I was at an entrepreneurs event last night where three separate people told me they were in the process of rebranding their already-launched startup. One told me that since they’ve started using their new name in conversations, they’ve been making more deals and are getting better reactions from investors. Nobody at the entire event mentionedRead… Read more »
The Government Man is back after a brief hiatus. In my book, Confessions of a Government Man, a chapter called “Where You Sit is Where You Stand” was all about the stovepipe mentalities once prevalent in government. Fortunately a lot of this type of thinking is gone but not totally forgotten. The subject matter conjuresRead… Read more »
By Andrew Foxwell, Director of Marketing / New Media In the last installation of this four-part series, I’d like to cover the final — and pressing — question we face. As modes of communications change, let’s look at how we can use available technology toward our ultimate goal: increasing communications, which ultimately promotes our democracy.Read… Read more »
In late June, Jen Pahlka, CfA’s Founder and Executive Director, gave a talk at the Future of Web Apps conference in Las Vegas. Entitled “The Next Disruption: The Opportunity for Civic Startups,” Jen’s keynote outlined how there is a $172 billion government spending market that is waiting to be disrupted by today’s geeks and entrepreneurs.Read… Read more »
Once in a while, my organization CEPSM.ca conducts research geared at public sector and non-profit marketing/communications professionals. The research is meant to benefit the entire community as it addresses knowledge gaps in the industry. A few weeks ago, CEPSM partnered up with Environics Research Group to launch the “State of Social Media Monitoring in theRead… Read more »
Tweet Open data is moving forward in Canada. The provincial government in British Columbia launched its own open data portal on Tuesday. The site, data.gov.bc.ca has been in the works for a long time and will provide nearly 2,500 data sets covering a broad range of information from salaries to student performance. The B.C. governmentRead… Read more »
Patra’s money quote: “Money. Salary. Compensation. All a critical aspect of your job search and yet to many Americans, more difficult to talk about than sex.” What do you need to do to determine your strategy? Learn what you are worth in terms of the job you want. Be clear with hiring managers about yourRead… Read more »
I don’t wish to come across like some old “back in my day” type of person reminiscing about the good old days for several reasons. First when I was starting out the powers that be, thought it would be a good idea to buddy me up with a lot of the senior technical staff andRead… Read more »
The name “Code for America” is a little misleading: CfA needs more than coders, and its coders must do more than code. We need civic hackers, yes. But we also need researchers, project managers, and designers experienced in UI and UX. We need fellows who can understand government, and fellows who can understand each other.Read… Read more »
What to Say When You’re Angry Most of the time when we’re angry we say things that really don’t represent us well. Often we end up apologizing, defending our language, making excuses for our upset and ultimately tripping over past behavior. The key to being able to say the right thing when you’re angry isRead… Read more »