State Government YouTube – YouTube Agrees to Modified Terms of Service after Negotiations with NASCIO

Big news for those in state government web today… LEXINGTON, Ky., January 17, 2012 — Following lengthy discussionsinvolving members of the National Association of State ChiefInformation Officers (NASCIO) Social Media Legal Workgroup, YouTube hasagreed to modify the terms of service exclusively for state government.The new terms resolve a series of legal issues around indemnificationand courtRead… Read more »

GSA Launches Pilot 12-Week Social Media Training

This post has been updated to highlight the role of GSA’s Web Manager University. Starting February 7, I’ll be leading a 12-week social media in government course that aims to help new and aspiring social media practitioners understand the strategy and tools that will help the succeed in their roles. The class is being offeredRead… Read more »

How will you measure your local government’s social media success?

I spent the better part of the past two years talking to local government officials about Facebook plans for their governments or the public office they held. More than once, I was asked “I have a Facebook page, why isn’t it working?” Well, that depends on how you want it to work. What are youRead… Read more »

Five organizing tips for a successful open government unconference

Original appearance on opensource.com. Joining the open source (and CityCamp) movement has been one of the best experiences of my life. I’ve been involved with open source for over a decade, but I never got involved in a community project in any significant way–until I found CityCamp. I haven’t submitted a single line of code,Read… Read more »

TriMet’s Twitter town hall attracts a handful of tweeters

TriMet (OR) scheduled a Twitter chat with general manager Neil McFarlane to discuss a projected budget shortfall, but the turnout was less than expected. Original post

5 actions human services agencies should take now to make the most of the ACA

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) will expand health coverage in the United States by more than 35 million people. This expansion requires states to take a fresh look at eligibility and customer service operations, and develop new business processes for interacting with stakeholders. Existing IT systems are outdated, and under-resourced state agencies are challenged byRead… Read more »

Navigating the New GovLoop Redesign

If you have been on GovLoop recently (or even if you haven’t), you have probably noticed a few changes around the site. We appreciated your patience as we rolled out the seven new community pages last week, but the fun doesn’t end there! In addition to the launch of the newly focused GovLoop community pages,Read… Read more »

Is Social Media Useful for Engaging Your Constituents?

Town hall meetings, Twitter, hotlines, e-mail… The list of potential lines of communication goes on. There are more open lines of communication between agencies and the citizens they serve than ever before. Since the advent of the Internet, they are constantly evolving, particularly social media, to better serve the public will. But are we betterRead… Read more »

No rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something!

Edison’s quote about trying to accomplish things has always been one of my favourites. For me it highlights the problems that can occur when rules, guidelines and parameters are applied to something as fluid as engaging online. One of the things I find people ask for most when devising a ‘social strategy’ are previous examplesRead… Read more »

Beachfront, or Socialfront Property for Rent – No Bedbugs!

(From the Kings of Metaphor at KME…why should all the physical land, property owners and developers have all the fun?) That’s right, we’ve got some amazing un-real estate now for rent, in all the great places. Whether you’re looking for a quick getaway, or longer-term (monthly contracts available) socialfront property – we’ve got attractive optionsRead… Read more »

Communications