Communications

The 7 Gov’t Stories you need to know: Secret Service Agents say Colombian Prostitution Scandal might not be the first

The SEVEN stories that impact your life for Wednesday the 25th of April, 2012: The Secret Service agents in the center of the prostitution scandal say misbehavior on official trips is not unprecedented. The Washington Post reports a few of the secret service agents contend that their conduct doesn’t warrant dismissal because senior managers toleratedRead… Read more »

First, Do No Harm

Last week, I had the chance to listen to and speak with Representative Adam Smith of Washington state about cybersecurity legislation at a reception. This year has been pivotal for passing regulations to govern cyber, and attendees of this security event wanted to know his thoughts on the variety of proposed laws. While Rep. SmithRead… Read more »

Social Web for Disaster Management Workshop Roundup & Be A Force of Nature

iDisaster 2.0, a blog about social media and emergency management, has collected papers from the Social Web for Disaster Management Conference 2012 Workshop recently held in Lyon, France. This coincides with NOAA’s collaboration effort with FEMA to launch the first National Severe Weather Preparedness Week. I think they’ve done a pretty good job of preparingRead… Read more »

The Government Man Discusses the GSA Scandal – Part Three

The media frenzy over the peccadillos of a few GSA people has quieted a bit, thanks to the Secret Service scandal. The issue, of course, will be a political battle of grandstanding for a while. It’s easier for the committees to relate to the cost of Beef Wellington and Monte Cristo sandwiches than the nationalRead… Read more »

How to Cause Panic: Television, Social Media and Emergency Management

Http://LeonardSipes.Com CBS “Sunday Morning” (best news show on television) produced “Casting a Skeptical Eye” on April 1, 2012 stating, “No fooling – it’s April 1st, which means we should be extra skeptical about everything today. But correspondent Mo Rocca says with technology letting mis-information and myths spread so quickly, being skeptical is good advice everyRead… Read more »

Social Media and Stress in Communications

Http://LeonardSipes.Com I wrote “Stress and Public Relations” last week and received comments and questions via e-mail, LinkedIn and Twitter. Most debated the reasons for stress in communications but several suggested that social media was a contributing factor. The original article was based on a findings from CareerCast/PR Newser on the ten most stressful jobs. Summary:Read… Read more »

Social Media Works When Combined with Awesome Attitude

This interview with Deloitte Australia’s CEO highlights the best use of social media – collaboration, communication, “flattening” the organization. I find it truly incredible how this CEO and company are able to do better for their customers and each other using social media (Yammer). Granted, every company and agency and culture is different/has it’s ownRead… Read more »

The High Costs of FISMA and Google Lobbying, and More

Today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: The the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2012 currently being debated in the House of Representatives would cost the federal government an estimated $710 million through 2017. More here. The hacktivist group UGNazi has taken the official CIA website offline with a Distributed Denial of ServiceRead… Read more »

2012 Digital Government Conference (dg.o 2012), June 4-7, 2012 at the University of Maryland, College Park

The 2012 Digital Government Conference (dg.o 2012) is taking place June 4-7, 2012 at the University of Maryland College Park (a few miles out of Washington, DC). Marking its 13th year, the conference brings together an international community of leading digital government researchers and practitioners to discuss such key topics as open data; open government;Read… Read more »