Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Fed 100 - Video of Honoree Steve Ressler, Founder of GovLoop

Last Wednesday evening, I was honored to have been invited by Steve Ressler, founder of GovLoop and co-founder of Young Government Leaders, to accompany him to the Fed 100 Awards. It was a nice evening that gave me the chance to meet several notable folks who are transforming government through their great work, such as:

> Scott Burns (@smburns) of GovDelivery

> Frank DiGiammarino at the National Academy for Public Administration

> Bev Godwin (@bevusa), former Director of USA.gov who has been detailed to the White House

> Sheila Campbell, also at USA.gov and co-chair of the Federal Web Manager's Council

Another honoree that I met later in the week at Gov 2.0 Camp was Eric Hackathorn (@hackshaven), who built the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Meteora Island in Second Life.

The video below captures a fun moment before we stepped into the car of Maxine Teller (@mixtmedia) to get transported to the event:



By the way, if you want to learn about more cool people working in and around government, you should definitely check out IAmPublicService.org.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Web 2.0/Gov 2.0 and Generations Presentations from ASPA 2009 Annual Conference

Last Sunday and Monday, I presented two workshops at the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) 2009 Annual Conference - one entitled "Everything You Wanted to Know About Web 2.0" and the other called "Generation Shift: The Emerging Federal Workforce." Below are the slides from those sessions. Thank you to all who attended!

Web 2.0 for American Society for Public Administration Web 2.0 for American Society for Public Administration akrzmarzick Web 2.0 "101" presentation for participants at the American Society for Public Administration 2009 Annual Meeting in Miami, FL - March 2009.

American Society of Public Administration - Generation Shift: The Emerging Federal Workforce American Society of Public Administration - Generation Shift: The Emerging Federal Workforce akrzmarzick Presentation on the impact of generational diversity on the public sector workforce. Answers three questions: 1)Who are the generations? 2) What are the government-related trends? 3) How is government responding?

Friday, March 27, 2009

Measuring the Impact of Social Media in Government

Below are the slides from the presentation that Ari Herzog and I delivered at the Advanced Learning Institute's "Social Media for Government" conference in Washington, DC, on March 26. We walked participants through a process of solidifying their social media ideas, prioritizing them, establishing some metrics and creating an action plan that sets the foundation to gain stakeholder/champion buy-in and creates the initial framework for implementation. By the way, that's my mom in the photo - she sent me the initial email that connected me to Ari through Chris Brogan:

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

My ASPA 2009 Experience in a Twitshell

Over the past weekend, I attended the American Society for Public Administration's 2009 Annual Conference in Miami. I was invited to speak on two topics: Web 2.0/social media and the four generations in the workforce. In addition, I had the chance to attend two great sessions that really energized me. I tweeted the proceedings live. Rather than try to restructure my immediate thoughts here, it may be easier for readers to review the Twitter stream from hashtag #aspa09.

On Sunday, I enjoyed a session entitled "Intergenerational Diversity and Recruitment"

