Yearly Archives: 2011

What myths would you like to see busted?

Mythbusters are in Government — and it’s not just a TV show! I had the pleasure of joining colleagues and friends at the AFFIRM luncheon today where we heard Daniel Gordon, Administrator, Office of Federal Procurement Policy, Office of Management and Budget candidly talk about his priorities and a few myths they are trying toRead… Read more »

Public service professionals say an interesting job is more important than money, survey finds

A new survey from the Public Service Research Panel (PSRPanel) finds that 69% of public service professionals consider “an interesting job” to be very important to them, while only 9% consider high income to be very important. And 54% consider “helping other people” to be very important. The survey is based on responses from 194Read… Read more »

Dedicated to The Honorable Barack Hussein Obama Our New President I have the greatest admiration for a man I’ve never met. God sent this man into our lives, and we shall n’er forget, That God believes and we agree, this man comes with a creed. He’s been preparing his entire life to fill our Nation’sRead… Read more »

“Strike 2.0” in Israel Foreign Service: another opportunity to upgrade Open Government?

One month ago we have experienced in Israel something very unusual – the strike of the Israel Diplomatic service. Diplomats rarely go to strike, as diplomacy is considered an important element of the national security. But this time diplomats protested against the deterioration of their working conditions in the last 15 years, and there wasRead… Read more »

Daily Dose: PETA Helps Gov’t Save Money?

When I woke up and read the Washington Post this morning I found one article particularly laughable: TSA drops Iditarod recruitment plans after PETA complains The first things I thought is “oh PETA those crazy SOB’s” but then I had to ask myself “why is TSA recruiting at the Iditarod? Is there some sort governmentRead… Read more »

Success Rule #8 – Cultivate a Firm Handshake

Is your handshake firm and solid or weak and squishy? Man or woman a firm handshake says confident and authoritative. Although there are a number of stories claiming the origin of the hand shake, the bottom line is it is a sign of respect, and one indicating equality between greeters. So important is the handshakeRead… Read more »

States receive $241M to develop model health insurance exchanges

The US Department of Health & Human Services have moved forward with its “Early Innovator” grant program to develop model state health insurance exchanges. Six states and a group of New England states will receive $241 million to help them design and implement the IT infrastructure for insurance exchanges, HHS officials said Wednesday. Kansas, Maryland,Read… Read more »

Yo Government! Why You Should Recruit in 49 Words or Less!

A recent study by the Pew Center shows some interesting facts about Twitter usage. Facts that are so interesting, they might be worth paying attention to. There has been a push recently for Open Gov and public facing interaction from the public sector. Many agencies have started to use Twitter…but are they using it inRead… Read more »

Sustainable Transportation – Why do Americans Drive So Much?

Shell recently released its report “Signals and Signposts,” which looks forward to 2050 and attempts to predict future energy demand, supply, roadblocks and opportunities. While there is a lot of fascinating reading in the report, one piece that caught our eye was this chart, which compares US and European drivers’ motivations. Shell asked itself theRead… Read more »

State Department adding new in-language Twitter feeds

Originally posted at blog.GovTwit.com I attended Secretary Clinton’s speech about Internet freedom yesterday at George Washington University (see the State Department report and Alex Howard’s write-up at GovFresh.com for good overview and links) and as her remarks came to a close, she mentioned that in addition to tweeting in Arabic and Farsi, the State DepartmentRead… Read more »