MuniGov2.0

Govt 2.0: From Tools to Policy to Convergence

2010-06-30T14:38:52Z

As I think back over the past two years, specifically with my involvement in the world of Government 2.0, I can't help but think its adoption has coalesced into three phases. Nearly all of us have experienced some aspect of Phase I: Tools. What is Government 2.0? How does Twitter work? What good is Facebook? Phase I is very hands-on and experiential. It consists of learning the technologies that provide a foundation for Govt2.0 adoption. Many of the 2.0 movers and shakers might consider Phase I old news. But the truth is that when you look at government organizations as whole, particularly those of us at the local level, most are still in this phase - conducting experiments, discussing with peers, working on buy-in from our organizations, etc.

A small percentage of us have taken the next big step to Phase II: Policy. Phase II, which I highlighted in an entry a few months back, is focused on the larger, more extensive issue of the "how" of government 2.0. The effective policies cover such delicate topics as ownership, legal responsibilities, message consistency, etc. It answers sometimes difficult questions. Who will manage these tools? What can we tolerate in terms of two-way communication and feedback? Which tools will we deploy? The numbers of social media "policies" that address these issues continue to expand at a slow but steady rate.

This brings us to the relatively uncharted waters of Phase III: Convergence - a merger of these tools and concepts with our larger organizational strategy. How do we keep the momentum going? What's next for us if we want to truly institutionalize the use of not just the tools but more importantly the concepts and the potential they represent, such as collaboration, open government and knowledge management? How do we take that next step to integrate these tools into our organizations' larger communications or development strategy? These are all excellent questions. And no, I don't know the answers...yet.

That's where you come in! Together with Ines Mergel, Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University (and fellow MuniGover!), I'd like to request your participation in a very brief online survey to help us develop some empirical data on this very subject. Once we can get a snapshot of where we are today, we intend to develop some analysis on where the gaps are and how we can overcome them.

When completed, we plan to do a seminar to review and discuss the results with anyone interested. I expect that we'll also be able to share some best practices and lessons learned from the experience that will likely also help you take your own organization to the next level of engagement and implementation.

So please, take a moment to answer these few simple questions - share your pain, share your success!

https://survey.maxwell.syr.edu/Survey.aspxs=4b8afaec1ec74d5dac1d6ebde704bd35

State-By-State Govt2.0 Guidance

2010-06-16T21:39:17Z

Last week, April Edmonds, a Web technology analyst for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC) and a member of MuniGov 2.0 launched a resource site designed to bring awareness to social media in government, particularly in the state of Florida. Her site is a volunteer effort that she nurtured in her spare time with a plan to help provide a resource to those in government who are still not clear on the ins & outs and pros & cons of social media. You can also follow the associated twitstream at http://twitter.com/FLGovTech.

Aside from some very informative and general content, the site also has a section specifically devoted to the intricacies of social media as it relates to the state of Florida. For instance, on the site you'll find links to opinions from the state attorney general's office on specific social media tools as well as a video tutorial with regards to social media in relation Florida's open records laws. The site includes a number of other useful features including detailed how-to guides for some of the most popular social media tools as well as lessons learned from April's own experience at the FWCC.

There are a few placeholders that April intends to fill in as time and experience permit, but taking a quick look around, you'll definitely see the valuable potential this type of resource holds. She's also looking for volunteers to help with keeping the content up to date and relevant. Send your suggestions to her directly at: flgovtech@gmail.com.

Perhaps this is something MuniGov can champion to become a model for other states to use in developing their own state specific resources. If anybody is thinking about, or has already done something similar in another state, please let me know!

This Week's 2.0 Company Happenings: The Good, The Bad and The What?

2010-06-10T18:00:06Z

I don't normally spend much time focusing on the corporate structure behind the tentpole companies of today's social media movement. But the recent announcements from Linden Labs and Twitter both seemed to be worth a little review, particularly from the Government perspective.

First - The What?