• Michael Card "Challenge of marketing to Gen Y for public service is function of formative yrs: Iran contra, Clinton scandal...
• Michael Card: Need to re-brand (my word) public sector ... bright, dynamic, digital ... can't control message, but define benefits
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: "Intergenerational Diversity" session...now speaking is Anne Zahradnik, PhD (psychologist) from Long Island University.
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: "Young people's brains more facile in manipulating info, neuro studies reveal significant differences"
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: "Neuro studies show that young people are less adept at reading people"
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: "Increasing stress in Western work environ...unique to gov: politically defined/changing priorities"
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: "A 4-Tier, 12-Factor Model of Organizational Health" found here: http://twurl.nl/n0lgak
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik :"Because work so tied to people's persona, will save best behavior for work environ...family issues pub revealed ltr
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: "Foundation of organizational health is leadership, succession planning, employee wellness"
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: "Plaque at end of year not as effective for reward/recognition....day-to-day praise is the key."
• Fisher Org Health research: "40% of US staff turnover due to stress; cost to replace ave employee=$3K - $13K" http://twurl.nl/qq2i0o
• "Most disaffected folks in workforce today are those 30-49...feel very alienated."
• "Trust and respect between staff and managers real low for those 40-49..."
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: Training/skill development for young people...but seem to ignore the middle (30-49)...contributes to discontentDr. Anne Zahradnik: Those age 40-49 are most disaffected group...and are having an impact on younger folks b/c they're the leaders!
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik - Recommends:stabilize structure, develop ldrshp , develop cross-gen mentoring, balance cross-gen recruitment
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik - more recs: modify training (more participation), adopt comprehensive workplace wellness program
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik - more recs: more open communication and transparency needed in orgs, forums for gens to talk
• Dr. Anne Zahradnik: money is not biggest motivator...people (at all ages) want good teamwork
• Lois Redman-Simmons: 2 predictive traits of public service employment = compassion and self-sacrifice
• Lois Redman-Simmons - One of the top predictors of public service employment: the father being a government employee!
• Lois Redman-Simmons - Undergraduate programs in public administration play a key role in influencing future government employees.
• Lois Redman-Simmons Marketing for gov employees: Target the offspring of fathers in public service...murmurs in crowd: why not moms?
• Q: Any gov-employed moms here on Twitter whose children became/are becoming/interested in public sector employment?
• RT @tericee : "My parents worked for the government; I joined the military. Does that count?" It counts, Teri! #aspa09
• PLEASE NOTE...all tweets attributed to Anne Zahradnik should be Patricia Fischer ('twas confused by slides)
• More on Patricia Fisher and Anne Zahradnik of Fisher and Associates can be found here: http://twurl.nl/vjd54j
• Comment from audience at Intergenerational Diversity and Recruitment: "Need to account for retirement trends changing..."
• Comment from audience at Intergenerational Diversity and Recruitment: "High intrinsic motivation key to analyze in recruitment"
• Thank you for reading my tweets on this past session! On to the next one...

On Monday, I participated in "Chapter Strategies for the New Diversity: Voices of Young Professionals Part 2." My tweets are below:

• In a session at ASPA Annual Conference on "Chapter Strategies for the New Diversity" - results of survey on desires of young people.
• New Diversity Survey Results: 1) Opportunities for growth, 2) More encouragement for non-doctoral students, 3) Less academic
• "New Diversity" strategies for retention: created subcommittees based on stated needs - networking and mentoring
• Internet communication tools: use Facebook, Gmail (listserv), John Jay College Blackboard, #govloop , LinkedIn
• Since started using the Web-based tools, more participation and members feel more connected...esp. beyond email.
• Using mobile technology to spread word about job opportunities - "our own networking community"
• The trouble w/ fees...how can ASPA (or any association) bring added value to members when so much is free?
• Fees allow the local chapters to do more with networking and mentoring programs.
• Pool awards points to benefit all members...
• Finding ways to mitigate financial barriers for conference attendance, like sharing hotel rooms
• At nxt yr's conference in San Jose, CA, invite local members to open homes for folks who can't afford hotel
• Leverage networks created by Organizing for America (and Republican equiv) to link ASPA chapter members
• Keep a tabbed list of professor members at schools to better link to current/prospective students
• Another respondent: integrate membership value into public administration curriculum at universities
• Value-add for conferences - onsite interviewing and/or resume building...worth price of admission to link to job

So that's my ASPA experience in a Twitshell. There are some incredible nuggets of insight within these bullet points that require some discussion and I hope to explore some of these topics in greater depth in subsequent posts.

Any initial thoughts or insights from you at this point?

Measuring Gov 2.0 (via Web 1.0): Foresee

NOTE: This post is part of a series entitled Measuring Gov 2.0, But First Web 1.0 Analysis. You may also be interested in the first study in which I highlighted website measurement by the Brookings Institution.

In 1999, the US government selected the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), which is produced by the University of Michigan, to be the standard metric for measuring citizen satisfaction with e-government services. The ACSI has been used by more than 100 federal government agencies to evaluate over 200 services and programs found on the Web. Survey data is collected from voluntary, randomly selected respondents. Each website was rate by guests based on several elements related to satisfaction, then converted to a 100-point scale. The ACSI methodology uses the following four factors to measure user satisfaction:

• Functionality
• Look and Feel
• Navigation
• Search

In addition, the ACSI E-Government Index created functional categories to enable agencies to benchmark one another. These categories are:

• Career and recruitment
• E-commerce and transactional
• News and Information
• Portals and department main sites

What did they learn? Here’s a summary of the key findings (taken directly from the report):

• Citizen satisfaction with e-gov is the highest in five years with satisfaction with e-gov at 74.1 on the ACSI’s 100-point scale - the increase in scores is linked to to a rise in satisfaction with e-commerce and transactional sites.

