BREAKING NEWS!

We’ve Extended the Deadline

for submitting your presentation proposal for the 2013 Canadian Evaluation Conference! You now have until the 22^nd of February to submit your proposal to Share Your Knowledge at our conference in June. Don’t miss out – submit your proposal now. 

The evaluation conference held annually by the Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) convenes practitioners, innovators, policy-makers, program directors and managers, and other specialists from around the world who are actively engaged or interested in evaluation. We encourage you to be part of the evaluation conversation this year, by delivering a presentation. You’re invited to submit your proposal for consideration for this year’s CES conference before mid-February.

Theme

Conference presentations should be relevant to the 2013 theme of Evaluation Across Boundaries, in which we plan to look at ways of expanding and leveraging the Canadian experience to shape and influence the impact of interventions both locally and globally.

“This theme speaks to both conference structure as well as to encouraging thinking and conversation about ‘boundaries’ - whether they are theoretical, geographic, methodological or social,” says Dawn Campbell-Borland , Program Chair of the CES 2013 Conference. “This year’s national meeting aims to provide delegates with an opportunity to develop their practice, network, share and collaborate.”

But it is also a pause, says Campbell-Borland.  “It’s a time to consider evaluation’s contributions (or not) to the communities we serve, and how we use and evolve evaluation practice to better inform decision-making, policy, affect positive change and influence and communicate the impacts of interventions across all audiences.”

This year, delegates will examine the relationship between evaluators and those evaluated, especially in the context of these four conference strands:

1. Discovery –  What are implications for individual skill-sets and aptitudes? What are impacts to approaches, methodologies, technologies and tools useful and relevant to individual practice and practice quality?
2. Engagement - How can we make evaluation accessible across a whole region? What are implications for the diverse communities we serve?
3. Outreach - What is our role in embedding evaluative thinking and evaluation in our organizations, networks and communities?
4. Network building - How do we expand and leverage the Canadian experience to influence and shape governance in the local and global sphere beyond traditional borders and boundaries?

We’d like to see a mix of different presentation types at our 2013 evaluation conference. You may propose multiple presentations, as long as each submission aligns with a central topic within one of the strands.

Why Present?

Sharing our knowledge and experience is what makes the annual evaluation conference an event that benefits everyone in our profession who attends. It enables us to bounce ideas off other delegates in a positive environment and to get valuable feedback we can use. In addition, the presenters selected are guaranteed the early bird registration rate for the conference.

Selection Process and Notification

If you would like to submit a presentation proposal, you have until Friday 15 February at midnight to get it in, using the online abstract submission system. All proposals submitted will be rated by an independent evaluation conference review committee against the full list of criteria. Completeness and accuracy will count, as will the clarity of your proposal.

We will need to know your audio-visual requirements too for the purpose of delivering the presentation; equipment other than a data projector, PC laptop and screen need to be ordered and paid for by presenters.

The review committee will take account of the presenter’s background and experience, subject matter expertise and geographical location, so include a complete biography showing this information as well as former experience in addressing groups. The committee will make its final decisions known by the end of February and presenters selected can expect to be notified by the first week in March.

Check out our submission page for specific information for sending us your proposal. Don’t delay!

The pre-conference workshops have been one of the highlights of the annual Canadian Evaluation Society’s (CES) conference for several years. Not only do these workshops give delegates a chance to settle in and change gears from their daily schedules, but they provide the opportunity for hands-on, interactive exploration of a variety of skills or knowledge areas. To that end, CES Toronto 2013 is currently calling for proposals for the June workshops, and you have two weeks left in which to get your submission in.

Focus on Professional Development

In a shift from previous years, the CES Toronto 2013 team is planning to offer more professional development workshops this year than were available before.

“One thing we can confidently boast about is our plan to offer at least 50% more PD workshops than were available in Halifax,” says Dayna Albert, chair of the 2013 workshop committee. To achieve this, says Albert, the team is pursuing a range of exciting topics and inspiring presenters for this year.

