Oct 25 2011

The DIY Government IT Networking Kit

The NYS Forum, a cross-boundary collaboration forum in New York state, launched a “starter kit” this week that is designed to help government IT officials build Communities of Practice around topics in their particular area of interest. According to an article in Government Technology, the kit (a 40-page email-able PDF or Word doc) “should help those in the IT field create a network with other IT professionals to discuss issues, policies and best practices.”

Although the kit was designed as a tool for those IT professionals in New York at the local, state and federal level, the tools can be used to start a community of practice anywhere.

It sounds like a great idea to formalize the concepts in such a package, but I wonder if that can actually be a the detriment to the collaborative spirit?  Most of the networks to which I belong relish in the idea of being outside of a bureaucracy.  They focus on personal relationships, quick engagements and responses and the free sharing of ideas and professional opinions. It will be interesting to see how the Kit compares to or meshes with the more well-established, albeit less formal, collaboration tools offered today in government via things like LinkedIn and GovLoop.

Oct 23 2011

The CDC Zombies are Back…In Comic Form!

Brainssssssssssss!

It’s Halloween season…and who doesn’t love a good zombie story?  AMC’s The Walking Dead is dominating TV and Romero’s Dead continue to press forward in new brain-munching glory with every new iteration.  And the federal government does not want to be left behind!

Last May, the CDC had massive success with their Zombie Preparedness Kit campaign – teaching everyone about the value of being prepared for ANY emergency.  Whether you are being threatened by a shuffling corpse or a tornado, being ready can save your life. A serious message delivered via a fun (and effective) campaign. The campaign went viral (how ironic) across social media channels and crashed the CDCs servers as people logged on for more info.  Like I said, who doesn’t love a great zombie story?

Now the CDC is back with those fun-loving flesh-eaters in comic book format. You can download the online graphic novel Zombie Pandemic: Preparedness 101, from the CDC website for free. It educates about a preparedness kit against the gory backdrop of what else? A zombiepocalypse! Get ready..and read a comic book!

Oct 23 2011

Top 10 Most “Liked” Federal Government Agencies on Facebook

Apparently the Marines are looking for a few good “likes” for their Facebook page.  And judging from an article this month in Government Technology magazine, they’ve found them. The USMC tops the top ten list of most “liked” federal agencies on Facebook:

The U.S. Marine Corp
1,584,318 likes

The White House
1,178,189 likes

The National Guard
1,012,382 likes

The U.S. Army
920,629 likes

NASA
595,788 likes

The U.S. Air Force
562,301 likes

The U.S. Navy
384,107 likes

The CDC
160,253 likes

The FBI
154,051 likes

The U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs
146,314 likes

Not surprisingly, most of these agencies have been at the forefront of social media outreach for years. The White House conducts real-time virtual town hall meetings. The US Navy publishes an actual social media handbook encouraging sharing via social media.  The VA actually hired one of their most vocal critics to drive their social media engagement.  And who can forget the CDCs Zombie Preparedness Kit campaign!  The one surprise for me was the FBI – glad to see people are not too paranoid to like them!  I was also surprised some of the other social media friendly federal agencies, like the EPA (only 33,665) and GSA (3,362) were so low in comparison. Probably has something to do with the size of their operational scope and not their social media savvy though because those agencies, and several others at the federal level do great things with social media. I think “social media influence” rather than hard numbers is a topic just ripe for an infographic!

I’d be interested to see a similar list at state and local level, although I bet populations would weigh heavily on that one! Let me know if you’ve ever seen a infographic or recent data on that one.

Oct 21 2011

WireDoo – The New “Better Than Google” Search Engine from MC Hammer?

Can't Search This...at Least Not Yet...

Not content as one of those Renaissance Rappers who simply moved on from music into television (Ice-T) and movies (Will Smith, Ice Cube, Eminem, etc.), MC Hammer announced at the Web2.0 Summit this week that he has been hard at work on WireDoo – a “deep search” engine that he claims will outperform the big boys like Google and Bing.Them’s big words!  But I suppose we should expect only big words from the Master of the Big Pants!

Stay tuned – according to the article from CNN, WireDoo is still in pre-beta. But you log on to the website now if you want to sign up in advance to be a beta tester when the engine is ready for prime time.

Oct 21 2011

Peak Sharing Times for Social Media

Found a very interesting infographic today on PR Daily about the peak times for social media sharing.  9:30AM on Wednesday morning seems to be the magic day and time! Check out the infographic itself below for more interesting tidbits.

Although I’ve never tracked my own, I feel comfortable that they are extremely random in terms of day and time.  Usually I share when I find something interesting to me that I think someone else will get benefit from.  Unfortunately, I don’t get a whole lot of “free time” for research or reading.

What do you think? Does the data match up with your own sharing trends or any observations you’ve made?

Oct 6 2011

Rest in Peace, Sir

The heart, mind and soul of a company I have loved and relied on for my entertainment and livelihood for nearly two decades has passed. I don’t have the words to express as eloquently as others the sadness his passing brings to the lives of millions. So I will simply state the obvious but indisputable truth: his indelible mark on technology and humanity will be sorely missed.  Rest in Peace, sir.

Oct 3 2011

Roanoke County Wins a Prestigious Governor’s Technology Award

Last week I had the honor of representing Roanoke County in receiving the Governor’s Technology Award for our newly redesigned website at the annual Commonwealth of Virginia Innovative Technology Symposium (CoVITS) in Richmond, Virginia. Although I was the only one who stepped up on the stage when they called our name, I was representing the hard work of dozens of employees across nearly every department in the County. The project was truly a team effort in every sense of the word.

(From Left) Virginia Secretary of Technology, Jim Duffey, Me and Sam Nixon, Virginia's Chief Information Officer

The new site was a dramatic improvement over our old site.  In addition to strong visual appeal with clean, soft lines, the new site also infuses the latest trends in technology, including social media integration, full mobile access and dozens of online resources to help our citizens and businesses get online, not inline!

We partnered with CivicPlus to design and development the new site from the ground up. For any localities interested in a site redesign, I highly recommend you talk to Civic Plus.  They had a methodical and effective project management process, but took our ideas into consideration. They came in on time and on budget, despite mid-course changes we threw at them.

If you’re looking for inspiration for your government technology efforts, check out the full list of the 2011 winners for some great ideas and innovation!