Communications

Posthumous Goal

A commercial on TV: the young boy walked up to home plate on an empty ball field with his bat, a ball, and a smile as he was prattling on about the world’s best hitter. He settles in at the plate and, with one more verse of world’s best hitter, tosses the ball into theRead… Read more »

Serving up Metric Tons of Sustainability

The Department of Energy’s Josh Silverman led efforts to halt the release of more than one million tons of the world’s most potent greenhouse gas from Energy Department facilities, the equivalent of taking over 200,000 cars off the nation’s roads every year. Silverman is the Director of the Office of Sustainability Support for the EnergyRead… Read more »

States, Fed Gov Look to Contractors to Communicate the ACA’s Message

Government Contractors are attempting to find work communicating with U.S. citizens about healthcare exchanges. One of the ways these companies will interact with citizens on behalf og governments is to operate customer service centers. An example, MAXIMUS recently opened a center in Maryland, which will help citizens with questions about enrolling in a health plan.Read… Read more »

Hacking towards a solution – 7 elements of a successful gov hackathon

The Digital Government Strategy, the Open Data Directive, the Open Data policy and the Open Data Partnership agreement are all pushing agencies to find new ways to jumpstart innovation. Hackathons are the easiest and cheapest way to do that. The idea is simple, get a bunch of smart and talented programmers together, provide them withRead… Read more »

Self Reliance

The trend toward self reliance is growing in velocity and scope. This post is highlights of the shift that is becoming increasingly clear. As I recall, we were taught at a young age to rely on others instead of ourselves – back in the old days: parents set our limits and standards teachers enforced theRead… Read more »

Can you focus at work? Distracting Colleagues? Solutions to the open office plan

About 70% of employees work in an open office right now, but that percentage is a bit lower in the federal government. An open office simply means either a totally open room or cubicles. If you are one of the 70%, you know that while the rooms can be really helpful to getting to knowRead… Read more »

13 Tips on Email Management

For many white collar government workers, a large part of your day is spent on email management – writing emails, reading emails, responding to actions in emails. But we never get any tips on how to be successful at email. So here are my 13 tips: 1) Respond to every email within 24 hours –Read… Read more »

Freedom Of Information Law Myths

I continue to be amazed by how wrong government attorneys are in the legal advice they provide regarding Freedom of Information laws (FOIL). The latest example of this is the opinion rendered by a Buffalo School District attorney. School board member Jason McCarthy recently asked at a board meeting whether several upper level district employeesRead… Read more »

Free Webinar: How to Share Great Images on Social Media

We’re hosting a free webinar this Thursday, Aug 8, 2013 at 2:00 PM EDT. Register now. In the hour-long webinar, we’ll explain why images and infographics are so important on social media, show examples of great communication via imagery, and – most importantly – explain why some images perform better than others. We’ll also leaveRead… Read more »