This week Twitter announced that they are "looking for an experienced, entrepreneurial person to make Twitter better for policymakers, political organizations, and government officials and agencies." The position is intended to be housed in Washington, DC and apparently is supposed to focus on being a liaison between all areas of Twitter as a company...and all areas of government. According to the announcement, "responsibilities will include:

Provide excellent support of government and political use of Twitter.
Advocate for government and political users within Twitter.
Increase political use of Twitter.
Develop best practices and other educational material.
Do outreach to better understand government needs."

Wow - good luck with that! That's a pretty tall order. In my observation, there are dozens of PR and communication firms inside and outside the beltway who focus on each of those bullets individually already. And what about the rest of us who don't operate in DC? Local governments and state governments have proven that Twitter use can be an integral part of our communications and outreach strategy, but our support needs are very different than those on the federal level. And the politicians too? Very, very different needs. Truth be told, this probably would've been more effective if it had been in place a couple years ago when tweeting first started. I know it would've saved a lot of us govies the trouble of trying to figure it out ourselves. But now it seems a little late since so many govts are already doing it, and doing it well I might add.

Don't get me wrong, I applaud Twitter for looking at us in government with enough interest to appoint somebody to liaison with us. But that job described above, in today's 2.0 environment, is going to be hard to do as a one-person show in my opinion. So far, from one what I've review online, most of the people who've thrown their hat in the ring are not actually in government. Even so, some of the nominations are certainly worth reviewing. I hope that whomever they select doesn't stay inside the beltway all the time. Don't forget the 50 states and the hundreds of counties and cities out here who are also being innovative and would welcome an opportunity for a little face time as well!

We shall see what happens...

Second - The Bad?

This week also brought what most are considering to be bad news to the 2.0 realm. Linden Labs announced "a strategic restructuring to increase focus on the company's consumer business including investments intended to enhance ease of use and participation in its virtual goods marketplace through browser-based and mobile applications." Unfortunately, that also translates to a cut of about 30% of their workforce, including our government liaison. This comes on the heels of the recent release of their drastically redesigned client interface, which has had consistently mixed reviews from the user community. Additionally, the prices for Linden land are steep, which makes it difficult for governments to participate in SecondLife, particularly when they are much less expensive alternatives available. Is this a downward spiral for Linden Labs when it comes to government? IMHO, this is still TBD.

On a positive note, the news release also promises a stronger focus on the company's primary long-term goal: "to create a browser-based virtual world experience, eliminating the need to download software." This could potential be a huge step forward in the government sector. Information security concerns and the steep learning curve have made it difficult for many organizations to get in-world long enough to see the infinite possibilities available. Technologically speaking, this is becoming much closer to a reality and if LL truly does focus on this goal, it could mean a second (larger) wave of acceptance and popularity as tool, both in general and specifically in government. So, as with the Head Gov Twit appointment above, I am conflicted and will have to wait and see...

Third - The Good!

And finally, the last job related note from me this week. This one, although it has received much less fanfare and notoriety than the first two above, is nonetheless to me the most positive. AmericaSpeaks.org has posted a help wanted ad for a newly-created position called Director of Online Engagement & Participation. According to Susanna Haas Lyons from America Speaks, "the position is unique in the way that it draws on three distinct skill sets - digital tools, business development, and citizen participation - and correspondingly offers a leading opportunity to advance the voice of citizens in governance while changing the way agencies at all levels of government use technology to achieve their mandate." Social media as a platform and citizen participation as a focus? Now that is truly an innovative opportunity. The person in this spot is going to have all kinds of fun with the tools and the practice of engagement!

Also this week, the Big Apple posted a new job - Chief Digital Officer. The new position is designed to "develop forward-thinking policies on social media, digital communications, Web 2.0 initiatives and other tools to better serve the public." Very similar to the America Speaks position in some ways, albeit more focused on the NYC's well-publicized digital channels.

If you've got the tech chops and the communications experience, I'd suggest you toss your hat in the ring early 'cause my guess is that both of these are going to be very busy! Meanwhile, I will be over here festering in jealously, waiting to hear more about the lucky souls who gets to fill those spots.

Grab Yer Cyber Shovel and Start Diggin' - Virtual Town Begins!

