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Susan Kistler on the AEA Thought Leaders Forum

Happy Saturday aea365 readers! My name is Susan Kistler and I am the Executive Director Emeritus at the American Evaluation Association (AEA) and a regular contributor to aea365. We try not to write very often about programs that are for AEA members-only but today I hoped to tell you about one that might entice some nonmembers to join the association.

Hot Tip – Register NOW for Evaluation 2013 Workshops: But first, I wanted to share a late-breaking hot tip (otherwise completely unrelated to this post) that applies to anyone attending Evaluation 2013 (AEA’s annual conference taking place next month in Washington, DC). If you hope to attend a professional development workshop that precedes or follows the conference (there are over 40 from which to choose and I strongly encourage you to sign up for one), register ASAP. A few have already reached their session caps and closed and a number of others are getting close. The descriptions for each may be found online here, as well as links for registration (you’ll use the same registration form as for the conference and can attend a workshop even if you aren’t attending the conference but will be in the DC area): http://www.eval.org/p/cm/ld/fid=194

Rad Resource – AEA Thought Leaders Forum: AEA members can subscribe, for free, to AEA’s Thought Leaders Forum (TLF). The TLF hosts evaluation thought leaders every couple of months for an asynchronous discussion. The Thought Leader raises issues, responds to questions from subscribers, and shares freely of his or her knowledge and expertise over the course of a week. Subscribers can sit back and read the exchange as it arrives in their mail box or can get involved and contribute, raising questions or lending their perspective to the exchange.

Hot Tip – Check the Past Discussions! The Thought Leaders Forum has hosted evaluation luminaries such as Jennifer Greene, Michael Patton, Jane Davidson, Eleanor Chelimsky, Gail Barrington, Mel Mark, and Jim Rugh. Members can log in to the discussion board and scroll backwards to view discussions from previous luminaries.

Hot Tip – Andy Rowe Begins on Wednesday: Our next TLF begins this coming Wednesday, September 25, and runs through October 2. Andy Rowe will be the month’s Thought Leader. Andy’s an economist and evaluator who focuses in particular in the area of sustainable development. New to development evaluation? This is an opportunity to ask Andy about how and why he got involved in that area. Want to learn more about methodological innovation? Ask Andy about methods that he has developed, including Negotiated Alternative and Rapid Impact.

Get Involved – Register for the Forum:

  • AEA members – go here to log in with your AEA username and password and then subscribe
  • Not yet a member of AEA? – go here to learn more about AEA and to access the membership forms

Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

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