Category: Training

After the last program evaluation training we heard that participants wanted more time to practice applying the concepts to their own situation. We listened and this time we are offering workshop time during the afternoon. If you attended the evaluation training last spring or this morning’s session, or if you have a solid grounding in evaluation, bring your materials (and perhaps a co-worker) and you’ll have a chance to partner with others to get feedback on logic models, deciding what to measure, how to collect information about your program, writing or revising surveys, engaging stakeholders, or other topics of interest to you.

The morning session from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon will focus on the basics of program evaluation including

• steps of the evaluation process
• creating logic models
• deciding what to evaluate and
• using evaluation to make decisions about your program.

This training will be nearly identical to the evaluation training that was offered this past spring.

On an average weekday, alcohol ads are viewed 18,269 times by Boston Public School student transit passengers (aged 11-18) on MBTA trains, reaching the equivalent of 54.1% of that population. In this interactive training youth will learn about the effects of such alcohol advertising exposure, especially as it relates to underage drinking. Youth will also learn about populations that are targeted by alcohol advertising. Training participants will learn about, and practice working with, photovoice, a way for people to record their lived experience using photos or video. Photovoice is an effective and powerful tool to use with legislators and policy makers and it can help people see themselves as key to community change. Participants will also learn about legislative advocacy, and how to present their opinion to policy makers. While this training will address alcohol advertising, the photovoice and legislative advocacy skills participants will leave with are transferable to many other issues that youth may be working on. Learning Objectives - Participants will have an awareness of: • The link between alcohol advertising and underage drinking • Current efforts in Massachusetts to reduce alcohol advertising • How alcohol companies target certain groups • How to use photovoice to make change • How to talk to policy makers ***Light Breakfast and lunch will be provided***Raffle Prizes**** Target Audience: This training is appropriate for youth 13-20 years of age. We ask that an adult advisor working with the youth also attend if possible.

*For Session 2, we ask each participant to bring their own laptop though a limited number of laptop computers will be available to reserve.  If you are not able to bring a laptop please let us know in your registration.  This session will help you learn how to implement the ideas from Session 1.*

In a society where tools are used for building homes, furniture and self-esteem we thought it’d be great to bring in our trusty toolbox and share with you some tested and tried tools for producing creative data presentations.  In this highly interactive and hands-on four-hour “Data Therapy” training session, Rahul will present several tools that can help you create clear and visually compelling data presentations and you will have the opportunity to practice using these tools during the training.  We’d love to help you create awesome data presentations that will help improve your work and hopefully the responses from those who will see your creatively crafted presentations.  We only ask that you bring your data…if you dare.

 *If you have taken ‘Creative Ways to Present Data last year this class will cover much of the same material.  We recommend that you register for “Session 2: Self Help Tools Training”. *

Is your data getting you down? Clunking up your reports? Stressing you and your colleagues out? If so and you’d like some help, we’d love to help cure your data presentation woes at our “Data Therapy” training.   In Session 1: Creative Approaches and Techniques, Rahul will walk you through some of the common issues with presenting data.

Some of these issues include:
• choosing data techniques
• developing criteria for evaluating data presentations
• implementing compelling methods that will grab your audience

There will also be a Group “therapy” session where you’ll work with fellow participants to brainstorm solutions to your data presentation problems.    If you are interested in applying the ideas from this workshop with your own data we are offering a Session 2.
 
***Light Breakfast and lunch will be provided***

No matter what job you do, time is always at a premium.  How do you balance all of the competing demands of your work when there never seem to be enough hours in the day?  Join us for a brown bag lunch discussion on the different strategies we use to manage our time.  This will be a great opportunity to hear about what works for other people and trade tips and tricks. 

 
Please feel free to bring a lunch.  Light snacks will be provided.

Initiating community change can often seem intimidating and overwhelming to try and tackle as an individual or an organization. The Beehive Collective will provide healthy visual representation of the complex issues our society is facing. They will share with us their graphic making methods, organizing strategy and hands-on skills, combined with stories and inspiration from across different social movements they work with. Get ready for a high-energy, interactive, graphic-based picture-experience!

Topics may include:

• Using best practices to build, maintain and grow a coalition
• Building alignment within your group and ensuring sustainable change
• Examples of successful ways to use creative resources to mobilize community change
• Using case studies to understand social movements

Refreshments will be provided.

Evaluation can often seem daunting and overwhelming.  This training will try to unpack some of the baggage around evaluation and share some simple tools for planning and implementing evaluations.  Training attendees will have the opportunity to shape the content of the workshop by responding to an online survey.  Topics may include purposes of evaluation, engaging stakeholders, creating logic models, deciding what to measure, making decisions based on your information and could also include writing survey questions, collecting information about your program, and analyzing information you’ve collected. Register and complete the online survey by March 27 in order to have your say on what the training will cover. 

 In July, the Regional Center will hold a follow-up to this training on Creative Ways to Present Data with Rahul Bhargava.  Keep an eye on our e-News and calendar to register. 

Participants will leave this training with a greater understanding of diverse group dynamics and how to manage conflict. Topics to be covered include promoting fair and diverse participation (making sure everyone's voice is welcome and heard, and that the people who should be at the table are there), promoting productive, respectful conversations around difficult issues so groups can reach agreement, conflict resolution strategies, and characteristics of effective groups.