Interesting Mix of People at CityCamp

So today is the start of CityCamp…. There has been a really cool introductions going on via the citycamp listserv and it looks like a fascinating bunch of people. A couple quick thoughts: CityCamp seems to bring slightly different people than the Gov 2.0 Camps and conferences I’ve been to. For example: -More journalist-related, hyperlocalRead… Read more »

I’m Live at CityCamp – You?

I’ll be blogging and taking some videos from the great sessions at CityCamp this weekend in Chicago. Had a great happy hour kick-off today talking to lots of really cool smart people including Kevin from Socrata. If you are here, would love to hear your blog posts, thoughts, and more. For those not here, checkRead… Read more »

Movie stars! Open Gov the Movie

“Open Gov the Movie” – from Delib from Delib on Vimeo. Pretty cool documentary by my buddy Chris Q of Delib – Here’s what he says below.. Check it out here: http://www.delib.co.uk/opengov We’re launching the documentary today – on the year anniversary of President Obama issuing the Open Government memorandum, giving an insight into theRead… Read more »

“Thank You for Your Service”

Over the past year or so, I have made it a habit to say a simple phrase to every TSA Security Officer that checks my identification and boarding pass: “Thank you for your service.” Some of them seem surprised, or maybe even a bit confused. Others just say “Thank YOU!” in return. I’m sure theirRead… Read more »

Pay for Performance Could Work?

Pretty interesting article on pay-for-performance. What is your take? How important is pay-for-performance? Part of my hypothesis is that “private sector” does not have a perfect pay system themself. Outside of certain roles like sales, lots of jobs have hard time measuring concrete performance and negotiations is truly what makes higher salaries (not performance). OutgoingRead… Read more »

Why We Smile

I try to smile a lot. I didn’t used to. In college, I was that philosophy guy who was really serious and deep and looked depressed. I thought it was cool and mysterious and everyone would be attracted to the cool, mysterious guy (especially women). It wasn’t that successful. I think that’s because people wantRead… Read more »

RFK and U2 on MLK

Robert F. Kennedy’s eloquent statement on the night of Rev. Dr. King’s assassination: Just two months later, he was gunned down during a celebration following his victory in the California primary, June 5, 1968. Full Text found here. One of my favorite U2 songs combined with a nice MLK montage: Favorite

Sometimes I Hate the Word Blog

Sometimes I Hate the Word Blog Sometimes I hate the word blog. It just doesn’t have a great ring to it. It doesn’t feel classy. It feels demeaning. It feels little. It doesn’t feel awesome. We need a cooler name for it – that’s more awesome. Ideations. Summations. Fibstations. Gibraity. Favorite

Project of the Week: Census 2010

in several ways over the next couple months to help them more effectively spread the word about the 2010 Census. One of the first things we did in that partnership was to create a new group called “US Census Communication Partners” to facilitate dialogue about best practices in reaching the public. The group will beRead… Read more »

Quick Tip – Sneak a Peak at a Current Fed’s Salary

From thegovgurus.com: Quick Tip – Sneak a Peak at a Current Fed’s Salary You can look up the salary of any employee of a federal agency on the “Gannett Searchable Database” of federal employee salaries at http://php.app.com/fed_employees/search.php. (Note that salaries cited at this site are usually one or two years behind – and so doRead… Read more »