Sometimes, the client doesn't choose you as an evaluator and may struggle with the unique challenges of the long-distance relationship. This is especially true in many multi-site evaluations, where the primary "client" is a funder but the work of the independent evaluator is with grantees or local project sites spread across a state or the country. This presentation will share a number of lessons learned (and a few promising practices from the literature) about using a variety of participatory approaches to evaluation to build client trust across the miles and to build capacity of project staff to effectively collaborate using technological tools.#2011Conference #IndependentConsulting