Modern Marvels & Absolute Zero NOVA Special

Five NIST employees will be featured on the Modern Marvels: Measure It episode that will air THIS week, Tuesday December 23rd at 8 pm ET. Elizabeth Gentry and Robert Watters (Technology Services), Zeina Jabbour (Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory), Dean Ripple and Greg Strouse (Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory) talk about their work. Also, on Tuesday atRead… Read more »

Summer camp games DO teach useful skills- like financial fraud…

(This is my first blog-esque post ever. So, sorry…) Remember that game Sharks And Minnows? Where one person was the shark and you had to swim with a group from one side of the pool to the other without getting tagged? Safety in numbers was the lesson then, especially because the game got progressively harderRead… Read more »

Three Challenges for Mainstreaming Gov 2.0

adrielhampton.com – When you think of challenges to moving government towards more collaboration, openness and direct democracy, you may think of issues like institutionalized resistance to interagency sharing, legacy laws blocking Gov 2.0 uptake, or some other roadblock to adoption. I don’t think those barriers are as big as we think. But three features alreadyRead… Read more »

Eight Reality Checkpoints for Using “New Social Media” In Government

By Dennis D. McDonald I’m tracking public announcements about the transition to the Obama administration and the emerging role for digital media and technology in the public sector. Currently a mix of messages is being transmitted by industry and government leaders and commentators. Some are overwhelmingly positive about the potential for using modern digital mediaRead… Read more »

Point System and User Incentives

I am working on a collaboration tool with a DoD customer that awards points to members for activities such as posting articles and commenting on existing ones. I would be interested in learning of any ideas others are using as rewards (via points) to encourage greater participation in their sites. Our system offers no rewardsRead… Read more »

Facebook (GovLoop, too) is for Everyone; Twitter is Not

from www.adrielhampton.com After using Facebook and Twitter at high volume for a few months, I’m ready to say it: one has universal appeal, the other most decidedly does not. I like both, but I have to take a strong position against folks who think everyone should be on Twitter. Everyone should not be on Twitter.Read… Read more »

Elephant migration (Or, the federal budget process and local government)

Those with antennae to the ground heard them coming months in advance. Drawing near, the thundering, trumpeting and pounding of the pachyderm feet was like a dry thunderstorm. All of us: ants, mice and small creatures of the forest scurried for cover and got into position for the passing. When the train was just abreast,Read… Read more »