(cross-post from my blog, would love to be able to tie that into here)
I am noticing a hockey stick-like moment for ning lately – at least in my circles. Brent stood up one for our summer session on 2.0, the folks behind Corporate Learning Trends and Innovations are using it as a framework for all the good they are doing and now its even getting picked up by ‘unofficial’ segments of the U.S. government.
Meet GovLoop. A full-on ning site designed for: “gov’t employee (fed/state/local), public policy student/professor, good gov’t organization, gov’t contractor with good intentions.”
I am really digging this particular implementation and kudos to Steve Ressler, GovLoop’s founder – for going forward with this idea. I have worked for the federal government for about a decade now but as a contractor/consultant…I have only been a full-on federal employee for about 1.5 years now. I will say that one issue that the Fed MUST address as more and more newbies like myself enter its workforce to replace the wave of retirees…is ensuring that there is powerful mentoring system in place. The U.S. federal government – as a company to work for – is HUGE and career advancement paths and opportunities for learning and growth -while plentiful and varied – are often hard to figure out how to find and access. This is just the sort of site that could help with that.
Thanks for the kind words. I agree – gov’t must really worry about knowledge transfer and training up newbies as they come on board. The trick is moving this to a horizontal transfer that is fun for both parties. Instead of dull training that no one wants to give or receive.