Feedback from Halifax 2012

During the annual conference in Halifax last year, workshop topics ranged from cleaning up evaluation data to mapping evaluation outcomes. The team has taken close account of CES members’ feedback gleaned from the 2012 membership survey. Based on the feedback, the 2013 conference expects to offer more intermediate and advanced level workshops, and is searching out and inviting various top-rated evaluation facilitators to submit proposals for 2013. This year, workshops will take place ahead of the conference on Sunday June 9^th.

Submitting a Proposal

If you’re interested in submitting a proposal for a pre-conference workshop, you can visit the submission guidelines section of the CES Toronto 2013 website and download the necessary form for completion. Apart from entering your preferred time slot and workshop title, you’re required to specify the learning objectives and the prerequisite skills and knowledge, if any, that delegates need to participate.

We also ask you to include details such as:

1. your subject matter expertise,
2. your experience in facilitation,
3. a brief outline of the subject matter content, and
4. the proposed method of delivering the content.

Next Steps

Once we receive your proposal, our proposal review team will evaluate it in terms of the criteria listed on the submissions page.

“We’ll finalize our selection process and notify the facilitators by mid-February, at which time we’ll publish the list of workshops on our website,” says Albert. “Right now, anyone who believes they can add value to the CES Toronto 2013 conference should compile their submission and get it in to us before January 30^th, 2013.”

To see workshops offered at previous conferences, click here and select the link to the conference program you want to view.

The Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) has been hosting conferences on the discipline of evaluation since 1980. From the very first event, held in May 1980 in Toronto, the aim of the annual conference has been to bring together thought leaders and practitioners to share and discuss the latest trends and issues in monitoring and evaluation.  CES 2013 is no exception, as we set out in June this year to explore evaluation across boundaries in four specific areas.

Former Conferences

Looking back on the past 34 years, we can see how the strands have woven together to bring us to this point. From the very first conference theme “Evaluation: The Canadian Challenge” the CES has been focused on the development and improvement of the theory, practice and use of monitoring and evaluation, and ways in which we can strengthen our profession.

During the second half of the 1980s, the emphasis shifted towards practicalities. Integrating evaluation with management practices took the attention of our delegates one year, while accountability and limited resources gave the nod to the difficult economy we were experiencing after the 1987 economic downturn. During the 1990s we dealt with issues of diversity and the changing face of program evaluation, as we raced towards the new millennium and all the challenges it presented.

Since the arrival of the new century, we’ve focused on a more holistic approach, such as:

▪   culture, community and the sharing of heritage
▪   transparency and accountability
▪   the value of diversity, and
▪   environmental sustainability

These monitoring and evaluation conferences took place in various centres, but we’ve never missed a year!

2013 Venue

This year, we’ll be holding the annual conference at Toronto’s iconic Fairmont Royal York hotel in early June. It’s a fitting setting for CES Toronto 2013; the hotel’s history is testament to the longevity of a well-run organization. With a strong environmental program in place, the Royal York is taking on the challenges of the second decade of the new millennium with ease and grace.

Be a Part of It

No, it’s not New York, New York like the song says – but if you want to be a part of it all the same, now’s your chance. CES Toronto 2013 will focus on four distinct conference strands:

▪   discovery
▪   engagement
▪   outreach
▪   networking

If you can offer an in-depth exploration of an evaluation-related skill or a specific area of knowledge, you’re invited to submit a proposal for one of the conference’s professional development workshops.

Submit Workshop Proposals

Workshop proposals are due at the end of January, so there’s no time to lose if you want to “be a part of it” as a facilitator. Visit the Workshop Submissions page for details and let us know what you have to offer the community. We’re looking particularly for workshops that focus on the broader issues of monitoring and evaluation methods, theories, policies and practices, and those that offer value to the wider evaluation community.

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