MuniGov2.0

As I continue to discuss government 2.0 with peers across the globe, I am happy to report that progress is being made! Specifically, I have noticed that the content of the dialog is changing.  For most of the past year, when I was asked to do a presentation on 2.0 for conferences or webinars, the vast majority of conference organizers asked me to focused on the "what" and the "why" of Web 2.0 in government:

"Please explain Twitter, tell me how to set up a blog," etc.  I was happy to oblige because in order to understand the value offered by these toolsets, you have to have at least a basic knowledge of their general purpose and capabilities.

But in the last few months, I've noticed that the focus has shifted to the bigger picture of governance.  Now the conference/webinar organizers are saying "Okay, everybody gets it - Facebook has some viability for us in government.  But how do you control it? Who manages it? Who can post?" Last week, I participated (remotely via SecondLife) as a guest speaker at a conference organized by the Florida Institute in Government. The conference was focused on the challenges of social media in government. When planning the content of my presentation, the organizer asked me to focus specifically on policy development.  How did we work through the process here in Roanoke County? What were the essential components?  How did I "sell" the value of it to my administration and elected officials? And she was dead-on with this line of thinking: the session ran long with questions from the audience, the majority of which were focused on policy versus the specifics of a given technology. Next week, I am scheduled to speak (remotely via videoconference) to a Public Adminsitration graduate class at Syracuse University. Throughout the planning the content for the session, the professor has asked me to focus on "New media policies in the public sector...hoping that you could walk us through your county's strategy, main elements, how you came up with the different elements, what potential implementation problems might be and adoption constraints that you might have encountered (security, cultural issues, identity management, public record creation, records management, etc.)."  She asked me to participate not just because of my MuniGov affiliation, but because I am just one example of how government are putting their money where their mouth is...not just talking the 2.0 talk but walking the walk.

Collectively, we've moved beyond the "what" and the "why" of govt 2.0 and into the stickier realm of "how". I call it stickier because how we do this stuff - the controls, the process, the procedures - are a sign that we've moved beyond the R&D and into the acceptable use realm.  This means accountability, stakeholders and policies that have to be created and <gulp> approved.

Now, my humble apologies here dear reader, but I am afraid that I won't be able to tell you exactly how your policy should look.  There are too many variables involved (i.e. state laws, political climate, organizational size and culture, etc.) to develop a foolproof checklist for every organization.  However, I have discovered some common elements that seem to be inherent in the successful social media/2.0 policies that I've seen in government organizations. Here are a few tips to help you get started:

• If you are still in the "justification" mode, don't start with a policy.  You need to do some controlled experiments and test the waters first.  Policy development before establishing value will be a death knell for 2.0 in your organization.  Start with some hands-on value development.  (See my earlier post "Incorporating Web2.0 in Your Organization Part 1 - MIX IT UP! " for some suggestions on how to do this).
• Once you are ready to start on a policy, be sure to think high level. Do not focus your policy on specific technologies or procedures.  One of the biggest values of 2.0 is its nimbleness.  If you tie a document with the weight that a policy holds to a specific tool, you will never be able to keep up with the technology times.  Yes, Youtube might be ideal for your organization now, but you might find something more effective in the future.  Use your policy as a general "big picture" guide to the sanctioned use of 2.0 in general - leave the specifics of use to a separate procedure.  For example, here in Roanoke County we do not mention Twitter at all in our policy.  Yet we have separate procedures that dictate the details like background images, whom we will "Follow", and our avatar design requirements. Keep it high-level - avoid acronyms, specific technology names or processes used for only a single purpose. Make your policy flexible.  It is not intended to be an engraved headstone but rather a dry-erase board. Expect - heck, plan ahead - to make changes to it on at least an annual basis to keep up with the times and the "organizational acceptance" of it all. 
• From the beginning of policy development, you need to involve your organization's key players.  At a minimum, every policy should govern a workflow process that includes public information/marketing, information technology and legal counsel.  These are the three legs of the 2.0 stool that have to be rock solid for it all to truly work.  Anything new you want to implement on a permanent basis should be approved by these departments.  I know that my colleagues have at times considered me (IT) to be a bottleneck. But IT, like the others mentioned above are here to support and protect you and your organization from harm. So my advice is to get them on board early.  It may take some gentle cattle-prodding to get them to focus on it. Provide them with information.  Answer their questions promptly.  And I have found that providing doughnuts and/or cookies at meetings often helps to grease the skids as well!
• The policy itself is simply a document.  Don't let it sit on a shelf in a dusty binder.  Exercise the policy by developing a cross-departmental workgroup to keep things moving along.  Start with the three legs mentioned above, but add representatives from your departments that have a direct connection to your citizens (Libraries, Parks and Recreation, Public Safety, Human Resources, etc.)  There are typically folks within these departments that get this stuff, that want to be operating in this space.  A policy, coupled with this workgroup will ensure a balance of governance and innovation within your organization...a true key to success and longevity for your govt 2.0 efforts.
• Next, dress that policy up and take it out on the town!  Don't let your policy get bored.  Use it as tool of advocacy. By promoting a social media plan that is backed up with the quintessential "big guns" of policy approval, you've got a much better chance of making things work across your organization.  The policy is the firm foundation from which you can launch a comprehensive communications plan.  Use it to help you tell your organization, your elected officials and your constituents that "this stuff is here, we are using it (the right way) and it is a good thing!" 

