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Session Title: Still Learning, After All These Years
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Panel Session 841 to be held in International Ballroom E on Saturday, November 10, 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM
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Sponsored by the Independent Consulting TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Deborah Bonnet,
DBonnet Associates,
dbonnet@dbonnet.com
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| Discussant(s):
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| Michael Quinn Patton,
Independent Consultant,
mqpatton@prodigy.net
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| Michael Hendricks,
Independent Consultant,
mikehendri@aol.com
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| Marilyn Ray,
Finger Lakes Law and Social Policy Center Inc,
mlr17@cornell.edu
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| Abstract:
A panel of seasoned evaluation consultants will attempt to demonstrate that evaluation practice offers rich opportunities for life-long learning. To begin, each panelist will describe something new they learned in 2007 - a fact, principle, skill, or insight that will influence their evolving evaluation or business practices. The discussion will focus on learning as a shared value of the evaluation profession and ways to sustain our learning curve trajectories over several decades in the field.
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Old Tricks, New Territory
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| Deborah Bonnet,
DBonnet Associates,
dbonnet@dbonnet.com
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Deborah Bonnet began evaluation consulting in 1974 and formed her own firm in 1982. She is now re-igniting her solo evaluation practice after a three-year stint as vice president for evaluation of a national start-up foundation. Her 2007 projects include standard fare for members of AEA: a community needs assessment and two multi-site evaluations of programs calling for school-community collaboration (one state, one national; one K-12, one postsecondary; one about college access, the other about civic engagement). She also had a rare opportunity to apply common evaluation methods to a challenge normally relegated to financial analysts: seeking explanations for a seemingly paradoxical pattern across several measures of a foundation's investment portfolio performance.
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There's a First for Everything
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| John Seeley,
Federal Emergency Relief Administration,
jaseeley@aol.com
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John Seeley co-founded Formative Evaluation Research Associates (FERA) more than 30 years ago. FERA's mission is to enhance the performance of nonprofit organizations that are attempting to improve the quality of life for any person. Its current emphasis is to work with intermediaries that are supporting nonprofits.
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Life Lessons 2007: The Secrets of Senior Evaluators Revealed!
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| Gail Barrington,
Barrington Research Group Inc,
gbarrington@barringtonresearchgrp.com
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Based on recent case study research she conducted on lifecycle events among senior evaluators, as well as on her own reflections regarding experiences during the past rather eventful year, Gail will share some insights about what senior evaluators really think and what they want to do with the rest of their lives. While some may think about retirement, others find that their career has turned into something much bigger and much more exciting!
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