From the AES President

The Conference is on the Horizon

Already we are past the shortest day, in the middle of what for many of us is a very cold winter. However, the days are getting lighter and we have the conference in Canberra to look forward to. You will see from the conference brochure that there are a range of interesting sessions on offer, workshops to cater for a variety of professional needs and a stimulating line-up of keynote speakers. There will be the usual opportunities to network and renew former links as well as make new ones. Finding others with similar interests is one of those particular intangible benefits of a conference. Also, it is nice to have the opportunity to hear what others have to say rather than (or as well as) being the provider of information. This year’s theme of Evidence and Evaluation gives us all an opportunity to consider what we and others mean by and value as evidence.  ‘Evidence-based’ has been a catch-cry, particularly in health, for some time now so it is timely to explore what this means for us as commissioners, providers and users of evaluation.

Other AES News

This is an important year for the AES as we implement further changes following on from the Governance Review. The revised constitution will go up on the web so that you will have the opportunity to view it before the AGM. Thank you to Graeme Harvey, Alan Woodward and Neil Porter for their work with the lawyer on this.
The AES workshop programme is well under way this year. My thanks to Paul Chesterton and the Professional Learning Committee, and also to Judy Pearce for ensuring it runs smoothly. Fiona Cram ran a final session of “Valuing Indigenous Knowledge and Doing” in Victoria; Jess Dart presented “Report by Outcomes” in ACT, Queensland, SA (twice) and NT; and Gill Westhorp presented “Getting Real(ist) about Evaluating Community Services” in Wellington, NSW, Queensland and WA. Workshops clearly meet the needs of the evaluation community and are one way of ensuring the wider dissemination of ideas. Workshops at and around the conference will provide even more opportunities for this to occur.

I look forward to seeing many of you in Canberra at the conference!

Associate Professor Jenny Neale - AES President

AES 2009 Canberra Conference

Evidence and Evaluation

31 August – 4 September 2009

The Canberra Conference will soon be upon us with its exciting range of international and local speakers, as well as stimulating pre-conference workshops. Themes and subthemes for the conference include:

Gathering Evidence

collecting evidence for evaluations
analysis of evidence in evaluation

Using Evidence

evidence-based policy
evidence to support change
using evidence for program development and implementation

Evidence and Stakeholders

engaging stakeholders in order to gather sound evidence
giving stakeholders evidence for the effectiveness of evaluation

Key Dates

Early bird registration closes Friday 17th July
Workshops: 31st August – 1st September
Conference: 2nd September – 4th September

A preliminary program can be found at: http://www.aesconference2009.com.au/program.html

Register for the conference by visiting:
http://www.aesconference2009.com.au/registration.html

Queensland Podcasts

The Queensland branch of the AES has recently begun making audio podcasts of our monthly lunchtime seminars. Our aim is to make these seminars more accessible to members in regional areas and other interested people. They can be accessed on the AES website at http://www.aes.asn.au/regions/QLD/.

Our first podcast was the May seminar by Michael Limerick entitled: ‘Evaluating governance and government performance: Case studies of Aboriginal Councils’. The next seminar to be podcast will be presented by Dr Phil Crane on 22 July. Phil will speak about ‘Participatory action research for improving evidence-based service delivery and policy’. Podcasts of other seminars will be made available as far as possible, so keep checking the AES website.

For more information about the process of making podcasts, contact Queensland committee member June Lennie at j.lennie@bigpond.net.au.

(Note: the E-News editor congratulates the Queensland Region for this fantastic use of podcasts and enthusiastically encourages other regions to consider also podcasting seminars and events).

North Queensland Evaluation Network

The QLD region of the AES has a small collection of members in North Queensland who are forming a network of people interested in evaluation. The contact person is Gill Kelly, Evaluation Coordinator at the School of Dentistry and Medicine, James Cook University in Townsville. Gill's email is: gill.kelly@jcu.edu.au . If you are a North Queensland member or know of anyone who may be interested in joining this group, please contact Gill for more information.

Lilian Oh – QLD Regional Representative

Health Economics Seminar Series

Recently, a fascinating series of policy and practice relevant health economics seminars were hosted by the Health Economics Collaborative, a joint initiative of the University of Adelaide, Flinders University, the University of South Australia and SA Health. The seminar topics included ‘the economics of prevention’ and ‘economic evaluation’. These and more can be listened to on podcasts and viewed on podcasts at: http://www.unisa.edu.au/health/health_economic_seminar_series.asp

(Thank you Anne Bosio for this item)

Battle of the Titans – The Claremont Evaluation Debates

Date: August 23 and 24th

Where: Claremont Graduate University (USA) and Online

Major voices in the living history of evaluation will go head-to-head on key issues to how the field is practiced today. Watch them online for free, or join the titans ringside in beautiful Claremont, California, this August during the Claremont Professional Development Workshop Series: < http://www.cgu.edu/workshops >

Sunday, August 23, 12:00-1:30 pm (Pacific)
Michael Quinn Patton vs. Michael Scriven Utilization-Focused Evaluation: Its Promise (Patton) and Pitfalls (Scriven)

Monday, August 24, 12:00-1:30 pm (Pacific)
David Fetterman vs. Michael Scriven and Michael Quinn Patton Empowerment Evaluation: Its Promise (Fetterman) and Pitfalls (Scriven & Patton)

Space for the online event is limited, please visit <http://www.cgu.edu/pages/465.asp > or email Paul.Thomas@cgu.edu to reserve access to a free connection to the debate.