• E-gov that satisfies citizens is more efficient and cost-effective. Eight out ten citizens who are highly satisfied with a federal government website are more likely to use the website as a primary resource (86%) and to recommend the website (84%).

• Search, functionality, and navigation continue to be the top priorities for improvement. In particular, improving search will have the biggest impact on overall satisfaction.

• Citizens are most satisfied with e-commerce/transaction government websites.

• Citizens prefer to interact with federal government online versus offline.

So what agencies rank the highest on the ACSI scale? Here are the top 5 websites at the Federal department level:

1. NASA
2. GSA
3. National Institute for Standards and Technology
4. Government Accountability Office
5. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

If you were to explore each of these sites in a search for Web 2.0 features, only NASA and GSA would lead you to blogs, podcasts, RSS and more. The last three are sorely lacking any interactive or collaborative elements.

So what are the implications and applications for Government and Web 2.0?

A. Citizens are increasingly interacting with government websites to accomplish key activities and they are increasingly HAPPY with what they find when they arrive!

B. Citizens want better search, functionality and navigation – how can tagging, bookmarking, “digging” and other interactive features improve their user experience?

C. Citizens want to DO something when they visit sites, as evidenced by the level of satisfaction with e-commerce and transaction sites. That bodes well for Web 2.0 features that call upon the visitor to create and share content and ideas. Yes, they want to find information quickly and easily, but they also want to do more than read.

D. How can agencies use direct surveys and polling with their customers to gain real-time feedback regarding satisfaction with the new collaboration tools that they deploy?

E. Take a closer look at the “Career and Recruitment” category. With the difficult navigation of USAJobs.gov being discussed broadly by current and potential public sector personnel, it behooves an agency to post key jobs on their own site....and to find methods for more quickly vetting them. Moreover, an agency that looks “cool” from its Web presence may be more likely to attract the best and brightest new hires.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

What Issues Are You Having with Social Media at Your Organization?

During a social networking session between presentations at the ALI Social Media for Government Conference, participants were asked what issues they were having related to Web 2.0/social media. Here's their list:

1. Convincing senior management (cited at least three times)
2. Finding resources (human and financial)
3. Overcoming fear
4. Achieving balance with digital and traditional solutions
5. Gaining access (often restricted)
6. Integrating social media in current plans
7. Creating policy
8. Engaging subject matter experts
9. Making the case for initiation/implementation
10. Prioritizing (where to start?)
11. Maintaining privacy

What issues are you having?

Friday, March 20, 2009

Measuring Gov 2.0 (via Web 1.0): Brookings

As I mentioned in this post, I am producing a blog series regarding the measurement of Web 1.0 in preparation for an upcoming presentation with Ari Herzog on Thursday, March 26. I originally blogged about the Brookings Study here on January 25. Consider this post a "Part 2" with a bit more detail about the study itself and some brief commentary on its application to Gov 2.0

Since 2000, the Brookings Institution has analyzed more than 1,500 state and federal government websites. These websites are ranked on a zero to 100-point scale called the e-government index that measures the presence of the following website features:

• Advertisements
• Audio clips
• Commenting
• Databases
• Digital signatures on transactions
• Disability access
• E-mail contact information
• E-mail updates
• Foreign language access
• Pay via credit card
• PDA or handheld device accessibility
• Personalization of the website
• Premium fees
• Privacy policies
• Publications
• Security policies
• User fees
• Video clips

Each of these features is worth 4 points. With 18 features noted above, a website may obtain a total of 72 points. Websites may receive another 28 points based on the number of these online services that are available. For instance, if there are 4 audio clips, a sign-up for receiving e-mail updates and a personalized page for kids, my understanding is that the website receives 6 more points.

In other words, the key question being asked in this study is: do they have the feature or not? If so, give them the points. If not, no points are granted. I am sure that the research and analysis is a bit more sophisticated than this simple presentation, but you have a sense of the methodology.

