Introducing the Evaluation Geek Club: A New Space for Curious, Creative Evaluation

On 21 August, more than 25 artists, educators, evaluators, and cultural practitioners logged on for something brand new: the Evaluation Geek Club. Together we took our first steps toward creating…

On 21 August, more than 25 artists, educators, evaluators, and cultural practitioners logged on for something brand new: the Evaluation Geek Club. Together we took our first steps toward creating a warm, down-to-earth online community where evaluation is approached with creativity and care.

Why Geek Club?

At Chol, we believe evaluation is integral to community arts and education. It’s how we understand the processes and impacts of our work in meaningful, human ways, moving from proving to improving, and from extracting data to enhancing practice. But evaluation can feel daunting or isolating. The Geek Club exists as a space for generous sharing, radical care, and collective curiosity, where we explore evaluation together.

This new network offers:

Quarterly online meet-ups (45 min) to share ideas, troubleshoot challenges, and learn together.
A Padlet hub for resources, tools, and opportunities.
An optional WhatsApp group for quick asks and real-time sharing.

“This is a shared learning space not a panel of experts. Everyone understands and approaches evaluation differently, and that diversity is what will make the Geek Club powerful. We invite you to show up imperfectly, question, challenge, and share.” – Vicky, Chol

Highlights from our first session

The Evaluation Playbook: Vicky introduced our reflective practice tool, developed with Dr Becky Parry, which supports deeper observation and action research in classrooms. Participants explored how its “acts of care” cards and evaluation plays can prompt more nuanced, specific reflections, not just “the children collaborated,” but how, why, and what shifted in their agency.
Padlet Tour: Members were shown our shared Padlet, where they can upload resources, evaluation reports, or simply introduce themselves.
Open Discussion: The chat buzzed with insights on agency vs. autonomy, practitioner influence, and ways to connect evaluators directly with funders.

What participants said:

Here are just a few of the comments that poured in during and after the session:

“I am so inspired and excited after this morning. The potential of this group could really help us not just improve our evaluation but make it curious and more creative.”

“Great first session. Great communal space. Exciting to see where this will lead.”

“This all looks good and will allow us all to share the evidence and findings at the end of a project – which is what is missing currently!”

What’s next

We’ll be trialling 45-minute sessions where members can share tools, methods, or burning questions, followed by open discussion.

Upcoming dates (all at 9:30–10:15am) are: