Yearly Archives: 2009

Time for a Re-Think of USA.gov

When USA.gov was born, a central links directory for the government was a huge asset. Now, however, citizens turn to Google for lists of links. So if USA.gov is to add value, I think it’s time for a major re-think of its purpose. It’s an important discussion…one that impacts – and therefore should involve –Read… Read more »

Measuring Relationships From Social Media

I had an opportunity to meet Katie D Paine on July 22nd at an Open Government and Innovation conference in DC. Katie specializes in public relations and measuring their effectiveness. Her commanding presence underscored her depth of knowledge, and her open and friendly demeanor in a one-on-one situation proved to me that she practices whatRead… Read more »

Important Skills for Contract Professionals, Part 2

Today, we have answers specifically from Tim Cummins, founder of International Association for Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM). Last time we covered core skills as they are defined by IACCM. As a refresher, additional skills are not mandatory for all contract positions. Rather, they are required on a position by position basis. Additional Skills KnowledgeRead… Read more »

Young Government Leaders (YGL) Joins Combined Federal Campaign of the National Captial (CFCNCA)

Executive Board of Young Government Leaders (YGL) joins the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area (CFCNCA). If you live in the Washington metropolitan region, that means you can contribute to YGL as a Federal employee by entering the YGL code #38096 on your agency’s CFC pledge card. Outside of Washington, contributors you canRead… Read more »

EPEAT – Collaborating for the Environment

If you have experienced a successful outcome from a collaborative initiative, you understand what the commitment can achieve. However, most people have experienced unsuccessful collaboration, thus they come into projects with biases and pre-conceived low expectations for success. The job of the process facilitators is to manage those notions and foster real collaboration within theRead… Read more »

Tactical Approaches and Governance relating to the Open Gov Directive

After combing through the Open Government Directive very carefully over the last few days, I transitioned from the strategic to the tactical and started asking the question: How are we actually going to get all of this work done in the next 120 days? Given, the directive calls for some discrete action within the nextRead… Read more »

Explaining What You Do

Explaining What You Do Have you ever been out in public and people ask “what do you do?” Of course you have. It’s one of the standard questions when meeting someone new. Being a public servant it is always funny to answer that question. When growing up, my father worked for the IRS. So whenRead… Read more »