Some of the results from the Brookings Study are important as we consider e-government adaptation of social media. For instance, just 48% of websites included the possibility of users offering “comments” and only 25% created “personalization” of the user experience. If the hallmark of Web 3.0 will be mobility, then we have a long way to travel as only 3% of the websites were accessible by PDA.

The study’s recommendations included:

1. Websites should have strong privacy and security policies so users feel safe while online.
2. Agencies should have layouts similar to the portal page.
3. Agencies should have navigational guides and site maps.
4. The “What’s New?” section should be conveniently located on each agency’s homepage.
5. All websites should have search engines.
6. Agencies should strive to have personalized web pages, such as a kids’ page.
7. Website should provide foreign language accessibility.

While these recommendations are valid and useful, they are clearly measuring a Web 1.0 reality: the extent to which information is shared with the end user, but not whether the visitor is being invited to interact with the agency.

So what are the implications and applications for Government and Web 2.0?

A. The Brookings methodology presents one model for measuring government agencies and Web 2.0. What if we listed a series of Web 2.0 tools, like blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS, video sharing sites, social networks, etc. and assigned points based on an agency’s use of them or not?

B. Privacy and security issues are still critical with Web 2.0. Keep elements on the list of features to be included in an updated evaluation of government Web activity.

C. Personalization is another hallmark of Web 2.0. Like Recovery.gov or Ready.gov, agencies should consider creating dedicated web sites or web pages for key initiatives and programs or making it clear where a person can find information from the agency home page.

D. Personalization should also include the degree to which a user can manipulate a web site to view content that is relevant to them, including the use of movable or embeddable widgets.

Enough from me - what are your thoughts?

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Measuring Gov 2.0...But First, Web 1.0 Analysis

In delivering workshops on Web 2.0 for government agencies and other key stakeholders, I ask audiences to imagine themselves walking up to a dazzling storefront. I ask them to envision peering through clear panes of glass to marvel at the merchandise – watches and widgets and watchamacallits galore. They turn their attention to the door, eager to enter the venue and explore the possibility of purchasing something they see…or just to engage the shop owner. However, they reach for the knob to find themselves locked out. The owner is standing inside, but he is not allowing anyone to enter. “But the sign says ‘open’,” the shopper protests. “Sorry,” the shopkeeper motions. “You can look, but…” We know how the interaction ends…or fails to begin. That’s Web 1.0.

Now imagine an African marketplace or a flea market not far from your home. People from all over have brought the things they’ve made in order to allow their customers to touch and trade and buy. Prices are negotiable and products are hand-crafted. That scene is more akin to Web 2.0, where the currency is content and the wares are ideas and information.

Many organizations have attempted to analyze the Web's storefront model and, specifically, the websites of government agencies. Over the next few posts, I will summarize a few of the key studies and surveys in order to set the stage for a conversation that I and Ari Herzog will facilitate regarding Web 2.0 metrics at the Social Media for Government Conference in Washington, DC, on March 26. The four studies I will examine are:

Brookings Institution (Darrel M. West): “State and Federal Electronic Government in the United States 2008"

Foresee: E-Government Satisfaction Index

Forrester's Benchmark Studies

OMB E-Government Initiative

When viewed collectively, the studies and surveys offer a sobering perspective and serve as a foundation for developing the metrics that will drive the implementation and evaluation of Gov 2.0. Let’s see what we can learn from them and move toward a methodology for measuring a more collaborative, interactive Internet.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Meet Me Where I Am!

I follow Chris Brogan's blog and he always impresses me with the way he interacts with his readers. He always encourages people to approach him as a speaker and shares his schedule so that he can connect with folks around the country. Also, one of the first books that I read this year was Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazi, who lays out a plan for better networking tactics.