I hope these thoughts above give you a jumpstart on your own policy development.  Below are a few examples of social media policies for government organizations that may help even more.  By no means is this a comprehensive list of governments that have policies in place. This is just a sampling to show you that organizations engaged in social media come in all shapes and sizes. Please feel free to shoot me a message and let me know if I've missed one you've found particularly helpful.

Arlington County, VA Social Media Policy and Guidelines

Arvada, CO Social Media Policy

Chandler AZ Social Media/Social Networking Administrative Regulation

Fairfax County, VA Social Media Policy

Hampton, VA Social Media Policy

Roanoke County, VA Social Media Policy

Seattle, WA Social Media Use Policy

Suwanee, GA Social Media Policy

State of Delaware Social Media Policy

State of Utah Social Media Guidelines

Virtually Yours,

Greever

That's a question I get asked with Metamucil-inspired regularity as more and more of our government peers take the plunge into the unknowns of virtual worlds.  For those unaccustomed to the freedoms and idiosyncrasies of virtual worlds, the initial adventure can be quite a sensory overload.  Although most virtual worlds have major characteristics that are rooted in the real world (i.e economics, social interaction, timespace continuum), these worlds do often reject the notion that one needs to be restricted by such trivial things as physics, physical appearance and other such nonsense.

For instance, in the virtual world of SecondLife, where MuniGov has established its Virtual World Domination HQ, your virtual self is free from the shackles of gravity and the restrictions of conventional humanity.  Sure, there are humans every where you look, but they are not alone.  Here humans intermingle freely with dozens of various and intricate subcultures of furries, nekos, dragons, vampires, tinies and many more.  Sounds like a video game, not work, right?  Well, in a sense, you are correct.  Virtual worlds, particularly SL, look and act like a video game in many ways.  You interact with the online world through an avatar that is completely customizable.  You can get a job and get paid with currency that can then be spent on new customizations, new clothes, furniture, etc.  This is much like "leveling-up" after completing a particularly hairy quest in a video game.  But is probably the point at which SL and video games diverge.

In SL there are no defined quests.  There is no beginning point and there are no end credits to strive for.  SecondLife in and of itself is what you make of it.  If you are there to socialize, you will find people who are content to do nothing but hang out, perhaps dance a bit and talk about whatever strikes their fancy.  If you are here to explore and discover new cultures, you will be very happy in SL.  You will find authentic representations of the modern day world, cultures out of history, literature, popular culture and the sheer imaginations of SL's inhabitants.  And if you are here to learn, you are also very much in luck.  Dozens of universities, hospitals, scientific entities and libraries are deeply invested in SL as a tool for education, knowledge transfer, recruitment and research and development. They have invested time and expertise and they are seeing the payoffs.

Our federal government has an extensive presence in SecondLife. In your SL travels you can find all branches of the military using Second Life for recruitment, modeling and simulation and the like. In fact, the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies recently created a new area in Second Life, known as Coming Home, designed to assist returning veterans and "ease their return to civilian life".  NASA, the CDC, NOAA and many other govt agencies have committed to exploring and investing in new methods of delivering services and information.  The state of Missouri uses SecondLife as a recruiting tool for its Information Technology Department.  Ontario,British Columbia uses it to simulate the skills needed to be a firefighter, medical technician, civil engineer, economist, and traffic analyst.  I recently attended a detailed, comprehensive paramedic training simulator developed by St. George's University of London.

