This last Thursday and Friday, over 250 ETO users, funders, evaluators, and industry experts met to embark on a serious ETOlution. And it was a success.

The conference included two days filled solid with listening and learning, collaborating, and counseling – all to build upon evaluation skills.  Mark Friedman led us through the steps necessary in the development of organizational evaluation and supplied us with a cohesive language by which to move forward in our efforts.  Marty Miles put our team working skills to the test, encouraging our collaboration with other organization evaluators, in order to help us unite our common struggles and goals, and move forward more efficiently.  And David Hunter rounded out the conference not only with a panel dedicated to assessing example organization’s uses of ETO, but also by leading a track dedicated to performance management, taking us step by step through his theory of change process to show us an organizational ETOlution in real-time.

Everyone walked away super-charged – ready to take what they’ve learned back to their organizations and manage their performance day in and day out.  Ready to implement new ideas and take that extra step in working toward cultural change – all to strengthen their programs and impact the people they serve just a little bit more.  We’re even pretty sure Data and Donuts Friday will make an appearance at a number of organizations in the near future.