We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working on this blog the past 20 months, but all good things must come to an end. We no longer will be offering posts on a weekly basis, but we’re not signing off for good. If something really meaningful happens or crosses our minds related to evaluation use, we will definitely share it with you! So, you may see more sporadic posts from our team, just not the weekly posts. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and share our posts, and please feel free to go back and read past ones – there’s some really interesting gems in there!

We’d each like the opportunity to share a few thoughts about the blog with you…

When we started this blog, we wanted to share tips and ideas for improving the usefulness of the evaluation process, the potential utility of the findings, and the use of the recommendations. At iEval, making evaluation useful is one of our primary tenets, and we hoped to share some of what we’ve learned over the years with you. While the impetus for starting the blog was completely altruistic, I have to admit that it was pretty amazing going to EES in Dublin in 2014 and AEA in Chicago in 2015 where some people said, “I love that Carpe Diem blog.” It felt really good to know that we were part of the larger evaluation blogosphere and that fellow evaluators read and appreciated our tips!

Outside of evaluation conferences, it is hard to remember that “evaluation” is a profession. I am so used to no one understanding what I do. This blog reminded me that there are others out there who grapple and deal with the same challenges and successes in their work. The blog has provided me with an opportunity to reflect on tools and practices that have been successful in my work, and it continues to remind me to reach out and lean on others in the field when I’m stuck. Thank you for being part of my professional community!

I started reading blogs almost a decade ago but I never thought I would write one. Writing this blog has been a great adventure. It’s been a great way to dig deeper and reflect on evaluation practice. I’ve enjoyed reading about my colleagues’ experiences and hearing feedback from readers. I’ve enjoyed being part of the evaluation blogging community and look forward to be a reader (and poster) for years to come!

As someone who is still in the midst of a doctoral program, it is easy to get wrapped up in the idea of sharing knowledge through the more traditional channels of academia. Our evaluation journals are no doubt a great source of information. But, sometimes we don’t want to wait that long to get our thoughts and ideas out into the world and blogs are a great way to accelerate the process of reflection and sharing. It has been a pleasure to share my experiences, my random thoughts, and the things I that have caught my attention through blogging. As Wendy says in the introduction, this isn’t goodbye. I find real value in having the opportunity to put things out to an audience quickly and without the need for editors or submissions. I have learned a great deal from reading others blogs, and I hope we have provided you some morsels for thought through the Carpe Diem blog. The evaluation community is a diverse and fast growing one, and it is an honor to be a part of it.

iEval TEAM’S USEFUL TIP: Keep reading blogs! This is where you can find up-to-date ideas and thoughts in the world of evaluation, and they can be read during brain breaks from work, while traveling, or over a cup of tea. If you have any questions or suggestions for future (more randomly timed) posts about evaluation use, don’t ever hesitate to reach out to us! Thank you for reading. CARPE DIEM!