The beauty of SecondLife is that is a participant-driven solution.  When LindenLabs constructed Second Life, they made their "grid" as wide open as possible.  Essentially, they constructed a giant sandbox, brought in a megaload of sand, and invited us all to come over and play. They provided the tools and the medium but the constructs were the products of their users.  In many ways, the possibilities are limited solely by the imagination.  From the smallest details - the texture of the floorboards or the shine of your bling - to the expansive training simulations developed by the military, the functionality offered by an easy-to-use scripting language makes nearly all things possible. In SL, you can create complex training scenarios, attractive and appealing recruiting stations or even functional and practical meeting spaces.  And because doing all this is simply pushing around ones and zeros in this pixilated universe, your cost of entry is literally zero and with a small time and financial investment you can build a substantial, practical and user-friendly presence to meet the business goals of your organization. Think complete customization!

And I am here before you today and proudly admit that it is this customization that drove me to lycanthropy. I confess that when I first got into SL, I was human for a time.  I spent much of my first few visits exploring several different cultures.  I even managed to pick up a few lines of Elvish when I spent time with them in their forest home.  Trivial?  Perhaps.  But it quickly taught me that a different appearance, while it may appear superficial at first glance, was actually more indicative of the existence of extensive, complex hierarchies.  SL has its own sets of rules, connections, communications and these form a conglomeration of factors ripe for the harvesting of new avenues of two-way communication, immersive information sharing, training simulators, teleconferencing opportunities and much, much more. 

So after a few months in world, I made a conscious decision that I was no longer going to be human.  I decided that it was very important to make a strong first impression on the new govt types that came in world to see what things are all about.  I wanted to convey that you can get both things in world.  That is to say, when new govt users speak to me, they hopefully hear and feel the conviction in my voice and see the practical potential of SL.  I want them to see that someone who is extremely serious and committed to exploring the real world potential of virtual worlds can appear as a wolf; call it going for the "shock value" I suppose. If they see that if I can be a wolf, I could just as easily wear turn out gear and learn how to fight a fire, design a 3D tourable mock-up of a new library or sport my scrubs and learn how to perform an appendectomy. So yes, I my friends, am an admitted canis lupus.  Mind you I am not frequently prone to scratching for fleas or howling at the moon, but there is definitely a distinctive furriness to my face.

No doubt my appearance will turn away some of the less visionary members of my government peer group.  But I am okay with that.  In my mind you have to start with a certain amount of open-mindedness to consider virtual worlds or any 2.0 tools in general for that matter. So, if you are perhaps interested, I would encourage you to try it out.  Come to one of our weekly virtual govt meet-ups in SecondLife. (Wednesdays at 7PM EST on the Public Works Island). Mingle with your govt peers from across the globe and see what  an open mind and a blank (and free) canvas could do for your organization.  And although I find mine to be a great conversation piece, the tail is completely optional!

Less than 6 short months ago, a dream was born.  After several weeks of solo exploration on the potential of Web2.0 in government, I met up with a kindred spirit in Pam Broviak, a Public Works Director in Illinois.  After a few conversations whining about the lack of good resources for governments interested in 2.0, we decided to put our money where our mouths were and build one ourselves.  So we built a collaboration portal and an office in the virtual world, Second Life.  Our goals were simple, straightforward, albeit perhaps somewhat lofty given our lack of resources and time:

• Become a Recognized, Powerful and Dynamic Resource for Governments Implementing and Innovating Via Web 2.0
• Establish a Strong Set of Virtual-World Resources for Government Agencies
• Coalesce into a Large, Active and Innovative User Community
• Have a Little Fun Along the Way 

Looking back now, I can't help but be proud of the work we have accomplished to date towards these goals.  Recently, we hit two milestones that underscore the success and value MuniGov2.0 is bringing to the government sector.  We surpassed our 300th member mark.  Little did I realize setting up our membership form a few months ago would it get such a workout!  What started with just Pam and I has, literally, gone global with members around the world, at every level of government, and from a dozen different disciplines.  We are now 340+ strong from the areas of technology, engineering, libraries, marketing, human resources and many more.  This size and diversity lends itself well to having valued discussions both in real time during our weekly virtual meetings and via our active list serv.  In addition to our growing numbers, we have also been able to move past the general "wouldn't-it-be-cool-if" discussions into providing tangible, valuable (and free!) resources to our members.  A few weeks ago, we released the details and registration information for our first virtual conference, to be held in April in Second Life.  To date we have 90 people registered for the conference. Although this is a virtual conference, the planning and effort required to pull it off rival that of a real world conference.  And I am happy to say that the MuniGov group members eagerly rose to the challenge and are focused on all of the details that will make this conference successful: logistics, appropriate venue and facilities, dynamic speakers, effective marketing, etc.  The diversity of our membership and its belief in the value of 2.0 has already made this conference a success, long before we actually have virtual butts in the virtual seats!