2010-05-07T16:55:51Z

Today I posted a message to the MuniGov mailing list announcing the development of our latest MuniGov collaboration project. During our last few regular group meetings, the group has finalized the scope our next venture. We are going to immediately begin a build out of a "town" within the virtual world of Second Life. This town is going to include several simulations and resources that will be focused on establishing a resources kit for all local governments.

The concept is simple: we want to build a series of training simulators and tools that can be used, free of charge, by any member of the organization. We intend to include the basic tools (conference room, auditorium/lecture hall, etc.) But we also are working on some very basic customizable tools such as a polling center, a paramedic training simulator and the like. We even intend to build a forum for use in public meetings. This is only the beginning of what we hope will become a centralized hub of virtual world resources for all of us to share and "check out" for specific purposes within a locality.

It might sound far-fetched to consider virtual worlds as a tool for real life government business, but believe me, it isn't new. Many of the agencies at the federal level are using SL or other virtual worlds as a cost-effective means to conduct simulations, meetings, interviews and collaborative strategy sessions. And just this week I read an insightful article about how major corporations, like IBM, Dell and Intel are now giving virtual worlds the second look that typically indicates a technology's staying power.

So the MuniGov organization is trying to capitalize on the richness of these virtual worlds in order to achieve some real-world results. It seems kind of silly for each of us to try to establish and experiment with our own sort of virtual world presence. We determined it would be best to pool our resources, talents and interests into establishing a virtual "Town" that can be shared by all, since so many of our service needs at the local level are similar. We intend to build this without any funding, however we are also currently evaluating several grant opportunities that would enhance the town and speed the construction process.

At our next meeting, we will be focusing exclusively on this build-out. I invite you to join us in SL on Wednesday, May 12th at 7PM EST/4PM PST at our new MuniGov HQ ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/Second%20Earth%204/227/30/24) so that you can be a part of this exciting new venture. If you are new to SecondLife, no problem! MuniGov also offers one-on-one tutotials.

I am very excited about the potential this new platform holds for us in government. I'll be sure to provide you with regular updates via the blog and we'll keep the info coming via our twitter stream and our Web site as well. Please leave comments if you have any questions. I hope to see you next week!

Technology Enables Local Governments to Collaborate

2010-04-27T14:42:14Z

Below is a copy of an article that appeared in the Spring 2010 Government by Collaboration newsletter, a product of the GSA Office of Citizen Services and Communications. I have reprinted it in its entirety, (with permission from the GSA of course!) because I thought it was germane to my typical blog fair. Enjoy!

By Bill Greeves and Pam Broviak

Co-founders

MuniGov2.0

Come Mix it Up With Us!

In September 2008, we were both civil servants on a mission, scanning the horizon from our work stations in city and county governments 750 miles apart, looking for better resources for government foot soldiers to take some Web 2.0 action. We met through a mutual online colleague and discussed some great ideas via Skype and Second Life, but when we returned to our respective work in Geneva, IL and Roanoke, VA, we found it hard to find some solid resources to help us build on our ideas. We whined about it for a little while but soon we decided that if we couldn't find it, we'd build it! So we put our money where our mouths were, and we founded MuniGov 2.0. MuniGov 2.0 is a coalition of federal/state /municipal and international governments focused on exploring the use and principles of Web 2.0 in an effort to improve citizen services and communication via technology.

We based the group solely on the idea that there was value to be had in collaboration, and that Web2.0 could be just the platform we needed to promote and leverage that collaboration in government.

We started the organization with a collaboration Web site using Google Sites. Then we built a Google Groups discussion board and established a foothold in the virtual world by setting up a MuniGov HQ in Second Life. These initial efforts attracted a community of like-minded peers with a common interest in applying Web 2.0 concepts to local government. Our growing group embraced the use of these online tools and started documenting Web 2.0 resources and best practices. We welcomed ideas from around the world and opened the group up to collaboration from anyone working in or for government. Word of mouth and some very timely media coverage did the rest. We grew rapidly, nearly exponentially, as the demand skyrocketed for guidance and camaraderie and the journey of 2.0 use in government became commonplace.

