Government can’t solve budget battles? Let citizens do it.

This article on participatory budgeting (PB) by Daniel Altschuler and Josh Lerner appeared in the Christian Science Monitor site on April 5, 2011. Intro text for the article: “In recent weeks, Americans have watched budget battles tear apart Congress and state governments. This may be just the beginning.” See the original article with all liveRead… Read more »

Humility and Trust in the Omidyar Network

“Humble” was one of the three words I used when introducing myself at the Omidyar Network Executive Forum this week, but at the time I did not know how truly humble I would feel by the end of the event. The ONEF is a three day retreat for Omidyar’s investees (they make grants to non-profitsRead… Read more »

FYI only The Weekly Spark – Week of May 20, 2011 Following are the titles and links of items posted online in The Weekly SPARK, May 20, 2011, published and e-distributed FYI by the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. The complete text of this abbreviated FYI posting is available at the SPRC website at http://www.sprc.org/news/index.asp ~~~~Read… Read more »

Reflections on the Training Officer’s Consortia Annual Institute

Recently I had the privilege of presenting at the Training Officer’s Consortia (TOC) Annual Institute – Making Training Sweet in Hershey, Pennsylvania and I want to share my experience with you. The Institute kicked off with a presentation from Kathryn Medina with OPM. Kathryn’s keynote address highlighted how critical it is that the next generationsRead… Read more »

The User Experience of New York City

I’m starting to think about cities more and more in terms of user experience. It works pretty well as a metaphor – maybe so well that you don’t even need to call it a metaphor at all. When you’re navigating the city, you want certain things to happen, you want a nice experience, just asRead… Read more »

Open Government Links of the Week – May 20, 2011

This week’s version isn’t the shortest ever, that’s for sure. Feel free to add more links in the comments section! “New York Releases ‘Road Map for the Digital City’” (HT Alex Howard’s Tweet on Twitter) Also see: “With a new road map, New York City aims to be the nation’s premier digital city” Report: “UsingRead… Read more »

CDC Releases Zombie Preparedness Guide; We Uncover Additional Federal Zombie Opportunities

Originally published on GovWin As reported in many news sites today, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has released a new document that highlights the potential concern of a zombie invasion occurring in the future. A zombie specifically known as a Jockey. Courtesy of Valve If such an event does occur (and it will), theRead… Read more »