Hi folks,
First, congratulations on Govloop! This is an excellent resource and I was thrilled that it was truly open to the government community at large.
I serve as a Deputy Director of eCommunications at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and have had the pleasure of meeting several US counterparts and peers on Twitter and at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco last week. Managing online communication initiatives in Government brings with it shared opportunities and challenges and Govloop has already provided me with some contacts and resources to help.
I look forward to touching base with some of you.
Well done!
Martha
@mjmclean
http://onlineodyssey.wordpress.com/
Martha,
Hi and welcome. I’ve found the site to be quite open and quasi governmental. More open and not as uptight as the “official public documents”
There seems to be people from all over – though it is mostly just US government.
I like what you wrote: “There is a reason why McDonad’s, Wal-Mart and Amazon’s of the world continue to succeed – decisions are made based on what clients want. What a profound concept.”
Can you imagine how sucessfull government could be if they just provided the oversight and information. Sigh, IMO one part of the problem is people do not even know why we should have a government.
Do tell us about web 2.0 Expo.
Allen
Hi Allen,
Thanks for the comments.
The Web 2.0 Expo was a fantastic gathering of people from many areas (media, tech, gov’t) and disciplines (IT, content, management etc.) We were fortunate to have some Gov2.0 sessions there during which time I met many from the US state and federal governments.
While those events are always of interest to me, I am starting to feel it is those who are not in the know who would benefit most. It seems governments continue to pay others to tell them what they keep hearing internally.
I think the more we can inform and engage citizens online, they will question less and less why they have a government.
And so, we power forward!
Best,
Martha