We modeled MuniGov on the following principles to allow the group to evolve as more governments begin exploring and applying the concepts and technologies of the Web2.0 movement:

The more people participate in the development of the product, the more valuable it will become
All ideas and collaboration are welcome
Individual feedback and submissions will make the group a truly effective resource and create an environment in which everyone learns from each other.

These principles were enhanced with the following basic goals:

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
Seek innovation and opportunity in difficult economic times
Have a little fun along the way

The group continued to attract interest because Web 2.0 in government could no longer be ignored. The Web site expanded as more and more participants shared their best practices, policies, ideas and suggestions. The list serve started rolling with dynamic questions and answers from all areas of government. Both of us, along with several other members of the group, began to participate in discussions, presentations and projects in work rooms, college lecture halls, and larger conferences around the globe. Using Web 2.0 tools, we were able to participate not only in-person but often virtually. Our foothold in Second Life expanded as we added free virtual offices for all member governments to use.

One Wednesday last winter, someone came up with a great idea: why not hold a conference in Second Life? This would allow us to move past the general "wouldn't-it-be-cool-if" discussions into providing tangible, valuable (and free!) resources to our members. There was a unanimous group decision to go for it and MuniGovCon09 was born! For several months we devoted our Wednesdays, and many more days, to pulling together a conference in Second Life. The theme of the conference was introducing Web2.0 to the government community. Munigov members met in Second Life to plan the conference and held one-on-one planning discussions via Skype. A collaboration site was used to share information and allow for conference registrations. Twitter, blogs, and social networks were used to help get the word out.

By the time the conference time rolled around, we had nearly 170 registrations. And although we don't have an exact number, we estimate that the number of attendees was actually at least double this. Many organizations filled a real-life conference room and watched the conference on the big screen via the virtual eyes of a designated avatar. As you'll note from the session videos, we certainly had a fair share of technical hiccups throughout. We knew this was inevitable, given the heavily concentrated noob herd that the conference attracted. However, the MuniGov2.0 hosts and conference speakers showed tenacity, resourcefulness, and perseverance in working through the problems and putting on a good show.

The speakers at the event included people from local, state, and federal government offices, as well as higher education, all of whom spoke on intriguing ideas and engaging topics relevant to Government 2.0. We even had an interactive Q&A session that engaged the audience with a panel of government 2.0 enthusiasts focused on several social-media related topics. The speakers and their topics were well received, based on the very positive evaluations we collected. Perhaps most importantly in these economic times, we were able to save attendees thousands of dollars in registration and travel fees to attend the enlightening sessions. All they had to do was log-in from a computer. And there was no lost baggage, missed flights, or expensive hotel rooms associated with this conference!

Eighteen months later, MuniGov has grown to nearly 600 members from around the world, and we are happy to report significant progress towards all of our goals. We have a diverse and dedicated membership that literally spans the globe and incorporates nearly all of the functions in each level of government. From police officers to public information officers, technology directors to elected officials, the MuniGov group and its resources have become a powerful asset to use as a resource for 2.0 research and implementations. The group has established a prolific Web presence (www.munigov.org) and meets via avatar every other Wednesday night in the virtual world of Second Life to talk shop about the policies, tools, trials, and tribulations of Government 2.0 or just government in general. We've accomplished all this solely thanks to the efforts of a talented and dedicated volunteer group - no budget required!

Thanks to the generosity of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, we've got a bigger, better home in Second Life as we also begin to explore other virtual world opportunities. And we've got big plans with regards to government education and collaboration. There is no end in sight for the future potential of government 2.0 and we hope to continue to be a valuable part of it!

Want to know more? Give us a shout or sign-up today on the Web site, and join in the conversation and the collaboration!

About Pam

Pam is the city engineer/assistant director of public works for the city of Geneva, Ill. She has been working in the public works field and local government for 28 years. In addition to co-founding MuniGov2.0, Broviak co-hosts the Gov101radio show and manages the Public Works Group, an online resource for public works professionals. She is also serving on the Program Advisory Board for the 2nd Open Government & Innovations (OGI) Conference.

