Last February, I wrote about using blogs as an evaluation tool for the Girl Scouts of the USA's uniquely ME! program. One month later, we launched the uniquely ME! blog and I have been learning some valuable lessons about this evaluation method that I would like to share with you.

THE CHALLENGE: To effectively advertise the blog to girls and recruit girl authors.

In designing the blog, we envisioned a place where girls would post entries about their experiences with uniquely ME! and other girls would freely respond to their postings. Because many of the girls served in the program are under the age of 13, we had to make sure that our blog addressed all federal regulations to protect the girls’ privacy (see my entry for more details). Unfortunately, our original vision did not comply with all required regulations.

The great thing about blogs is that they are always evolving. We revamped our plans and decided to recruit girls to write for the blog through our contacts at the 32 Girl Scout councils implementing uniquely ME! We created a FAQ sheet about writing for the blog and asked them to distribute it to girls who might be interested. While we had a number of “bites,” they did not turn into actual entries authored by girls.

We needed a formal method of advertising the program to girls; we asked our council contacts to do this, but discovered more guidance was needed for these efforts. We decided to create a simple sheet advertising the blog that our contacts could give to girls. In the future, we may include this as part of our evaluation requirements.

Presently, girls can contribute to the blog by visiting the site and clicking on a link with instructions. Submission options include mailing, emailing or faxing their responses. This month, we will offer an even easier method to contribute by adding a link to click on for an online form.

The uniquely ME! blog is still a work in progress, but by being flexible and rethinking our original plans, we have created a fun and safe space for girls online!