Communications

Early lessons learned from the Colorado shooting

Happy Wednesday! An abbreviated edition of the DorobekINSIDER today as we are all gearing up for the Next Generation of Government Training Summit, which starts Thursday right here in Washington, DC. If you’ve never been, it is an awesome experience — and not just for young people. Hear the new administrator of the Office ofRead… Read more »

Advice from the Public Conversations Project on having critical conversations on challenging issues

As our nation attempts to make sense of the tragic shooting in Tucson, it is easy to portion out blame and accountability. Even easier is avoiding conversations with those who hold views different from our own. These patterns shut down communication and, in a charged atmosphere, can quickly lead to polarized conflict, when what mostRead… Read more »

Lessons Learned: Crisis Communications Online

Over the years, I’ve had the honor of either directly running or managing the people running EPA websites responding to various crises: 9/11 (that happened one month after I joined public affairs) Columbia Shuttle Accident Hurricane Katrina BP Oil Spill Radiation coming to the U.S. from the release of material from Japanese nuclear reactors followingRead… Read more »

To Engage Citizens, Focus on Self Interest

Government agencies are always looking to engage with citizens. However, often when government agencies do reach out for engagement, they get little in return. So how do you truly engage citizens? I recently watched an old video from Tom Steinberg of mysociety (embed below) where he has a simple idea – “focus on self interest”Read… Read more »

Live Blog from the Esri International User Conference

This week I am attending the Esri User International Conferencein the beautiful City of San Diego. Esri was founded in 1969 by current Esri President Jack Dangermond and his wife, Laura. Esri is an acronym for Environment Systems Research Institute. The Esri website states, “Esri’s early mission was to organize and analyze geographic information toRead… Read more »

Telework Adoption Slowed By Key Stakeholders, Says OPM Report

In 2010, Congress passed the Telework Enhancement Act, which was designed to increase the adoption and implementation of telework policies across the federal government and its agencies. By increasing telework adoption, the government was hoping to slash budgets, increase employee productivity and also enable continuity of operations (COOP) when natural disasters and other incidents keptRead… Read more »

Way to Go, Amazon!

I am an Amazon.Com customer – have been since Jeff Bezos launched it in 1995. It’s still evolving as an innovative on-line commerce platform. They have initiated a socially responsible program worth noting. Today my visit to the site opened with a letter from Jeff – about an investment in the future. He announced aRead… Read more »