Posts By Mark D. Drapeau

Six Ways Evangelists Can Promote Like Sports Illustrated Supermodel Kate Upton

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) – Recently, I wrote an essay about how the open government movement could do a better job of engaging mainstream media, and more specifically how the simultanous Transparency Camp and White House Correspondents Dinner weekend could make better connections. One criticism of this is that the WHCD is too focused onRead… Read more »

White House Correspondents Dinner: Why Do Geeks Hate Nerdprom?

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) — Recently, the White House Correspondents Dinner (AKA “Nerd Prom”) and its bevy of pre-parties, after-parties, and brunches hit Washington, DC by storm as it does every spring. But across the Potomac in Arlington, VA, a simultaneous gathering of government enthusiasts known as “Transparency Camp” occurred, sequestered from networking with influentialRead… Read more »

Injured In Space: NASA Needs Cheap, Light, Simple Medical Devices

Brandon Glenn (Cleveland, OH) – Astronauts can encounter lots of potential health risks during long space flights. And those risks are exacerbated by a lack of access to physicians, limited medical supplies and a small amount of storage on spacecrafts. Add to that high costs – it takes $10,000 to launch one pound of anythingRead… Read more »

Free Microsoft Cloud Computing For University Scientists

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) – Microsoft and Internet2 have announced a new agreement enabling member universities to take advantage of Windows Azure to open up collaborative, instructional and research opportunities in the cloud. The announcement was made at the recent Spring 2012 Internet2 Member Meeting in Arlington, VA. This agreement is a significant step inRead… Read more »

Three Hot New Social Apps For Election 2012

Stan Freck (Park City, UT) — Everyone knows that the 2008 Obama/Biden campaign for President of the United States made sophisticated use of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media, not to mention creatively tapping into America’s young voters in other innovative ways. But if you thought technology in the 2008 presidential race was a bigRead… Read more »

Bayer Launches Pinterest Boards About Healthcare, Nutrition, High-tech Materials

Stephanie Baum (Philadelphia, PA) – Social photo-sharing platform Pinterest has skyrocketed in popularity due to users passionate about topics like fashion and food. But now, “Big Pharma” companies are also beginning to use Pinterest to speak to their audiences. Bayer Corporation established a presence on Pinterest in recent weeks in a sign that pharmaceutical companiesRead… Read more »

Chicago-Based CrowdSpring Powers Free Creative Work For Nonprofits

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) — Even when a successful nonprofit takes in a lot of money, much of it is earmarked for carrying out their main mission. Things like advertising, design work, and other activities, while valuable, are expendable if funds are limited. Now, a creative services company is helping them, pro bono. Crowdspring– aRead… Read more »

Lonely Planet: NASA Needs Your Best Ideas About Exploring Mars

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) — Due to severe budget cutbacks, NASA’s Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr. has instructed a number of his senior administrators to “lead a reformulation of the Mars Exploration Program” in order to continue space exploration on a budget. To do that, NASA is sponsoring a June, 2012 workshop in Houston toRead… Read more »

Real-World Civic Innovation Through Online Gaming

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) — When you think of “games,” you might think of Gears of War for Xbox, or Angry Birds for iPhone, or perhaps Zynga games for Facebook. But increasingly, people working in the public and civic sectors see value in leveraging games and game mechanics to accomplish real-world change. In that vein,Read… Read more »