Posts By Lauren Girardin

Public Servants, Are You Ready to Feel the Love?

One week a year, extra effort goes into making sure that more Americans learn about the awesome people who work in public service. This celebration happens during Public Service Recognition Week from May 3–9, 2015 and honors federal, state, county and local government employees. Across the nation there will be acts of appreciation, special events, media attention, and a social media storm. While publicRead… Read more »

These County Governments Deliver Non-Stop Action

Whenever I think of county government, an annoying ear-worm of a song pops into my head. Backed by a twangy hoedown tune at odds with the county’s New York suburban character, the TV commercial for the Westchester County Fair sang promises of “Rides and attractions! Non-stop action! Shows! Animals! Fireworks, too!” Hokey summertime county fairs were my firstRead… Read more »

A Stress-Free Guide to Getting the Most Out of Virtual Events

Want to attend a truly awesome virtual event? Sign up for GovLoop’s free 4th Annual Government Innovators Virtual Summit on April 22nd. We live in a golden age of professional development. Gone, or at least really dimished are time-wasting travel misadventures, rubbery hotel chicken dinners, and awkward run-ins with people you’d rather avoid. Virtual conferences and trainings solve a lot of problems. They provideRead… Read more »

6 Lessons Game of Thrones Can Teach You About Building Social Influence

It’s been a wild ride on Game of Thrones. When season 5 premiers on April 12, 2015, fans will anxiously watch leaders rise and fall, armies gather in force, and characters—some beloved, some despised—face untimely demise in a relentless battle between noble houses for the kingdom’s throne. You might be surprised at all you can learn about building social influenceRead… Read more »

5 Awesome Government Contests

Buried, hopefully deeply, in my hometown newspaper archives, there’s a photograph of a dorky 8-year-old me whose mom dressed her funny. (To be fair, it was the 80s. We were all dressed funny.) In the photo I proudly and nervously showed off my award-winning anti-drunk driving poster of a drawing of a girl crying a single cartoonish blueRead… Read more »

Help Wanted: Your Ideas for Technology-Powered Citizen Engagement

A challenge has been issued to Americans, and it’s one you’re going to want to accept. The challenge has been made by Jason Goldman, who is getting started as new Chief Digital Officer at the White House on April 6. Jason comes from the tech sector trenches at companies including Twitter and Google, and is one of many prominent tech folks who haveRead… Read more »

Just How Popular Are .Gov Websites? Very, Very Popular

The world can now peek under the dashboard of U.S. government websites—an analytics dashboard, that is. A new site, analytics.usa.gov, shows a live, aggregate view of the Google Analytics data for many federal government websites. The site also links to the open source datasets that run behind the analytics dashboard, should you be in a tinkering mood. The most impressiveRead… Read more »