Tech

The Social Media Subcouncil Asks: What’s in a Name?

When it comes to social media, how you position your brand goes a long way for conveying authenticity and trust. Social media naming conventions are equally important for government agencies as they are for celebrities, commercial entities, and other branded organizations. Prior to commencing activity in the social space, it’s important for government communicators toRead… Read more »

A Suggestion for what “Transparency” looks like

Transparency. It’s the buzz word around the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the planned disbursement, tracking and reporting of the $787 billion federal stimulus package to states. Every state and many local jurisdictions have responded in some way to the transparency requirements (page 9) outlined by the federal government. As transparency can beRead… Read more »

New Food Safety Twitter Channel @USDAFoodSafety

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has launched its first official Twitter channel @USDAFoodSafety (www.twitter.com/USDAFoodSafety). FSIS will provide food safety education and information to followers. The account will be used to share food safety education materials, provide information on recalls and news releases and will be monitored for any questions from other Twitter users.

Decentralized, Delegated Disappointments

The spouse of a friend of mine was denied a visa yesterday. Knowing something of the visa system myself I had explained how the system worked and given reassurances about the professionalism of the consular officer. And, ultimately, while I have no doubt about the officer’s professionalism, it’s clear that the officer’s approach was differentRead… Read more »

You’ve got Tim O’Reilly and Gov 2.0 in a Room …

What do you want to know? Steve Ressler of GovLoop and Steve Lunceford of GovTwit and BearingPoint in conversation with the founder of O’Reilly Media and the voice of Web 2.0. He’s crashing DC in September with the Gov 2.0 Summit, and we’re talking to him Sunday, 2 p.m., on BlogTalkRadio. I’m down with O’Reilly’sRead… Read more »

Govloop’s March Madness Contest, Hostile Territory at a Neutral Site, and a New Non-Smoking Rule

About 36 hours and March Madnes begins. Enter Govloop’s March Madness Bracket Contest… the link is right here. Ahh… so we see here that North Carolina and Duke are assigned to the same venue for the first weekend of the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament. They both open in Greensboro, NC. Duke has becomeRead… Read more »

What form should a government blog take?

Republished from eGovAU. There’s an excellent and very active discussion over at Adriel Hampton’s blog regarding, Templating a Government 2.0 Blog. The discussion ranges beyond the pure technical and moderation challenges of establishing a blog (which are very easy to overcome) and into the mindset of government. In fact my view of the discussion isRead… Read more »

How Open and Transparent Will Reporting of State Level Stimulus Spending Be?

By Dennis D. McDonald, Ph.D. I’m almost finished building my list of state government stimulus reporting web pages. Next week I’ll begin a more detailed state by state review of what these pages reveal about how “open and transparent” states are being about how they use ARRA money. Below I discuss why I’m doing this,Read… Read more »

Pandemic – What can I do ?

Pandemics – What can I do? Alice M. Fisher asked a great question. “How will one single government worker riding the metro system everyday, day in and day out personally prepare and make a difference (even if you are supposed to be the last to go or shut down. Schools can close. Restaurants and roadsRead… Read more »