Friday Fab Five: Etiquette, Pay Freeze, Maxwell and More

Every Friday, we take a quick look back at the week and highlight members or moments that were especially awesome. Here’s who and what rocked it out this week.

5. The Most Commented Blog of the Week was Megan Price‘s Top 5 – Airport Etiquette. Megan has been traveling a lot lately and decided to share some of the stuff she’s been seeing over and over…I also think she might have wanted to vent a little, but we all do that sometime. 🙂 Plus who in gov’t doesn’t travel at some point or another? So knowing the do’s and don’ts is kind of a big deal. For the most part it boils down to common courtesy just like Marco Morales mentioned in one of the comments.

“If you’re sitting in a pre-boarding waiting area and enjoying a snack/drink, ensure you dispose of it properly. Many people just tend to leave their food wrappers on seats or leave their drinks half consumed at bottom of seats leaving them open for others to hit with their shoe tips and spill on the carpeting. Newspapers also tend to accumulate quite a bit. Have some consideration for others…”

Psst…if you do travel, you’ll love our “Per Diem Calculator”!

4. The Top Forum winner was far and away Candace Riddle’s SOUND OFF: Your Thoughts on the Federal Pay Freeze? It’s easy to see why the forum got so many comments with the pay freeze affecting 2 million Federal employees. Be sure to check out the 140+ comments. Candace’s discussion wasn’t the only thing on the pay raise though. Mr. GovLoop started a facebook page for employees OK with the pay freeze: It’s Okay, Freeze My Pay:

“I don’t have a problem with this. As a federal employee, I am prepared to do my part to help right the ship. Long timers saw this coming as early as last year, and certainly since September, when legislation was proposed to reduce Congressional salaries and institute a mandatory 10-day furlough. Times are very hard for the entire country. Being a civil servant is a choice I made and I will not turn my back on that decision when the going gets tough. Besides, the possible alternatives to a pay freeze are just too ugly to think about!” –Pat Alford

3. Most Active Group honors go to Maxwell School. We saw a lot of Syracuse peeps join up with the site and their school’s public policy group on GovLoop this week. The surge in group membership may or may not have been because of Mr. GovLoop’s visit to campus (a post by Patrick Fiorenza) to talk about awesomeness in government. For more information, see:What Do 100 MPAs Think About Government?

2. Quote of the Week has to go to an exchange in a forum by Deirdre Rushin entitled “Cracking the Code for Federal Employment”. First, Sylvonia Poole suggested that Deirdre “try a job fair…I have done that several times and have been very successful.” But then she returned to the forum a week later and said:

“I am looking for an accountability partner to report to “everyday” by email, text, phone, chat, or smoke signals my progress with the federal government job search. I am just looking for a “report in” partner. It is diffcult to work 7-3 then turn around and apply for government positions after driving a 45 minute commute from Virginia to Maryland. Any takers, any suggestions on staying motivated? I am also looking for a mentor in the federal government as well. Does any one know someone?”

A couple days later, Alvitta Lefall responded:

“Not a problem. Can you be an accountability partner for me also.”

That’s what GovLoop is all about – people making connections and helping each other advance in their careers!

1. Finally, Rockstar of the Week goes to Sonny Hashmi. Sonny has been all over GovLoop recently, not only commenting but posting a popular blog series about his early experiences with the iPad, which I’m sure is on several GovLoopers’ Christmas lists. Sonny also posted another blog about the digital divide that got some good love in the community. I hope he keeps churning out awesome posts!