I love podcasts. Podcasts are a great way to get smarter while you’re doing the dishes, working out, or on your morning commute (unless you’re bike commuting in traffic, in which case I can’t recommend using headphones). Some of these will make you better at your job. Some will inform you about current events andRead… Read more »
Think about the last time you went through airport security. Or applied for federal benefits. Or paid your taxes. How did those experiences make you feel? What specific emotions did they invoke in you? Did you feel comforted, hopeful, and valued – or insulted, frustrated, and nervous? Questions like these are the most important thingsRead… Read more »
At the end of the day a good brand continuously builds its own equity – that is, a price differential between itself and its competitors – by doing three things well. They can be summarized by the following imperatives: 1. “Choose Me”: Help the customer make a decision quickly. 2. “Be Me”: Provide the customerRead… Read more »
EIS is the main component of the Network Services 2020 (NS2020) Strategy. It will replace GSA’s Networx and regional and local contracts, which many agencies currently use to acquire best-value IT, telecom, and infrastructure. Agencies will start to transition in 2017.
This is a salute to my brethren from the liberal arts, but also anyone who has ever thought English composition class was useless. What is it about understanding how writing happens that is so boring even if writing itself is fun, especially if you have only 140 characters and are not bound by spelling orRead… Read more »
Last week, I wrote about how I go through my creative process, essentially how I get down to the nitty-gritty of how I write a story. When I started this job, I thought I’d just be blogging. Just like I do on any of my personal digital spaces. But instead, I’m doing some “digital storytelling.”Read… Read more »
Emoji are now a part of how people all over the world communicate. Some people in government are enthusiastically embracing emoji (looking at you, 18F), knowing that they are quickly becoming a conventional element of our nonverbal communications. Even if you’re not ready to use emoji, in order to understand what people are saying it’s important to at least learn what emoji areRead… Read more »
Naysayers love to complain that real customer experience (CX) improvement is only for the private sector because government is subject to unique and insurmountable pressures. Don’t believe them. Many major corporations must overcome the same hurdles, and some federal agencies are finding ways to break out, too. Use this list of comebacks to subdue governmentRead… Read more »
Last week I wrote about the six traditional factors that make a story newsworthy, at least what journalism profs have settled upon to get students thinking about the topic, and how you can do a better job responding to reporters if you understand those factors. This week we’ll stick to those basics, but flip theRead… Read more »
I’ve been to a lot of conferences over the years, as a speaker and as an attendee. I know a lot of people who go to them, I’ve talked about them as a “thing” (i.e. are they worthwhile or not) and I’ve been the subject of many marketing pitches to either cover them or attend.Read… Read more »