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Canadian Evaluation Conference – Going Green, Gold, and Global

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 …

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Stewart Lee on Social Networking for Evaluators

My name is Stewart Lee and I am a graduate student at Mississippi State University, as well as an independent evaluation consultant. Lately, I’ve been working with other independent consultants as well as small business owners who feel the need for web sites/blogs/and social networking sites associated with their business. The advent of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the like have generated a divide …

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Jonny Morell on Logic Models and Unintended Consequences

My name is Jonny Morell. I’m a senior policy analyst at the Vector Research Center for Enterprise Improvement, a division of TechTeam Government Solutions. I have been writing a lot about two topics – unexpected behavior in programs, and logic models. Recently these have been knitting together in my mind. I’m beginning to appreciate how …

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Glenn O’Neil on Evaluating Communications Programs Using ToC

Hello, I am Glenn O’Neil and specialize in evaluating communication programs and campaigns with my own company, Owl RE. My post today is about how to use the theory of change in evaluating communication programs. Hot tip: there is nothing so practical as a theory of change! The theory of change maps out from activities to …

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Molly Engle on Evaluation as an Everyday Activity

Molly Engle on Evaluation as an Everyday Activity Hello. I am Molly Engle, the Evaluation Specialist for the Oregon State University Extension Service and a past president of the AEA. For over 10 years my role has been building evaluation capacity and providing evaluation resources to over 250 faculty members. Although these individuals are well …

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Derrick Gervin on Tips for New Evaluators

My name is Derrick Gervin and I currently work as a Lead Evaluator at The Evaluation Group (TEG) in Atlanta, Georgia. I work with school systems and nonprofit organizations to improve student achievement. After completing my first six months as a full-time evaluator, I would like to share some tips with other newcomers to evaluation. …

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Susan Kistler on Free/Low-cost Software for Evaluation for Nonprofits

My name is Susan Kistler and I am the Executive Director for the American Evaluation Association. I contribute each Saturday’s post to the aea365 blog. This week I am writing from Atlanta at the Nonprofit Technology conference. Do you work for or with nonprofit organizations? Have you experienced challenges due to financial constraints that make …

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John Nash on Creating Outstanding Presentation Slides

My name is John Nash, and I am an associate professor at Iowa State University in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with a joint appointment in Human Computer Interaction. I’m also a program strategist, evaluator, and design geek. Today I’d like to share ways to improve slide presentations. Hot Tip: Know Your Audience …

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Lija Greenseid on Using a Readability Calculator

My name is Lija Greenseid. I am a Senior Evaluator, with Professional Data Analysts, Inc. in Minneapolis, MN. We conduct evaluations of stop-smoking programs. Smokers generally have lower education and literacy levels than the general population. Therefore, we want to make sure the materials we develop are understandable to smokers. Rad Resource: Use a “readability …

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Ann Zukoski on Participatory Evaluation Approaches

My name is Ann Zukoski and I am a Senior Research Associate at Rainbow Research, Inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded as a nonprofit organization in 1974, Rainbow Research’s mission is to improve the effectiveness of socially-concerned organizations through capacity building, research, and evaluation. Projects range in scale from one-time program evaluations to multi-year, multi-site research …

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