This year's Making Prevention Work Conference at the Sheraton Minneapolis Metrodome on April 17, 1997 had a focus on practical approaches and ideas for prevention program evaluation. The purpose of this year's conference was to bring together prevention program managers, staff and evaluators to explore ways to design and conduct useful and practical program evaluations. Program evaluation was addressed as a shared responsibility and necessary to the success of prevention program development and implementation.

The opening presentation by Stacey Hueftle Stockdill of EnSearch Inc. informed and entertained conference participants. Hueftle Stockdill emphasized the importance of considering evaluation as useful to reduce uncertainties, prove effectiveness and make program decisions. She suggested that the real purpose of evaluation is "...to better understand what really is going on now so that we know what we want to do in the future." She cautioned that "...we shouldnt expect that we get things right the first time, every time." She encouraged program managers and funders to actually reward programs that identify what isn't working so that the programs can be improved. Through the use of magic tricks, illustrations from her own evaluation experience and discussions with conference participants, Stacey helped participants consider ways of designing an evaluation plan and collecting and using information to improve their prevention programming.

Following a number of lively discussions that occurred during the break, the morning session continued with a focus on cultural factors to consider in evaluation. Vivian Jenkins Nelsen of INTER-RACE presented a wide range of ideas and stories to an enthusiastic audience. In her presentation she cautioned that evaluations involving communities of color should "do no harm." Too often in the past, evaluation and research have been hurtful to large numbers of people.

Throughout an informal lunch, participants renewed old friendships, met new colleagues and reacted to the morning presentations. Participants also had the opportunity to visit a variety of exhibits and receive consultation about accessing information via the World Wide Web. The afternoon workshops allowed participants to work with one of four experienced and skilled evaluators to learn more about a specific aspect of evaluation planning, data collection, analysis or reporting.

Evaluation results of the conference suggest that participants were more than satisfied with the quality and content of the presentations offered in both the morning and afternoon sessions. The most often recorded concern by participants was the difficulty in making a selection among the afternoon workshops.

This year's Making Prevention Work Conference was a 7th annual event. If you have suggestions about next year's theme, please contact Terri Singer at 800-247-1303 or 612-427-5310 or e-mail: tsinger@miph.org.