We are using a virtual world to meet and plan the conference.  One on one planning discussions occur via Skype.  We have a collaboration site to share info and conference registration.  We are using Twitter, blogs and social networks to help us get the word out.  We will be recording and posting the conference sessions online via YouTube.  We are developing a wiki to help us keep track of all the important details covered in each weekly meeting.  The MuniGov group to me is the epitome of why Web2.0 is a good thing.  We are living proof that the tools are valuable, easy to use, effective and they are proof that you can do a great deal of good for your organization without spending money.

I am very proud to get in on the ground floor of such an exciting and adventurous endeavor.  We're already getting good results and yet as Karen Carpenter would say, "we've only just begun!"

Virtually Yours,
Greever

 MuniGov2.0, a group of government employees who are working to promote the use of Web 2.0 technology in the work place will hold its first online conference to discuss and share ideas about the uses and applications of this new and vital tool. 

MuniGovCon'09 - a virtual conference will be held April 10, 2009 from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM PST.  MuniGovCon'09 will focus on 2.0 technology uses by government for government, and will feature speakers who will share their experiences and expertise, and discussions focusing on idea sharing. 

Who Should Attend?
Anyone whose government organization is interested in learning more about how the tools and business methods of Web 2.0 are being used to improve governmental organizations should attend this free conference.

Agenda & Speakers
The half day conference will include the following speakers and topics.

• "Let's Get Together: Using 2.0 for Internal Collaboration" Jack D. Pond (SL jdpond Turbo), Chief Information Officer, Montgomery County, PA
• "Shifting the Gears of Local Governance: Introducing Cities to Web 2.0" Mark Faul (SL KC Titanium), Business Analyst, City of Ottawa
• "Training Comes to You - Courtesy of Web2.0" Bill Shields (SL Zeppo Romano), Hydrogeologist & Lecturer in Geology, Department of Geography-Geology, Illinois State University
• "This Ain't Rocket Science: How NASA is Using 2.0 to Become More Accessible" - Erika Vick (SL Universa Vanalten), NASA Strategic Communications Specialist
• "There's an Elephant in the Room: The Impact of Web2.0 at the Local Government Level" (Panel Discussion) - Presenters TBD
 
Venue & Participation Requirements
MuniGovCon09 will be held in Second Life™. You MUST have a Second Life account or plan to attend the meeting with someone who does. (Many localities are planning to reserve a conference room and elect one person to control the avatar interaction and serve as the eyes and ears for a larger group).  If you are brand new to Second Life, we also recommend you visit our Second Life Orientation section, which includes video tutorials to help you familiarize yourself with your avatar before the conference. Once we have a final headcount of attendees, we will be providing those registered with additional details on the specific location and venue within Second Life.

Registration
Registration for the conference is free for attendees, but our capacity is limited, so attendees are urged to register early. To register for the conference please complete our online registration form. Once registered, you will receive conference notifications including schedules for orientation sessions for new users, agenda updates, final venue details, etc. Online registration will close at Midnight on April 1, 2009.
 
Vendor Information
If there is enough interest from the vendor community, MuniGovCon'09 will host an exhibition hall in the 2.0 space where vendors may advertise their products and services.  Vendors interested in having a virtual booth should contact Pam Broviak (SL Pam Renoir) - pwg@publicworksgroup.com.
 
Questions & Information
We will be posting additional details frequently on our Web site.  Check back often for the latest updates and follow us on Twitter. For questions or assistance, please contact Leslie Fuentes (SL leslie7 Sweetwater) - lfuentes@hampton.gov.

Media Contact:  Robert Menter (SL Trebor Lorefield)
e-mail - rmenter@cavtel.net
work - 757.385.8196
Twitter - http://twitter.com/rmenter

Okay, technically in the hyper-jargon that has emerged surrounding Twitter, the alpha male of the micro-blogging world, I am considered to be a Tweeter.  But for some reason, twit just seems to work better for me.  I get a lot of ilTwitterate people asking me why I consider Twitter to be so valuable.  Granted, I don't really care so much to hear that you are currently picking belly button lint (yours or someone else's).  Nor do I need to read your tweet railing against the driver next to you who is texting while driving. (The nerve of some people, eh?)  I do, however, need to find an easy way to keep up with some of the news that affects my world - government, technology, Web2.0, life here in western VA, etc.  Who has the time to keep up with all that is going on in the world around us today?  How many good articles and links have you had to pass up simply because it was the only way to keep your Inbox from a massive melt down?  As much as I like to think I am not chained to my job, the truth is, I've got the shackles on and if the cage door was ever left open, I think I'd probably shut it myself, just to keep the other freaks out.  Bottom line, I do not have enough time in the day to keep up with all that I should or would like to.  So, I turn to the Twitosphere and rely on my Tweeters to keep me informed.

