Communications

It’s about community!

I heard an interesting story this weekend on NPR’s The State We’re In. In “Street Warriors”, host Jonathan Groubert talks to evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson about The Binghamton Neighborhood Project in Binghamton, New York. Wilson mentions that residents of Binghamton, himself included, don’t really have a great sense of community and the city hasRead… Read more »

The Scourge of “Datalitism”

Data: It’s for Yuppies and Hipsters. That’s the message I’m hearing lately from more than a few companies that deal in data. It seems like more often than not, the messaging around data is, frankly, elitist — based on an assumption that data is something for people of means. Because I’m a sucker for aRead… Read more »

Winning the Hearts and Minds of Government Employees

Here is part of an article I wrote on the above topic: There are many things that management can do which will enable the top 10% to prevail, and more importantly, transform the employees into a workforce that is committed, not merely compliant. However, given the space limitations of this column, I’m going to focusRead… Read more »

What’s the State of Social Media and Government in 2012?

Last Thursday, I delivered the presentation below for several Federal agency heads at the Chicago Federal Executive Board. I quickly affixed the title, “The State of Social Media in Government,” though I’m not sure that’s an accurate description of the content. Here’s a quick sketch of my outline: How Are Americans Using Social Media? (dataRead… Read more »

RSVP Today for 5/15 Re-Imagining Customer Service Roundtable

Please join GovLoop at our next GovLoop Conversations Event on May 15th as we explore ways to improve customer service in government, share best practices and avoid common roadblocks. To register for this event, please follow this link. We hope you’ll join us! On May 15th at The Re-Imagining Customer Service in Government Roundtable (RegisterRead… Read more »

What are Australian Government agencies using social media to achieve?

I’m still collecting responses to my FOI request, however felt it worth providing some interim data on what Australian Government agencies are telling me that they are using social media to achieve. Of the 166 FOI requests I sent out, I have, so far, received 59 legitimate responses in survey format (35%), another 10-20 inRead… Read more »

Stress and Public Relations

Http://LeonardSipes.Com Tonya Garcia from PR Newser reports on findings from CareerCast regarding the most ten most stressful jobs. Selected findings: Public relations officers were second on the list. Photojournalists were fourth. Newscasters (television and radio news presenters) ranked as fifth. Advertising Account Executives were sixth. Observation on the PR profession from the article, “This highly-competitiveRead… Read more »

Losing control in the digital age

Press officers, communications teams, I am told, do not like losing control. So the advent of digital technology could be conceived to be their worst nightmare. Now, I’ve never worked in a communications team where control was something hung on to for dear life so I can’t comment on this from a personal perspective. ButRead… Read more »

Social Media to the Rescue

The last couple of weeks have been tumultuous at different agencies in the US government. For the fourth time in as many months, Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta faced the media last week to state that the “actions of a few do not reflect the character of the US military”. It sounds so much likeRead… Read more »

TSP Talk Weekly Wrap Up – 4/21/12

As earnings and economic reports rolled in, the stock market bounced around trying to find direction. The normally historically positive option expiration week during the April earnings season did finish with gains, but it was not an easy task as the sellers were not too far behind any rally. For the TSP, the C-fund gainedRead… Read more »