In this spirit of linking with people during my travels, I've listed my upcoming speaking and events:

Mar 20-23: ASPA Annual Conference, Miami, FL, Web 2.0 (3/22) and Generations (3/23)

Mar 24-26: Social Media for Government, Washington, DC, Web 2.0 Metrics with Ari Herzog (3/26)

Mar 27-28: Gov 2.0 Camp, Washington, DC

Mar 30: Department of Commerce Aspiring Leaders Development Program, Washington, DC, Generations

Apr 14-15: Gov 2.0 Bootcamp, Knoxville, TN, Web 2.0 and Social Networks

Apr 26-29: Training Officers Consortium Institute, Williamsburg, VA, Generations with Jean Palmer

May 28: Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, Generations/Web 2.0

May 31-Jun 3: ASTD International Conference, Washington, DC, Generations/"Federal Family Portrait" (6/1)

Jun 10-12: Federal Workforce Policy Forum, Washington, DC, Web 2.0

There's more in the works (like Boston and Philly!), but I wanted to make these dates and locations available. Please let me know if we can connect if our paths cross at any of these places!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

"I Am Public Service" Getting Good Coverage!

A quick follow-up to the previous post on "I Am Public Service" highlighting 2-3 of the places where we are picking up some promotion:

Washington Post Federal Eye Blog

Craig Newmark's Blog (Creator of Craigslist)

Red Jotter Blog (for the graphic design)

More to come as we appear on Federal News Radio "Daily Debrief" on Thursday, March 12 and have had a story submitted to the Huffington Post by Ari Herzog.

UPDATE:

Federal News Radio with Chris Dorobek and Amy Morris

Huffington Post Article by Ari Herzog

Friday, March 6, 2009

I Am Public Service: The eBook is Ready!

After just over two months from project conception to creation and nearly 100 hours of volunteer effort from myself and many other people, the "I Am Public Service" eBook is complete. We have sent it to the 30+ contributors and they are inspired by one another's stories. We hope you'll agree that there are people performing fascinating work that is moving our country beyond it's current challenges and making great use of our tax dollars. Please enjoy. If you're inspired, why not submit your own story at IAmPublicService.org?

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

How a Twitter Troop Vanquished the Trojan Vundo

When I speak to people about Twitter either in person or at my Web 2.0 workshops, I think they are always a bit skeptical about the value of Twitter. I tell them that Twitter is my water cooler as a full-time remote teleworker. I tell them that I met @ariherzog (via a recommendation by Chris Brogan, whom I met on LinkedIn) there, which led to co-presenting a workshop at the Social Media for Government conference and the creation of a valuable survey for public sector personnel across the planet. Well now I have another story: "How a Twitter Troop Vanquished the Trojan Vundo."

Let me set up the situation. Last Thursday, I spoke at a "Telework in a Box" event sponsored by the Telework Exchange and Adobe. In an effort to continue to experiment with social media tools, I recorded my voice over the slides and attempted to download a "Power Point to Video conversion program" so that I could upload it to Vimeo and YouTube. Well, the download infected my computer with a nasty virus - it appeared to be a Trojan.Vundo. I know, I know, the download was really dumb and I shouldn't have done it - lesson learned!

I tried to use my Spybot - Search and Destroy to eliminate it. No luck. Next, I deployed Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware. It kept freezing, most likely due to the virus. Then my search on the Web led me to PC Tool's Spy Doctor, which cost $30. That didn't work either.

That's when I mobilized a small army of concerned and caring Twitizens, who immediately started re-tweeting my issue across Twitterdom. Within minutes, I had received several helpful recommendations. Here's the list of helpful tips:

1. @gkrew: "Check http://tiny.cc/d9NfQ for help with Vundo Trojan"

2. @ariherzog:"I use an open source antivirus checker for Windows via http://clamwin.com"

3. @Aluria_Karone: "Download a program called hijackthis and remove it from there then scan with pctools virus scan cnet.com has a lot of info on it"

4. @ericagee: "Here are some tips on BadwareBusters http://badwarebusters.org/search?search[q]=vundo&commit=Search"

5. @dslunceford: "I've found this board helpful in cleaning stuff off of an infected machine: http://www.techspot.com/vb/menu28.html"

6. @dbevarly: Try www.atribune.org and use the vundofix. It worked for me when other programs didn't Good luck. Dan

AND THE WINNER WAS:

7. @municibid: "Try combofix I found it to work great for removal many trojan variations http://tinyurl.com/27gkbc - you must rename file tho"

If anyone asks you about the value of Twitter, I am sure you have your own stories about its usefulness. Thanks to the folks above (and people like @ariherzog, who RT'd my issue to their followers), I have another great story that proves Twitter's worth as a key community on the Web.

Onward, Twitter Troops! Is there an enemy or issue that we cannot vanquish together?