, including:

• Water management system in Costa Rica and its impact of water
• Trends in environmental evaluation in Canada, United States and internationally
• Evaluation of the federal leadership in environmental and energy performance for sustainability
• Water and development and the World Bank support
• Impact oriented evaluations system and the environment
• Participants’ motives and means in environmental evaluations
• Bio-economic models of evaluation of fisheries related programs

Hot Tip: We are expecting an inspiring conference. Join us in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 to May 5 to Go Green, Gold, and Global!

This contribution is from the aea365 Daily Tips blog, by and for evaluators, from the American Evaluation Association. Please consider contributing – send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org.

Canada, checklist, conference, Environment, Environmental Program Evaluation

My name is Susan Kistler, and I am the American Evaluation Association’s Executive Director. It is my pleasure to contribute each Saturday’s post to the aea365 blog. Today, I’m writing about hot tips for making the most of San Antonio. Now, one might point out that this is a blog on hot tips for evaluators. Yet, I write from a hotel room in lovely SA where I’m doing a preparatory work for the AEA’s annual conference. Since there will be over 2500 evaluators in San Antonio in November, tips for making the most of SA are tips for evaluators!

Hot Tip: Use the Riverwalk to get around downtown. The Riverwalk is lovely and meanders around the center of town at a level below the city so that rather than cars and stoplights, you see beautifully landscaped green spaces, festively lit restaurants, and the reflection of it all in the river waters.

Hot Tip: Visit the Alamo to get a bit of history. The Alamo is right in the middle of town, easily walked to from any hotel and just off the Riverwalk. It’s free to visit and learn of the historic battle and a perfect respite for an hour out of a busy day.

Hot Tip: See the Missions and use a hop-on, hop-off bus pass. San Antonio has a hop-on, hop-off tour bus that allows you to get a feel for the city’s history and sights, and to get to two of the outlying missions that are too distant for a walk. This visit was among my favorite places in the city.

Hot Tip: Arrive a day early to be sure you have time to explore the city, including La Villita. La Villita is an historic arts village a short three-block walk from AEA’s conference headquarters hotel. Stop in one of the many small shops for handcrafts from local artisans.

Hot Tip: Come hungry! San Antonio has amazing cuisine, from the best of tex-mex to four-star eateries from top chefs. Stop by the Colonial Room at the Menger, next door to the Alamo, to eat where Teddy Roosevelt recruited the Rough Riders. Try a meal at the Emily Morgan hotel’s Oro restaurant for cutting edge fusion with great ingredients, or seek out Boudro’s on the Riverwalk for upscale Texas bistro cuisine at its best.

Hot Tip: Visit a museum. There is a museum for everyone in San Antonio. My favorite so far is the Institute of Texan Cultures – only a block away from our main hotel – that celebrates the 20+ cultural groups that settled in Texas; and tonight I hope to catch the new outdoor art installation along the Riverwalk.

This contribution is from the aea365 Daily Tips blog, by and for evaluators, from the American Evaluation Association. Please consider contributing – send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org.

aea2010, conference, San Antonio

My name is Susan Kistler, and I am the American Evaluation Association’s Executive Director. It is my pleasure to contribute each Saturday’s post to the aea365 blog. AEA’s Call for Proposals for our 2010 annual conference is now online at http://www.eval.org/eval2010/default.asp. We welcome submissions that explore the breadth and depth of the field – this post is designed to give you a bit of insider help if you are new to AEA proposal submission.

Hot Tips: Here is a set of 8 tips for success when submitting a proposal to present at AEA’s annual conference, Evaluation 2010:

1. Start Early: Review the Proposal Submission Forms and begin collecting your materials well ahead of the proposal submission deadline of March 19, 2010
2. Focus on Evaluation Issues Rather Than Findings: Your audience will be evaluators, focus on evaluation process/management/planning/methodology topics – present findings to ground discussions of context or use but not as the primary focus
3. Choose a Discussion-focused Format if You are a New Presenter: Review the list of session types, and perhaps consider a poster or roundtable if you are a fledgling presenter – these formats are more intimate and discussion-focused, and don’t require a formal stand-up presentation
4. Understand the Presenter Limits: For AEA, presenters may appear within proposals no more than twice as a primary presenter and twice as a discussant – an extended explanation is on the Conference FAQ page – because of these limits, extend invites for multi-presenter sessions early to ensure availability for hoped-for co-presenters
5. Spell and Grammar Check: Your proposal is an opportunity to put your best foot forward, be sure that it is professional and readable when submitted
6. Use the Space Available: You’ll have up to 500 words to describe the relevance of your proposal, while you need not use 499, take advantage of the space to make a strong argument for its inclusion on the program
7. Plan to Submit at Least a Day in Advance of the Deadline: If you have technology, weather, or personal challenges at the last minute, you will have a cushion that allows you to meet the deadline
8. Use the Proposal Submission Checklist: We uploaded a Proposal Submission Checklist to the AEA eLibrary to help as you prepare

Bonus Tip – Book Your Room Early: While this has nothing to do with proposal submission, experienced presenters know to book as soon as the notice comes out about the room block availability or it can be a long walk to the headquarters hotel

And, perhaps the best tip of all? If you have questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact the AEA staff. We’re here to help! Try info@eval.org or 1-508-748-3326.

This contribution is from the aea365 Daily Tips blog, by and for evaluators, from the American Evaluation Association. Please consider contributing – send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org.

aea2010, conference, proposals