2014 Public Participation Interviews: John Lewis on Outreach

We recently started reading a terrific interview series from the talented team at Collaborative Services on public participation lessons they have learned in the last year, and we wanted to share their insights with the NCDD community. The third interview in the series features the reflections of John Lewis of Intelligent Futures, who shares insightsRead… Read more »

An Uncluttered Inbox = An Uncluttered Mind

Hello, my name is Lindsey, and I am an email hoarder. At least, I was in the past. With each new email account (personal, school, work) I opened, my inbox would balloon. A few emails would turn into a few hundred, eventually snowballing into a few thousand. I started missing emails and losing track ofRead… Read more »

Veterans Speak Out Against a Debilitating Federal Workplace Harming the Health of America’s Returning Military

(WASHINGTON, DC) — In a recently released statement veterans, members of The Coalition For Change, Inc. (C4C), called for the U.S. Congress and the Obama administration to stop the political power play and to mandate that federal supervisory and management officials face discipline for willfully breaking civil rights and whistleblower protection laws. “The unrestrained retaliatoryRead… Read more »

Facebook’s Purchase of WhatsApp Was Well Played

With Facebook’s $19 billion purchase of WhatsApp, the social network has strategically solidified its position as the most dominant social media platform. This is not surprising to me, considering that my December blog post focused on WhatsApp being the next big story. Despite recent reports of fewer teens using Facebook, it now owns two ofRead… Read more »

Eight ways to craft a top government tweet

Often the issue today is no longer how an agency or council gets a message or response approved for release via social media, but rather how to cut through all the noise. I analysed the top tweets by Australian governments and councils over the last two months, as reported by Great Oz Gov Tweets. OutRead… Read more »

Managing Your Expectations for Success with Trainers and Consultants

What word springs to mind when you think of past experiences with trainers and/or consultants? Unhappy? Frustrated? Satisfied? Pleased? Assuming you’ve hired a competent trainer/consultant, do you know what the primary difference is between those that have had a negative response versus those that have been happy with the experience? Managed expectations. By managing YOURRead… Read more »

Trusting the Terrain

This picture does not indicate a non-stop train. One would think, if one did not speak Dutch, that you boarded the train at Tilburg, and de-trained at Den Haag Centraal. (My actual origin point was Eindhoven a few hours earlier, but that’s part of the story.) To expand. If one grew up on New York’sRead… Read more »

Social Media Engagement: 7 Rules for Working Smart, not Just Hard

Summary:Written for both individuals and organizations, this post provides high-level guidance for rookies who are just getting started with social media, as well as those who are looking to add more structure, focus and discipline to existing initiatives. Maximizing social media engagement requires setting goals, assessing the operating environment, conducting a communications audit, developing aRead… Read more »

Practice Quieting the Mind

Practice Quieting the Mind Thoughts come and go; they are the language of the brain. Thoughts are the conversations we have with ourselves; they are so prevalent we often don’t even realize we’re doing it. Sometimes in fact, we do it so much our thoughts become overwhelming. Do you enjoy inner peace or are youRead… Read more »

PMF Finalists Struggle to Secure Placements

Coming up against an April 8, 2014 deadline to get a work placement within an agency, many 2013 Presidential Management Fellow finalists are seeking an extension. More than 250 current finalists have petitioned OPM’s Katherine Archuleta to intervene and provide them with more time or assistance (the petition requests an extra job fair). Government Executive’sRead… Read more »