Below are a variety of topics in which we can provide technical assistance. Keep in mind that this is a non-exhaustive list, and that you may have questions that do not fit into these categories.
Table of Contents
- Vision Planning
- New Staff Orientation
- Community Assessments
- Partnership Development
- Program Planning
- Marketing, Recruitment, Registration, & Retention
- Reflection
- Miscellaneous
Vision Planning (60 minutes)
We highly recommend that you start your technical assistance by signing up for an initial consultation session, where we can go over your proposals, program concepts, community assessment data, and overall questions and concerns about creative aging programming. This approach helps align your goals with patron interests, and identifies potential challenges early on.
Before scheduling a vision planning session, we will ask you to answer some preliminary questions via our sign up form. You can view the questions ahead of time here.
Vision Planning will be available between February 21 – April 7, 2023. We suggest signing up early, as spaces are limited.
New Staff Orientation (60 minutes)
As a part of this initiative, many of you have expressed plans to hire new staff members to oversee and implement your creative aging programs. Setting up a consultation session for these staff members is a valuable way to supplement the training recording, gives them the opportunity to ask questions, and get up to speed on things.
Community Assessment (30 minutes)
Community assessments are key to identifying the wants and needs of your audience. This topic covers assistance with adapting surveys, identifying where to reach out to, and how to interpret your data.
Partnership Development (30 minutes)
This encompasses a variety of topics related to partnerships, including identifying and evaluating potential partners, strategizing approaches to building partnerships, establishing needs and responsibilities, identifying potential red flags, and more.
Program Planning (30-90 minutes)
This applies to the nitty gritty of the classes themselves, including:
- Help identifying appropriate teaching artists (30 min)
- Curriculum and/or budget review (60-90 min)
- Logistics surrounding implementation ( ex: classroom assessment, barriers to participation) (30 min)
Note: For this component of consultation we’ll need additional materials. For example, curriculum review necessitates sending us a copy of your curriculum materials. We’ll review it for sequential skillbuilding, intentional social engagement, and general suggestions for working with older adult learners. From there, we’ll provide written and/or verbal feedback, depending on what works best for you.
Marketing, Recruitment, Registration and Retention (30 minutes)
This covers a variety of topics, including:
- Recommendations on recruitment and registration strategies
- Review of marketing materials (fliers, registration pages, etc.)
- Identify potential partner organizations to support your recruitment efforts
- Pinpoint specific challenges and strategies to promote your programs to older adults.
Reflection (30-60 min)
This is an opportunity to review and discuss your programs so far. What was learned, what was successful, challenges that arose, and how to apply to future programming. When signing up for a reflection session, you will also be asked some preliminary questions, which can be viewed here.
Miscellaneous
Dealing with the unexpected as it arises! This can be anything from an element of your plan falling through (ex: host site under construction, class under-enrolled, teaching artist gets sick) to strategizing how to maintain your momentum after a program is completed.