Hello, I am Matt Feldmann, the principal researcher and owner of Goshen Education Consulting, Inc. (http://www.gosheneducationconsulting.com) and the chair for the Independent Consulting TIG (IC TIG). My company focuses on educational evaluation and data support for clients in Southern Illinois. I had a great time at the annual conference. While it was exhausting, I also, weirdly, feel refreshed by meeting with all of my colleagues.
This week we are featuring presenters from our Meet the Pros: Intermediate Consulting Skill-Building Self-help Fair conference session. I believe that this annual conference session is our best IC TIG session because it provides immediately useful information, and it often is the gateway for many new independent consultants to become involved with our TIG. The session was particularly useful for our attendees because we had eight tables setup for folks to circulate in a “speed-dating format.” The attendees received information quickly and this was a great opportunity to network with others.
Lesson Learned: The IC TIG is for more than just independent consultants.
Before I go any further, please note that the Independent Consulting TIG is all about good consulting business practices. Many of our topics are relevant beyond small businesses and have ready application to small evaluation shops such as university centers and institutes, internal evaluation practices, and evaluation departments within larger organizations. Our TIG oriented posts this week are relevant to any evaluators who would like to learn better business practice.
Rad Resources:
In case you are interested in some previous blog posts that would be similar to our Meet the Pros topics consider seeing these past AEA 365 Blogs.
Holly Lewandowski on being new to independent consulting
Matthew Von Hendy’s take on searching for RFPs
Judah Viola’s perspective on building capacity to succeed as an independent consultant
My take on focusing on a niche for your practice.
The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Independent Consulting TIG Week with our colleagues in the IC AEA 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.
Re: good consulting business practices, are you aware of any evaluation consultants (LLCs) or consulting firms (C or S Corps) that adhere to B Corporation principles: https://www.bcorporation.net/what-are-b-corps/the-b-corp-declaration ?
B Corporations are for-profit companies certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Their mission aligns well with AEA’s core values.
Best,
Chad