Welcome to the Independent Consultants week! I’m Lisa Kaczmarczyk, Owner of Lisa Kaczmarczyk PhD Consulting, LLC and 2022 Chair of the IC TIG. Our TIG members, often referred to affectionately as IC TIGgers, are an incredibly active and engaged group (some of you may remember from childhood stories that certain Tiggers like to Bounce). IC TIGgers are also a diverse group, coming from a wide range of backgrounds and specializing in pretty much every aspect of evaluation that you can think of.
When you are an Independent Consultant (IC) you may feel at first that you are all on your own. But it doesn’t have to be that way because the IC TIG is here for you.
Rad Resources
The IC TIG has a jam packed monthly newsletter (we are building out an archive here) that contains pointers to our offerings, events, professional development listings, and opportunities to become more involved should you so wish. Our Discussion Board within AEA is active – nary a week goes by without several conversations popping into my Inbox. People ask questions, provide advice, share resources and unofficial product reviews, and give all around encouragement when needed.
Hot Tip
We will have an active presence at the AEA conference in New Orleans. We are still working on the details, but we hope to continue our tradition of having a joyful and productive gathering. We like to combine having fun and getting things done! Anyone is welcome: new to being an IC, been around a while, or just thinking about it. Details about the IC TIG AEA conference gathering will be in a future Newsletter.
Lesson Learned
I attended my first AEA conference in Atlanta in 2016 not knowing a single person. And I mean no one! It was a humbling experience. Fast-forward to 2022, and I have dozens of IC friends and colleagues – thanks in great part to the IC TIG. I’m ever so glad I walked into those first IC TIG events and started talking to people.
Being successfully “Independent” is not just about working for yourself, but about a mindset. For this week of AEA365 posts, we have assembled articles that are serious, funny, thought-provoking, educational. We hope that there will be something there for everyone and that you enjoy this peek into what it means to be an Independent Evaluation Consultant.
The American Evaluation Association is celebrating IC TIG Week with our colleagues in the Independent Consulting Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from our IC TIG members. 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. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.