Message from Honorary Chair, Secretary Arne Duncan

THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION Dear Fellow Federal Employees: This year marks a historic milestone. Fifty years ago, President John F. Kennedy established the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) to help people in local communities, across the nation, and around the world. It is my profound pleasure to serve as National Honorary Chair of the 50th anniversaryRead… Read more »

PRESIDENT’S DEFICIT REDUCTION PLAN UNFAIRLY TARGETS FEDERAL WORKERS

Plan amounts to $21 billion tax increase on federal employees American Federation of Government Employees National President John Gage today denounced President Obama’s proposal to require federal employees to contribute $21 billion more to their retirement. Under the President’s Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction, federal employees will have their paychecks reduced by 1.2Read… Read more »

Illinois adds to mortgage assistance

Illinois is utilizing more federal funds to keep unemployed and underemployed residents in their homes. Approximately 15,000 homeowners in the state are under the threat of foreclosure due to employment conditions and the Governor is using $345 million in federal funds to help them cover their mortgage payments. The program gives 10-year low cost loansRead… Read more »

What to Learn from the Solyndra Collapse?

On August 31st, solar cell maker Solyndra unexpectedly closed its doors, laying off 1,100 employees and filing for bankruptcy. The Fremont, CA company had been considered one of the most promising solar companies in the U.S. The fact that Solyndra received $535 million in federally-backed loan guarantees has many questioning whether this collapse could haveRead… Read more »

Why face-to-face events about digital communications are important

With increased budget pressures and constraints on our schedules with expanding workloads, finding time to attend a face-to-face event is difficult. Not that there are many face-to-face events anymore: studies show that 60% of US marketers are planning to increase their spend on virtual events while 42% plan to decrease their spend around physical eventsRead… Read more »

Opening Day at 2011 APWA Congress & Exposition

This year’s International Public Works Conference & Exposition is being held in Denver, Colorado. The event opened yesterday morning with a welcome by the outgoing president, George Crombie, and a transfer of leadership to the new president, Diane M. Linderman. First General Session – Michael Hayden The first general session followed with keynote speaker, MichaelRead… Read more »

Bob Gourley Discusses Big Data Security With IDG

Photo Credit smartdatacollective.com On Monday, September 12, 2011, Crucial Point‘s own Bob Gourley met with cyber security industry leaders at the National Harbor Gaylord Convention Center near Washington D.C. The event was coincident with the HP Protect 2011 conference for Cyber security and enterprise software. The full interview will air soon through HP, but weRead… Read more »