I was honored when Andy reached out to me about this new weekly video series. We’ll work together, I know, to understand what adds the most value to this great community. Please leave me a comment and let me know if I am on the right track.
I was honored when Andy reached out to me about this new weekly video series. We’ll work together, I know, to understand what adds the most value to this great community. Please leave me a comment and let me know if I am on the right track.
Hey John – Congrats on the inaugural vlog!
As I was preparing for a talk last week called “The Crowd-sourced Communicator” and I was looking for examples of government personnel leveraging social networks to do their jobs more effectively, I was struck by the fact that it wasn’t huge numbers of people that led to folks getting help with their questions. It was usually 2-3 respondents who chimed in a couple times…
Granted, more people in one space makes it more likely that people will find the right resources and responses…and we’ll keep striving to build GovLoop so that it’s more people helping more people…but, at some point, the large numbers you cited become (a) meaningless or (b) overwhelming.
Do you think it’s better to focus on the micro-level – reaching the right people – vs. reaching a bunch of people who may not even be your target audience?
I used to go fishing with my father in a lake nearby my house, never caught a thing. However, when we would go fishing in a stream, not far away, we generally came home satisfied with our catch. It’s always easier finding what you’re looking for if you are in a smaller stream, a smaller network, where you know your audience resides.
Govloop is a great example of a small to mid-size network, focused on a common mission, helping people connect and doing a great job because of this focus.
However, many times people do not yet know the best place to find their audience, to fish, and throwing your line into the larger networks, the lakes, can be a good starting point to at least begin to identify your targets.
In an ideal world it’s really a mixture of targeted communication in your known niches combined with broadcasting in the major networks to find more people to engage with, more people to share the message with.
Do you agree?
John, My first request is keep the Justin Beiber references coming! JK. I mean I think these vlogs work best when posing a board question and letting the reader take it up from there. Also coming from TV I’m also a fan of seeing active video and moving away from the talking head. I know that’s tough given time constraints and the proper video editing software but it might be something to keep in mind down the road.
With all that said I look forward to hearing your insights on tuesday mornings.
Podcast on Grand Rail Program that government wants to spend will be an awesome feature, since it involves length and breadth of the country. Also officials from fed, state, district and local communities have to get involved in various plans. This is the next big program in USA.
http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2010/dot1810a.htm
Stephen, appreciate that feedback. You can’t go wrong with Beiber, right? 😉
I will definitely keep video improvements in mind too as I am with you. While I will be going for shorter videos on the weekly updates I am also going to try to roll in interviews too, hopefully all of that leads to an educational, and entertaining, weekly update.
Totally second the topic by @Srinidhi. Light Rail is the next big project for the gov and if done right could put a major dent in energy usage and emissions
Thanks Srinidhi and Stephen. In your opinions, what do officials at various levels need to do in order to make this successful? In other words, when we talk about “getting involved”, is there a role that community platforms, perhaps like GovLoop, could play in that education process?
Tuesday’s with Moore, I love it!
@John, @ Stephen, Yes, lot can be done. To provide one example: I happened to do telephone survey while at FRA and got to talk to many govt folks on the field, especially in the Safety area. Some of them discussed many of the outreach programs that they do with many communities to bring more awareness regarding railway safety especially where there are unmanned crossing and there has been accidents.
Checkout the plan vision in the below link
http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/rrdev/hsrstrategicplan.pdf
Discussing the intermodal grid
“””””The country’s success in creating a sustainable transportation future, however, demands that we work to overcome these challenges through strong new partnerships among State and local governments, railroads, manufacturers and other stakeholders, along with the renewed Federal commitment proposed here.”””
Also,
Within the agency there are always surveys conducted for the various programs for bettering the agency mission operations. At this time it is done by personal surveys over the phone and by using survey forms over the internet. Social-networking can immensely improve this process. And, the surveys can then feed into the KMS.
Social-media / networking can immensely help in the outreach program conducted within agency, with other agencies and communities (schools, etc)
The other critical need is when any mishap or accident happens. Railway superintendent / general manager / supervisor has to immediately take control of the event and as first responders begin respond, the railway officials have to co-ordinate with police and other such agencies and also provide information.
This is tip of the ice berg. When the rail grid planning begins then there will be flurry of activities. All the levels of the government, private manufacturing companies, communities along the grid-lines have to be involved and lot of project related data have to be constantly published.
hope this helps…
Thanks Srinidhi, will be reviewing this closely soon.
Here is more information on outreach
Stakeholder Outreach Schedule
The Federal Railroad Administration is pleased to announce it will hold five public outreach meetings to solicit input to support development of the nation’s first National Rail Plan. The meetings will be held in several locations throughout the United States. Please see the invitation, or use the links below to register for the most convenient workshop.
Date/Time City Hotel
May 19, 2010 1-5 pm Kansas City, MO Hilton President
http://www.presidentkansascity.hilton.com
May 20, 2010 1-5 pm Atlanta, GA Sheraton Atlanta Downtown Hotel
http://www.sheratonatlantahotel.com/
May 26, 2010 1-5 pm New York City, NY The New Yorker Hotel
http://newyorkerhotel.com/index.html
June 3, 2010 1-5 pm Salt Lake City, UT Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown
http://www.radisson.com/saltlakecityut_downtown
June 4, 2010 1-5 pm Portland, OR The Benson Hotel
http://www.bensonhotel.com/