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Tuesday Seeds for Thought – Snow to Slush

After last week’s crazy-cold weather, spring has definitely arrived in Saskatoon. Temperatures are hovering just around the freezing point, which has allowed us stoic prairie folk to shed a couple of layers: on the downside, we’re now facing potholes and puddles. I’m sure winter has at least one parting storm up its sleeve for us […]

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The Right Questions

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the benefits of learning more about those individuals who aren’t accessing your services or programs. Before sharing some ideas on connecting with these groups, I wanted to raise an important point: more than mere “wordsmithing”, the way you ask the question matters. Let’s back up a second. How […]

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Tuesday Seeds for Thought – March Lions

It’s March, but if you live in Saskatoon you wouldn’t know it from the weather. With temperatures hovering around the -50 Celsius mark with the windchill this past weekend, winter clearly shows no interest in vacating the premises anytime soon. That being said, with the new month and the longer days there’s definitely a shift […]

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Tuesday Thoughts – The Beginning

I’ve decided to steal borrow inspiration from another Saskatoon freelancer, Sheena Greer of Colludo.ca, and start a weekly miscellaneous post. These Tuesday Thoughts will summarize recent happenings on this site and elsewhere related to community-based reseach, evaluation, and planning, as well as upcoming events and initiatives in Saskatoon. Unlike Sheena I won’t be providing muffin […]

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Who’s Not Here?

A social service or program is almost always designed with a target group in mind: for example, newcomers to Canada with limited English skills who are looking for employment, female students graduating from high school who cannot afford the traditional prom experience, or people who have a family member with a disability and want to […]

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Getting to Goals

On December 16, 2013, I embarked on a planning exercise for Strong Roots Consulting, specifically in the areas of mission/vision/goals, business practices, and activities for the year ahead. This post is the second update in the process. When planning, it’s incredibly useful to create a higher-level vision and mission, if for no other reason than […]

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A Taste of Evaluation

Hanging out in a coworking space – like the Two Twenty in Saskatoon, Strong Roots’ home-away-from-home-office – provides many benefits, but one of the greatest is the mix of people and ideas in the space. As an example, over lunch today I overheard a conversation about writing restaurant reviews, which (being the research nerd I […]

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Amazing YXE

In supporting for-impact groups and organizations, I have always preferred to take a strengths-based approach that recognizes, celebrates, and builds on existing skills and assets. Although it would be foolish to deny that there are real needs and challenges in our communities today, focusing exclusively on deficits can lead to disillusionment, cynicism, and hopelessness: looking […]

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SEWF – Wow

After a full day at the Social Enterprise World Forum, I’m reduced to one word: wow. It’s a lot to take in, and not just in terms of the plenaries and session presentations (which have been great) – this conference is bringing together hundreds of interesting people who are doing amazing work in so many […]

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Social Enterprise World Forum

One bit of information I learned when I attended the Building Social Enterprises workshop last month was that Calgary was hosting a conference in early October on this very topic. Aptly named the Social Enterprise World Forum, this event is bringing together people to connect and learn more about this exciting field from across the […]