Three Government Agencies Take Home First Annual NVTC Social Media Awards

On June 15, 2010, the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s Social Media Committee hosted its first annual social media awards at K Street Lounge in Washington, D.C. The ceremony was part of #dcweek and recognized social media programs in six categories (see winners below). You may notice that half of the winners were government organizations: Department of State, Army Contracting Command and Arlington County Government. I think it says a lot for what is being accomplished in gov2.0 for these agencies to compete right up against industry and be recognized for their efforts.

You might recall that the Army Contracting Command’s Armyhire.com website was featured as a GovLoop project of the week earlier in the year. This time it was acknowledged for “Best Use of LinkedIn”. As a subcontractor that supports this website project and its outreach, we had two staff members at the awards to help our client celebrate their big win. (It’s like being a proud parent)!

The awards were recognized by three local leaders in social media: Amber Harris (@TheNuwanda) with Discovery Communications; Shashi Bellamkonda (@shashib) with Network Solutions; and Brian Dresher (@bdresher) of USATODAY.com.

To learn more about the event, read the DC Tech Source article, watch the YouTube video created by Nakeva Corothers (@nakeva) or see several photos posted by GovLoop member Kathleen Smith.

Here are the NVTC social media award winners and the categories they won in:

• Best Use of Facebook – Department of State
• Best Use of Twitter – Shady Grove Eye & Vision Care
• Best Use of LinkedIn – Army Contracting Command
• Best Use of Viral Videos – Neustar
• Best Use of a Corporate Blog – TANDBERG
• Best Integrated Social Media Campaign – Arlington County Government

Congratulations to all of the winners and those that participated in the NVTC social media award’s competition this year. Hopefully next year’s awards celebrate even more government rock stars!