International Attendees

The Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) and the American Evaluation Association (AEA) welcome attendees from around the world to our joint CES/AEA Evaluation Conference to be held October 24-30, 2005 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This page is designed to help international attendees learn more about CES's and AEA's international outreach, available resources, and ways to make the most of the conference experience. Click on any of the topics below to go directly to more information.

Letters of Invitation

For many people, letters of invitation help smooth the visa process and we wish to support international attendees in their efforts to secure the needed travel documentation. However, in order to receive a letter of invitation, the conference organizers must have some assurance that you intend to attend the conference if your travel request is granted. Letters will be issued to those meeting any ONE of the following criteria:

  • You have been a member of CES or AEA since prior to 12/31/2004
  • You are scheduled to present at the annual conference
  • You have completed and paid for 2005 conference registration
  • You have won an AEA international travel award
  • You can provide evidence of your work or study in the field of evaluation

If you require a letter of invitation in order to attend the annual conference, please email the following information to Kathy Jones in the CES office at kathy.jones@thewillowgroup.com. Due to the conference being held in Canada, AEA is unable to directly issue letters of invitation this year.

  • An indication of which of the five criteria above you meet, including documentation of your work or study in the field of evaluation if you meet only criteria #5
  • The full address that should appear on the letter
  • The name and title of the person to whom the letter should be addressed
  • Whether you prefer that the letter be mailed or faxed (and provide a fax number if the latter is preferred)
  • Any other information that you believe is needed in order to process your request for a letter or to develop the letter of invitation (sample in Microsoft Word).

Letters of invitation will be either faxed or mailed via the Canadian Postal Service using standard international delivery. Due to the costs involved, CES cannot send letters of invitation via courier or express mail services. We strongly encourage you to make your request at the earliest date possible. Requests received after October 7 may not be able to be honored. Letters of invitation are sent within three working days of receipt of all requested information. If you have questions about obtaining a letter of invitation, please direct them to Kathy Jones in the CES office via email at kathy.jones@thewillowgroup.com or via phone at 613-725-2526.

International and Cross-cultural Topical Interest Group (ICCE TIG)

The International and Cross-cultural Topical Interest Group focuses on knowledge and information sharing about evaluation in the areas of:

  • International settings, policies and programs, with emphasis on developing countries
  • Economic, social, and human development programs and projects
  • Cross-cultural programs and projects.

At the conference, the ICCE TIG sponsors a strand of sessions focusing on their areas of interest. Under each session listed in the program, you can find its TIG sponsor. This is a great way to narrow down selections during the timeslots when you have over 20 sessions from which to choose! The full program will be posted online in September. The full list of TIGs may be found at http://eval.org/tigs.html.

Nametags

When you check in at the conference registration desk, you will receive your hardcopy program and nametag that indicates the country from which you hail. The nametag serves as a wonderful networking tool throughout the conference. Having your country shown on your nametag is sure to start up conversation about evaluation, and life, in your part of the world.

Registration

All attendees and presenters must pay for registration at CES/AEA Evaluation Conference 2005. Registration forms, and online registration, may be accessed by clicking here. Most international registrants should register through the Canadian Evaluation Society. We recommend that you browse through the rest of this site, especially our frequently asked questions pages, and the information page for the hotel.

Questions

Please address questions about registration and logistics to Heidi Nye or Heidi McNeil in the AEA office at heidi@eval.org

Please address questions about opportunities for international attendees to the chair of the International and Cross-cultural TIG, Zenda Ofir, at zenda@evalnet.co.za 

We look forward to seeing you in October!