During the week of July 11, 1977, the Illinois Office of Education (IOE) hosted a consulting/linkage skills awareness workshop in Springfield, Illinois. The workshop was part of a reorganization process that began in 1975 when IOE planners determined to separate the regulatory functions from the service functions of the agency. As a result, the IOE developed a comprehensive training program to facilitate this change and enhance staff ability to meet local education agencies' needs for service. Participants in the workshop were linking agents from the IOE, and from education agencies in Illinois and other states. The primary goal of the workshop was to acquaint linking agents with a broad array of consulting and linkage skills as a means of helping participants assess their training needs. Activities included large-group sessions to clarify workshop goals; small-group sessions focusing on awareness of ten linkage clusters; and program services team meetings wherein participants reviewed the ten linkage skill areas and prioritized their own needs for further training. Linkage skill awareness sessions focused on design and planning, entry and intervention, diagnostic skills, group facilitation, problem-solving, resource utilization, power and influence, communications, conflict management and utilization, and evaluation skills. A lengthy appendix contains workshop details. (Author/JM)