Communications

6 Audiences to Consider When Communicating Your Agency Messages

The Plain Writing Act of 2010 and Executive Order 13563 both require that we communicate clearly, accessibly, consistently so that government information is easy to understand. The principles of plain language help us provide universal access to government information, for many people. We’re told to “write for average comprehension,” when we use those principles. So,Read… Read more »

The State of the Union in GIFs

If you missed President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union address or just want to relive the highlights, these GIFs show the moments that government workers—and the nation—got either giddy or giggly about. 1. The ultimate comeback It was the mic drop moment that caused a social media sensation. When some of the crowd cheered after Obama said, “IRead… Read more »

Real Branding Is For Worker Bees

The fantasy and fallacy of courses in brand is that consultants work like The Wizard of Oz. You think we stand behind a curtain, flipping switches and pulling levers, cogitating and ruminating. Until, like a pregnant woman, our water breaks. And a fully-formed, living, breathing brand pops out into the world, ready to “rock andRead… Read more »

The Connect Effect

I spend roughly nine hours a day in front of my computer working — minus bathroom breaks, lunch, meetings and a little Internet surfing for “research purposes.” Eighty percent of my duties involve direct interaction with a keyboard, my Outlook email account and a Word document of some sort. I’m a communicator by profession. My jobRead… Read more »

We Still Need to Convince People About Accessibility

I just read a blog post about the benefits of an accessible site. Despite working in accessibility for the past 15 years, sometimes I still get surprised that we even need to have the conversation about accessibility being necessary and the right thing to do–particularly in government where we’re required to comply with Section 508.Read… Read more »