There are three crucial parts to an effective Twitter engagement:  the Followers, the Following and the Posts. 

First - the Followers: I welcome any and all followers (except for those rare yet mega-annoying Tweetspammers).  I welcome followers not because I am vain (I mean come on - look at the photo I chose for the header of this column!)  Nope, tis not vanity at all!  I welcome followers because it is an opportunity to build community, albeit a community that speaks in 140 characters or less in a sometimes cryptic language of abbreviations and tinyurls.   But, those tiny posts can often speak volumes and lead me off in new directions of information sharing and news from the world around me.  It can change my thinking and I certainly meet new and dynamic people who are in no obvious ways akin to me.  Honestly, I love it when I see that new people are following me.  I presume it means that they dug in a little bit and saw that I had something relevant to say to them.  Perhaps it was a topic I posted or a question I posed.  Perhaps it was simply that I said the right thing, at the right time, in the right way that answered a burning question they had.  Then again, perhaps they were just drunk-tweeting and clicked on me by accident.  Regardless, the point is, I see it as a sign of interest in the work I am doing and any connection is an opportunity to expand on the group symbiosis I gain from Twitter.

So that brings me to my Following list.   I've had to cultivate the list of people I follow.  I do not automatically add someone just because they choose to follow me.  I do not mean offense by this, but with the overwhelming amount of information out there, I have to be a little picky lest I get overwhelmed with updates that don't do much for me personally and what I am trying to get our of Twitter.  So until I see the Binford Do-It-Yourself Cloning Kit on the shelves at the local Walmart or learn how to manipulate the time-space continuum, I have to try to line up the most applicable, prolific and accurate Tweeters I can find.   I'll generally do a quick scan for a few key words of the updates and make sure they seem to erupt on a fairly regular basis and somehow fit into one of my loose info categories and with the click of a Follow button, a new tributary to the Greever Tweetstream is born!

Finally, in order to get some real value out of the Twitterverse, you need to be sure that there is a communal send-and-receive habit within your own personalized galaxy.  Invest some time and energy in following those links.  Answer the questions that are posed by those in your stream - if you can help out, do so and in return you can expect the same treatment next time you are stuck! Also, keep it real. Say something if you think it needs to be said, but be mindful of the context and that you are still a representative of your organization (unless of course you are doing this on your own time with no reference to your day job).  Try to be useful.  Trust me - it is much harder than it sounds when you only have 140 characters in which to hurl some useful info chunks at your Tweet tribe.  As with all 2.0 tools, there is no harm in checking this out.  I personally never have made any promise that my Tweets will be interesting, informative or even coherent.  I was a fly on the wall for a while, started making some comments and my own posts about the work I was doing in the 2.0 and slowly it became for me an invaluable tool to learn, educate, inform and communicate.  Every day new tools are emerging that make Twitter a more valuable and effective tool, but the true burden and the value of the tool relies on you and what you want to get out of it.  Like Luke Skywalker rocketing down that trench on the Death Star, you are in complete control of whether or not the tool works for you.  You don't need the computer to do it for you.  Use the force to...okay, you get the point.

So, for those of you visual learners out there, here's a sampler platter of the loose categories of people I choose to follow on Twitter. Given the amount of people on Twitter these days, I am confident you can find your own peeps and get your very own Tweetstream flowing in no time!

Web2.0 in Action (Shout-Outs to: pbroviak, sarahintampa, GovDelivery, govloop,)

Information Security & Technology (Shout-Outs to:  govtechnews, Bwoolley, vcuinfosec)

Government/Education Leaders (Shout-Outs to:  Bill Schrier, ujdmc, bashley, egvick, webgoddess)

Govts on Twitter  (Shout-Outs to: RoanokeCounty, DowningStreet, LAFD, Blacksburg_Gov)

Insight & Generally Thought Provoking (Shout-Outs to: LPT, lewisshepherd, careerdiva, queenofpith)

Star Wars Humor (Shout-Out to: DarthVader - his twitticisms are as funny as his soul is dark)

Virtually Yours,
Greever