Yearly Archives: 2013

How to Tweet Like a Mars Rover

This was originally posted on the Measured Voice blog. This robot is probably better at Twitter than you. Photo from NASA. NASA gets to take credit not only for blazing trails into outer space, but also for developing some of the first great examples of social media voice. In May 2008, Veronica McGregor, social mediaRead… Read more »

Small pieces loosely joined

If you don’t want to read the whole of this post, there are two simple actions to take: Go to the new Public Sector Blogs site, admire it briefly, then subscribe to updates by RSS or by email, according to your fancy Follow @PubSecBlogs on twitter which tirelessly tweets updates in real time. These eachRead… Read more »

How Local Government Decisions Are Really Made

People often seem surprised by the decisions local public officials make. It’s not uncommon to hear community residents say, “What the heck were they thinking about when they …???” Since I enjoyed the privilege of a lengthy career in local government, I was able to personally observe the process many local government bodies used toRead… Read more »

An Organizational and Leadership Debacle: Is it Time to Audit the IRS?

The IRS has never been the most popular kid in the lunch room. The current IRS scandal shows an agency experiencing organizational and leadership issues. I suppose they provide a necessary function, but who hasn’t complained bitterly in the spring about the amount of money and time it takes to meet their demands? I’ve beenRead… Read more »

7 Reasons I’m Excited about NextGen

It’s July. Woot. I’m excited because it means Next Generation of Gov’t Training Summit is coming. For those that don’t know, NextGen is a 2-day training summit co-hosted by GovLoop & Young Government Leaders. It’s awesome – 650+ Gen X/Y gov’t leaders, 50+ sessions mapped to OPM ECQs and 100+ speakers from the best inRead… Read more »

Aviation 2013

Leading cybersecurity experts (Richard Clarke, Dan Geer, Paul Kurtz, Jeffrey Carr) will speak at AIAA AVIATION 2013, being held August 12–14 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles, Calif. Hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the conference will address the risk of the evolving cyber threats to the world’s $2.2 trillionRead… Read more »

TED Founder Richard Saul Wurman’s Latest Project: The Urban Observatory

Data is transforming the way we live, socialize and work. We are increasingly moving towards the “internet of things,” in which all of the services and technology we rely on will be connected through apps, sensors and robotics. Countless times we have seen data revolutionize the way the public sector delivers services and improves decision-making.Read… Read more »

Separation of Church and State: Myths and Facts

The Founders Tried to Protect Us From Religious Extremists America’s founders deliberately kept god out of our Constitution because they didn’t want a theocracy. But many Americans now try to force all of us to practice their faith, and prevent some from practicing different faiths. Nothing is more un-American. James Madison and Gouverneur Morris wroteRead… Read more »