AEA Colleagues,

We have a great lineup for the coming month including a new TIG Focus Week and a new webinar tomorrow (be sure to sign up today at http://bit.ly/aeademos). I hope you'll get involved!

Over the next month or so, we have:

• New! The Collaborative, Participatory, and Empowerment (CPE) TIG hosting our first TIG Focus Week with a sponsored demonstration, a week's worth of posts to the AEA365 blog, and suggestions from the AEA eLibrary via the headlines and resources updates.
• Deadlines coming up for the Call for Proposals for the Annual Conference and the Call for Nominations for the AEA Board of Directors.
  
• Five demonstrations as part of our Coffee Break Demonstration Series - these free, short 20-minute webinars introduce a tool or process used by your evaluation colleagues and give you insight regarding where and how to learn more (be sure to pre-register - see below).
• Rodney Hopson sharing his expertise via the Thought Leaders Discussion Series - this series connects thought leaders in our field with AEA members, new and old alike, via the online Thought Leader's Forum*.
  
• Thirty new contributions to the AEA365 blog that highlights a tip-a-day from and for evaluators, including a week's contributions from your colleagues in the Collaborative, Participatory, and Empowerment TIG. You can read the postings to date, subscribe, and add your comments at http://aea365.org/blog/
• The week's Headlines and Resources list is posted each Sunday to AEA's listserv EVALTALK or New! may be subscribed for a once-a-week emailed update via http://bit.ly/aeahl - this month, we'll highlight in particular eLibrary contributions from our CPE colleagues as well as announcements, events, and resources from across the field.
  
  *Note the forum name change - formerly the President's Forum, the Thought Leaders Forum appears more descriptive. You need not resubscribe if you are already subscribed to the President's Forum.
  

Important - Your Username: You will need your AEA username to register for webinars, yours is:

·         Coffee Break Demonstration: Thursday, February 18, 2:00-2:20 PM EST: Using Jing for Teaching and Learning - Theresa Murphrey
Audience: General Audience
Description: Theresa Murphrey of Texas A&M University will demonstrate how to use Jing and describe the ways in which it has facilitated her classroom and distance-based teaching. Jing is a free online technology that allows you to create an easily shared, voice-annotated video of what is seen on the computer screen. Describe a website, demonstrate a process, provide feedback on student work - explore the possibilities!
Register: Free for AEA members (you will need your AEA username) - register at
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/670387265

·         Coffee Break Demonstration: Thursday, March 4, 2:00-2:20 PM EST: Using Blogger for Evaluation Communication - David Fetterman
Sponsor: Collaborative, Participatory, and Empowerment TIG
Audience: General Audience
Description: Blogging is a free, easy to use technology to assist you in evaluation. It has the look of a web page, but is more dynamic and invites comments and exchanges. Instead of being used to talk about yourself, blogging can be used to report about your evaluation. Using Blogger, a blogging platform, David Fetterman, of Fetterman & Associates, will demonstrate how to set up, format, and post to a blog. He will also show examples of blogs being used as part of evaluation practice.
Register: Free for AEA members (you will need your AEA username) - register at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/513753728

·         Deadline - Call for Nominations for the AEA Board of Directors: Friday, March 5: Consider lending your knowledge and expertise, building your professional network, and serving AEA and the field through service on the Board of Directors. Go to http://www.eval.org/aea10.board.nominations.asp

·         Thought Leaders: Week of March 7-13, 2010: Rodney Hopson
March's thought leader, Rodney Hopson, has served on the AEA Board of Directors and served as the founding chair of the Graduate Education Diversity Internship Program. He has helped the association and the field to explore issues related to i) research on evaluation, especially in a recent National Science Foundation study on logic model use (with Rosalie Torres), ii) study and application of program evaluation standards for the third edition of Program Evaluation Standards (with Don Yarbrough, Lyn Shula, and Flora Caruthers), and iii) understanding the role of culture and context within evaluation and related disciplines. Hopson is the Hillman Distinguished Professor in Sociolinguistics, Ethnography, and Evaluation, Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership in the School of Education, and faculty member in the Center for Interpretive and Qualitative Research, Duquesne University.
How to participate and Frequently Asked Questions

·         Coffee Break Demonstration: Thursday, March 18, 2:00-2:20 PM EST: Using AEA's Resources to Find Jobs and Contracts - Susan Kistler
Audience: General Audience
Description: Are you a new job seeker, an experienced consultant hoping to expand your contract work, or an evaluator seeking a change after years in the field? We'll look at ways to use the AEA resources and programs, including the Career Center, Find an Evaluator listings, and community more broadly, to identify and secure jobs and contracts. Plus, a handout identifying top tips for success will help you on your way.
Register: Free for AEA members (you will need your AEA username) - register at  https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/712304593

·         Deadline - Call for Proposals for Evaluation 2010: Friday, March 19: Submit your proposals online for the November conference in San Antonio. Go to http://www.eval.org/eval2010/default.asp

·         Coffee Break Demonstration: Tuesday, March 23, 2:00-2:20 PM EST: Using the Advocacy Progress Planner to Build Logic Models for Advocacy Planning and Evaluation - David Devlin-Foltz and Astrid Hendricks
Sponsor: Advocacy & Policy Change and Nonprofits & Foundations TIGs
Audience: General audience with a basic understanding of advocacy evaluation &logic models
Description: David Devlin-Foltz of the Aspen Institute and Astrid Hendricks of the California Endowment will be demonstrating the Advocacy Progress Planner (APP), a free online tool that facilitates building logic models for advocacy planning and evaluation. Straightforward enough to be used by advocates and foundation staff, yet powerful enough for evaluators to find it valuable, the APP walks users step through logic model creation, asking questions along the way, and allowing for ongoing refinement.
Register: Free for AEA members (you will need your AEA username) - register at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/547891297

·         Coffee Break Demonstration: Tuesday, March 30, 2:00-2:20 PM EST: Using Google Wave for Improved Communication for Evaluators- Stephanie Evergreen
Audience: General Audience
Description: Why Wave? Google Wave is a new, free, tool to communicate and collaborate online. In this webinar, Stephanie Evergreen will demonstrate its usefulness in the daily life of an evaluator, through a detailed tour of how this free product has improved the quality of interactions with colleagues and stakeholders.
Register: Free for AEA members (you will need your AEA username)- register at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/383850105

If I may be of assistance, please do not hesitate to call on me.