OK – you’re back from the Government Web and New Media Conference, and you’re sky high thinking about mobile apps and Facebook pages and “Meetups.” Gotta have all those channels. But where to start? That’s easy. Start with your customers. What do they want and need? How do they want to get it? Yeah, yeah,Read… Read more »
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3 Conversations I’d Have at the Government Web and New Media Conference
This week – March 17-18 – is the annual Government Web and New Media Conference in Washington DC. This conference, which is sponsored by the Federal Web Managers Council and the General Services Administration, is THE event for web communicators at all levels of government. In addition to having great “how-to” sessions, you’ll hear inspirationalRead… Read more »
Set Your Compass On “Service”
I’ve told this story before, but it bears repeating. Many years ago, my good friend Phyllis Preston (currently at the Federal Aviation Administration) introduced me to her father, Ed Preston. I knew Ed had worked for the federal government for many years; so as I shook his hand, I asked, “Ed…where did you work?” HeRead… Read more »
Reorganizing the Federal Government? Start Online!
Hope you didn’t miss this. In his State of the Union speech, President Obama talked about reorganizing government to consolidate programs/services. “There are 12 different agencies that deal with exports. There are at least five different agencies that deal with housing policy. Then there’s my favorite example: The Interior Department is in charge of salmonRead… Read more »
Get Organized for Great Customer Service
At long last, the customer service bandwagon seems to be rolling in government. The latest evidence: GSA just quietly unveiled a fabulous new website: HowTo.gov. It puts requirements, best practices, training, and tips for all forms of customer service delivery (web, call centers, publications, social media) under one customer service umbrella. Bravo! Finally, we canRead… Read more »
How Public Sector Organizations Can Learn from Quora
There has been a lot of hype around the not-so-new social network called Quora in the past few weeks. Quora describes itself as: A continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. Or as David Griner puts it: It’s like the community side of LinkedIn, merged withRead… Read more »
Future Innovations Impacting Contract Specialists
Just reading these interviews shows you the Internet is evolving. And as the Internet evolves, so will contract specialists. See, we’re partly paid to be walking-talking-regulation-spouting machines, meaning we understand the Federal Acquisition Regulation and its several-bazillion supplements. And as much as the Internet has impacted contract specialists, more changes are coming. Mobile FARing FARSiteRead… Read more »
Three Goals for 2011
Ah, a new calendar year! A fresh start! Time to look at the year ahead and figure out how we can make the best of it. So, what goals would I set as a government communicator? Three things jump to the top of my list. Develop and implement a governmentwide customer service strategy Most ofRead… Read more »
The Best of 2010
OK, holidays are nearing an end; and I’m back to thinking about government communications and customer service. What a year it’s been! Great progress in some areas, like social media. Modest progress toward our long-time goal to make top customer tasks easier to find and use. Not much progress at all (in fact, slippage) inRead… Read more »
Best of 2010: State and City Blogs
Last week we cranked out the Top 5 Federal Blogs of the year and it just wouldn’t be fair not to do the same for state and local. Not trying to throw feds under the bus but often time state and especially local folks can do some really cool things quicker because there is lessRead… Read more »