Perhaps the most popular example of average Americans resisting authority came during the Prohibition Era of 1920-1933. Putting aside the imagery of movies like The Untouchables, moonshine & home breweries took on bigger, albeit clandestine, role in American innovation. Also of note during prohibition, production of sacramental wine for churches rose by hundreds of thousands… Read more »
For several years, the Partnership for Public Service and the IBM Center for The Business of Government have partnered to have Conversations on Big Data, a series of discussions designed to broaden the perspective about quantitative analytics and share lessons learned about what worked well and what did not. As I was reviewing the transcriptsRead… Read more »
Mom’s battling it out with words, animals, and vegetables on her favorite game site. She’ll be reading the news again later this afternoon and probably paying the bills. I’ve noticed that she leans forward more often to see the screen. Dad’s balling and making it rain on his favorite computer parts site. He gets frustratedRead… Read more »
Competition can be thrilling and challenging. Here at GovLoop, we’ve all taken Gallup’s Strengthsfinder assessment, which measures an individual’s greatest professional assets. These can include strengths such as achiever, adaptability, discipline, includer, and many more. Many on our team scored high in the category of competition. Many of us, it seems, enjoy the thrill ofRead… Read more »
If you’re one of the many in the grips of a cold, snowy winter, you might be looking for a good way to pass the time. And if you’re a local government employee or leader, I have a list of solutions. Here are my suggestions for 11 books anyone working in local government should readRead… Read more »
A few weeks ago I started reading Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free and began to think more than ever about the need to enhance resilience. Granted, miners accept the obvious risks of entering a mine so their need toRead… Read more »
Everyone knows that app contests are exciting. Ideas, fueled by caffeine and youthful energy, combined with the prospect of an eventual payday paint a picture that most organizations can’t resist. And for the open government community, it’s even more enticing, since app contest are an opportunity to engage residents in ‘doing good’ by enticing developersRead… Read more »
More hiring departments are turning to video interviews as a way to manage their time and get a better sense for a candidate than a simple phone interview can provide. Applications like FaceTime, Skype, and Google+ Hangouts make video interviews free and easy, and the ability to interview from the comfort of your home makesRead… Read more »
Developing a clear picture of the types of email subscribers you have is key to tailoring your messages to address the specific needs of each audience member. This means abandoning the traditional approach that “blasts” the same, long message filled with disparate content to your entire audience on a pre-determined schedule and employing a new… Read more »
Geographic Information System (GIS) is a tool used across almost every field bringing data analysis, efficiency, and cost-saving mechanisms to the government. Unfortunately, most federal employees do not understand GIS technology. Each government employee has the potential to heighten the quality of their work by taking full advantage of resources such as GIS. NASA, EnvironmentalRead… Read more »