Problem

How do you give members the best roadmap for their next steps without maxing out your organization? How can small programs in isolated rural locations find the resources for such trainings?

Solution

Each year, several large and small organizations in metropolitan Portland (Oregon) band together to present a day-long conference that helps transitioning members answer the question, "What next?" Programs from across Oregon and Washington are able to take advantage of the training.

Execution

Seven people serve on the planning committee; they meet about four or five times a year. Once they decide on the topics for conference sessions–based on pre-surveys of members and evaluations from the last conference–they divide up the work and take responsibility for recruiting speakers. Typically, speakers are people they know in the community, with whom they have a working relationship. They try to recruit some former AmeriCorps members as presenters; all speakers volunteer their time and are not paid.

More than 200 people attended the June 2006 conference in Portland, where they chose from among 15 different presentations. Download and print a detailed overview of the event. The five most popular sessions, in order of attendance, were International Work and Service, Making Plans for Your Ed Award, Networking and Informational Interviewing, Traveling and Living Abroad on a Budget, and Applying to Graduate School.

Many of these topics are covered in other sections of this site.

Outcome

Of those participants who turned in evaluations (about half the people attending), 80 percent rated the whole day as very good or excellent. The "most valuable aspect" overwhelmingly was the information on the Ed Award and the résumé reviews.

Click here for a copy of the evaluation.

Download and print a detailed agenda of the event.

For additional resources on designing effective trainings based on principles of adult learning, click here.

Go on to Conducting Exit Interviews

How programs came together to stage a regional end-of-service training

This case study details the planning of a comprehensive, all day Life After AmeriCorps event in Portland, Oregon. Included are tips for programs who would like to mount a similar or smaller-scale event.

Get participants' feedback from your end-of-service training

To provide the best training for exiting members, capture their feedback during end-of-service events. This form was used by Northwest Service Academy-Lower Columbia Center (NWSA) during an all-day "Life After" conference. Use it as a model for your own evaluation.

NWSA (Portland, OR) is an AmeriCorps*National direct that addresses critical environmental and educational needs, partnering with 125 community agencies with members serving in individual placements or on field teams.

See how collaborating programs organized a Life After AmeriCorps conference

A seven member planning committee developed this agenda for a one-day regional conference. The conference included 15 different presentations and was attended by more than 200 members. The agenda includes descriptions of the sessions and speaker biographies. Use this document for ideas on how to develop a similar training event.

Use this document for ideas on how to put a training program together.

Identify member needs and interest in advance

This survey would typically be sent to members well in advance of planning a Life After AmeriCorps conference or series of workshops.

Adapt this survey to:

• Identify and prioritize potential topics and speakers
• Gather information that will help speakers know their audience
• Give members a chance to influence the content, increasing their buy-in

This pre-survey was developed by a bi-state planning committee that organized a one-day LIfe After AmeriCorps event for members across Oregon and Washington state.

Getting feedback on trainings and events

Adapt this survey to collect member feedback on the effectiveness of your trainings.

This resource was created by LISC,an AmeriCorps National direct program that focuses on increasing affordable housing opportunities.