Space for the in-person event is limited, so register today for the debates. Registration includes a buffet luncheon for only $10 per person. Follow this link to save your place today:
< http://www.cgu.edu/pages/4729.asp >

(Thank you to June Lennie for passing on this information put together by Paul Thomas from Claremont University)

International News and Conferences

American Evaluation Society 2009 Conference

Date: November 11 –14, 2009

Theme: Context and Evaluation
Where: Orlando, Colorado

According to the AEA President:

“Focusing on context at the conference will facilitate our ability to look across studies and produce an understanding of the ways context shapes the methods we use, the configuration of our study teams, the nature of the relationships we have, and strategies for disseminating the findings. Through the theme, we will inform current debates and controversies in our field by eliciting information on how best to match methods to context to produce findings that can enlighten decision makers and inform actions. The conference provides an opportunity to address these debates through a rigorous examination of our collective experiences..”

Learn more about the conference at:
http://www.eval.org/eval2009/

UK Evaluation Society (UKES) Annual Conference

Date: November 24 –25, 2009

Theme: Evaluating Impact in the Current Crisis
Where: Holiday Inn London Bloomsbury

According to the conference website:

“The theme of this year’s annual conference takes us back to basics and relates to the perpetual issue taxing all evaluators: how to evaluate impact. The current financial crisis brings this into even sharper focus with many evaluators asking themselves why evaluation does not seem to be answering the key strategic questions facing us today. This environment also brings further uncertainty to evaluators in terms of the complex nature of the economic environment, the stress on evaluation funding and a renewed challenge to demonstrate value for money and the benefits of evaluation.”

Learn more about the conference at:
http://www.profbriefings.co.uk/ukes2009/

Publications News

Publications Committee Report

Members of the Committee have been busily working away on key projects.  I would like to thank them for their ongoing time and commitment to maintaining the publications functions of the Society. There are three specific issues that I would like to draw to the attention of AES members in this issue of E-News.

First, I would like to specifically thank John Owen for all the work he has put into Chairing the Committee over the past years, contributing his valued knowledge and experience, and co-ordinating the efforts of all involved to disseminate information to members of the Society through a variety of channels. John has decided to hand over the reigns of the Committee and is moving onto other endeavours. We look forward to keeping in touch with him and would like to wish him all the very best.

Second I would also like to express our gratitude to Brad Shrimpton for his dedication to the publication of this bulletin over the past number of years.  His work has kept us all up to date across a range of interesting and relevant issues to the evaluation community through the E-News. We would also like to take this opportunity to let you know that this will be the last year in which Brad will be compiling this publication.  Accordingly, the Publications Committee is interested in receiving expressions of interest from members who would like to consider the ongoing role (from 2010 onwards) as Editor of the AES E-Newsletter.  Please address any expressions of interest to me via the AES (aes@aes.asn.au). 

Third, I would like to use this opportunity to canvas members’ interest in and ongoing utilisation of the electronic subscription to ‘Evaluation and Program Planning’.  The Society has been operating an electronic subscription to this journal on a trial basis.  This subscription represents a significant investment to the Society.  Accordingly, we are now in the position of having to determine the ongoing value and cost-benefit to members following the ‘trial’ period. 

I would like to hear from anyone who has accessed the ‘Evaluation and Program Planning’ subscription over the past 6 months in order to receive feedback about:

• The frequency of access to the journal;
• The usefulness of information the journal contains; and
• The impact of discontinuing any subscription upon individual members. 

Please send your feedback to me (publications@aes.asn.au). The Committee will then need to make a determination and recommendation to the Board in relation to ongoing subscription process and the impact this may have across the broader AES membership.

I look forward to meeting and discussing issues with members at the conference in September, where I am also happy to receive more ‘informal’ feedback or enquiries in relation to any of the work of the Publications Committee.

Darren Harris - Publications Committee (Chair)

And also,

Members are reminded that the AES website now features Book Reviews, Reports and Stories.
Visit: http://www.aes.asn.au/publications/

Evaluator Blogs

The wonderful people at AEA have compiled an extensive list of evaluator blogs that range from the sublime to the ridiculous. Blogs include:

- Benchmarking and Evaluation
- Empowerment Evaluation
- Eagle Dawg Blog
- Evaluation Practice

Links to the Blogs can be found at:
http://www.eval.org/Resources/Blogs.asp

Get Involved in Your Regional Branch

To contact your region representative or to access the latest reports and news on upcoming activities at your local AES branch click on the 'Regions' link on the AES website. www.aes.asn.au/regions/

Welcome New Members

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Canberra

New South Wales

Northern Territory

Queensland

South Australia

Tasmania

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Western Australia

Wellington

International

Contact the E-News Editor

If you have contributions or a notice for E-news please email the E-news editor, Brad Shrimpton bshrimpt@unimelb.edu.au