2024 Conference Hotel Information

IHOTEL
1900 S FIRST STREET, CHAMPAIGN IL 61820
217.819.5000
$168 - $189 per night
Please feel free to use this block booking link:
https://book.rguest.com/wbe/group/1907/stayatthei/auth
It will you to a log in page where you will enter your block information to access your special rate:
Block Code: CQI24
Guest Password: zJw9#

Any guests making reservations by phone at 217-819-5000 need MUST mention the block code CQI24 to any of our Guest Service Agents.
The rate will be available to CQI guests until the cutoff date of 09/08/2024.

HYATT PLACE CHAMPAIGN/URBANA
217 N NEIL STREET, CHAMPAIGN, IL 61820
Rate: $135 for standard king
This rate includes a complimentary breakfast buffet served daily, with hot breakfast items, fresh fruit, oatmeal, and plenty more to choose from. Breakfast is served in our gallery area Monday to Friday 6:30 am to 9:00 am and Saturday and Sunday 7:00 am to 10:00 am. Check-in starts at 3:00 pm and check-out is at 12:00 pm. Parking will be complimentary with University of Illinois.

Below you will find the booking link to book your room, or you can call the hotel directly at 217.531.2800 option 0. Ask for the CQI Conference Room Block. The group code for them to use is G-CQIC. Guests will have until Monday, September 9, 2024, to make reservations with the discounted rate.

https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/illinois/hyatt-place-champaign-urbana/cmizc?corp_id=G-CQIC

HOLIDAY INN
101 TRADE CENTRE DRIVE, CHAMPAIGN, IL 61820
Rate is $85.00 per night. Use this link to receive the CQI Conference discount.

CQI Conference Sponsorship

We are seeking sponsors for the 2024 Conference!

Our annual conference is a capacity building and networking event. Our audience is primarily CQI staff, but also includes leadership and direct-service staff from community-based, academic, healthcare and government settings. It is an opportunity for people from a variety of professional backgrounds to come together to explore strategies for developing, managing, and participating in the CQI process that will lead to better outcomes for children, adults, families and communities.

Our 2023 conference welcomed 285 registrants from 17 states and was our largest in-person conference to date! Your generous sponsorship will support CQI professionals to build capacity that will impact the children, youth and communities in Illinois and nationwide.

For more information on the conference, please check out our website:
https://cqi.cfrc.illinois.edu/

You can help with the conference’s success by being a sponsor. Below is a list of benefits for sponsoring at various levels:

If you would like to support this year’s conference at one of the sponsorship levels or would like to suggest another way to contribute to the conference (i.e. sponsoring a lunch, special event, giveaways), please contact Amy Hiles in the Business Office of the School of Social Work at University of Illinois at amyhiles@illinois.edu or (217) 244-8464 to process your transaction.

Featured Speakers for the 2024 CQI Conference

Day 1
17 Key Traits of Data Literacy
Ben Jones, CEO and Founder of Data Literacy

The term "data literacy" is on the rise, but it begs the question: what is it anyway, and what does it look like to have it? In this course and self-assessment, you’ll go beyond a limited focus on data tools and you’ll consider 17 key traits of data literacy divided into categories of Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes and Behaviors.

You’ll also be guided through a process of evaluating your own proficiency in each of these traits so that you can identify your strengths and most significant growth opportunities. This course will broaden your understanding of the overall landscape of data, and it will help you focus your efforts on the next steps in front of you.

Ben Jones is the Co-Founder and CEO of Data Literacy , a training and education company that's on a mission to help people learn the language of data and AI. While leading the popular Tableau Public Platform for several years, Ben recognized the large gap between people's knowledge of data and the data needed to do their job successfully and started Data Literacy to help address this urgent need. Ben also teaches data visualization at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, he's the author of Avoiding Data Pitfalls (Wiley, 2019), Data Literacy Fundamentals (Data Literacy Press, 2020) and Learning to See Data (DLP, 2020), The Introspective Entrepreneur (DLP, 2022) Read, Write, Think Data (DLP, 2022) and ChatGPT Basics (DLP, 2023), Leading in the Age of Data (DLP, 2023) and AI Literacy Fundamentals (DLP, 2024). Ben has presented to, trained or worked with the highest level of the US Intelligence Community, United States Postal Service, NOAA as well as large pharmaceutical companies, global non-profit organizations and many more industries and organizations from big to small. To balance out the digital side of things, he loves hiking and backpacking on the beautiful trails of the Pacific Northwest. Ben holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA (2000) and an MBA from California Lutheran University (2011).

Day 2
Beyond the Checkbox: Creative Approaches to Data Collection
Elizabeth Grim, Founder and CEO of Elizabeth Grim Consulting, LLC

In today’s world, we are inundated with surveys, checkboxes, and requests for our information and feedback. Think about how many times you’ve received a feedback form this week. It can feel overwhelming and exhausting! So how can we expect our clients, partners, and participants to feel inspired to share their experiences with us when we ask during research or evaluation? This session will explore considerations for collecting data, discuss limitations of traditional methods, and introduce alternative approaches. We’ll think outside the (survey check) box to introduce creative data collection methods. By getting creative and shifting our work from transactional to relational, we can foster deeper connections, elicit authentic responses, and uncover hidden insights. Attendees will leave inspired and equipped with a toolkit of creative data collection methods and resources to enhance their CQI work.

Elizabeth Grim is a nationally recognized evaluator, facilitator, and speaker and Founder and CEO of the evaluation company, Elizabeth Grim Consulting, LLC. With 10+ years of experience in the evaluation and nonprofit sectors, Elizabeth helps purpose-driven organizations piece together data puzzles to tell their story and understand their impact. Her superpower is moving organizations from confusion to clarity, so their work shines like the data rock stars they are. Elizabeth is the Curator for AEA365, the daily blog of the American Evaluation Association, and previously served as the President of the Eastern Evaluation Research Society. She brings an interdisciplinary lens to her work, grounded in a Masters in Social Work and a Masters in Public Health. When she’s not geeking out about evaluation, Elizabeth is usually out exploring the local hiking trails. Learn more and stay up to date with evaluation tips and tricks by joining the newsletter at elizabethgrim.com.

Complete List of Speakers for the 2024 CQI Conference

Click on a presenter to see their workshop details.