Full profile available at http://www.linkedin.com/in/pbroviak

Contact Info:

Skype: pam.renoir
Twitter: http://twitter.com/pbroviak
Second Life: Pam Renoir
Blog: http://www.publicworksgroup.com/blog
Email: pbroviak@geneva.il.us

About Bill

Bill Greeves is the Director of Communications & Information Technology for the County of Roanoke, Virginia. He has been working at the local level in Virginia government for over ten years. In addition to co-founding MuniGov2.0, Greeves blogs about his web 2.0 travels for Government Technology magazine. He was also recently named as one of Government Technology's Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers for 2010.

Full profile available at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/bgreeves

Contact Info:

Skype: bill.greeves
Twitter: http://twitter.com/bgreeves
Social Media Sites: Bill Greeves
Second Life: Greever Wemyss
Blog: http://billgreeves.com
Email: bgreeves@roanokcountyva.gov

The 2.0 of GovTech's Top 25

2010-03-08T12:59:31Z

This week, I was deeply honored to be named as one of the Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers of 2010 according to Government Technology magazine. Truly I am very excited to be in a group that has such talent and leadership in government innovation. According to the associated article, this is a very exclusive list, limited to "people who cut through the public sector's infamous barriers to innovation -- tight budgets, organizational inertia, politics as usual, etc. -- to reshape government operations for the better." So, yes, I am very proud. But I am not wasting blog space tootin' my own horn. I thought it was very timely to do a post that shows how the criteria of this annual process has incorporated social media.

Below are excerpts from some of the winners profiles. Yeah, I left my own out, that'd be a little too gratuitous, even for moi:

Peter Corbett: CEO, iStrategyLabs - "Recognized in part for creating Apps for Democracy, a Washington, DC citizen collaboration contest and his company, iStrategyLabs "seeks to bridge the digital and physical worlds, using social media and technology to produce content and connect citizens."
Toni Cramer, CIO, Bellevue, Wash. - "The IT infrastructure she manages in Bellevue hosts software shared by 39 other organizations, gov2gov cloud computing at its finest!"
David Fletcher, CTO, Utah - "Engaging social networks was a top priority for Fletcher's portal revision. Utah.gov assembles links to all social network activity by state agencies. And late last year, Utah became one of the first states to release guidelines for appropriate use of social media tools by state employees."
Michele Hovet, IT director, Arvada, Colo. - "She has aggressively advocated for a local government cloud through which Colorado cities and counties could share services."
Randi Levin, CTO, Los Angeles - "The decision will migrate the e-mail of 30,000-plus city employees to Google's off-site "government cloud" that debuts this year, and will later bring Google Apps - docs, voice, chat, mobile functionality and Web site support - to city departments. The move, Levin says, will save more than $5 million in hard costs and $20 million more through increased productivity."
Gov. Deval Patrick and CIO Anne Margulies, Massachusetts -"What the are doing and or advocating in their organizations personify the inherent potential of govt2.0 - connecting people, ideas and services in an effort to improve the quality and efficiency of information and customer service. {...} To keep state employees and other stakeholders informed, Margulies and her staff created a detailed interactive wiki and video, which can be accessed from the Information Technology Division (ITD) Web site. Margulies also narrates a YouTube video that explains the project's concept, development and expected completion date, in addition to the ITD's weekly news blast and quarterly newsletter."
Beth Noveck, deputy CTO for open government, U.S. government- "Thanks to her efforts, Americans can now collaborate and interact with the policy-making machinery of government."
Steve Ressler, founder and president, GovLoop - "GovLoop bears all the hallmarks of a modern social networking site, with member profiles, discussion groups, forums and blog posts. But GovLoop, Ressler said, is unique in that it's a platform for public-sector employees to share government-specific experiences."
Selvi Stanislaus, executive officer, California Franchise Tax Board - "A proponent of Web 2.0, Stanislaus helped the FTB get on Facebook. She also has five employees who regularly tweet and blog for the agency. In staying with her theme of transparency, Stanislaus said the blog will help open communication lines between the FTB and taxpayers. She says hearing the negative and positive can help the FTB improve its service to taxpayers."
Dick Thompson, CIO, Maine - "I think the way we use our portal and tools such as social networking, we'll go through - I almost call it a rebirth - because I really believe that when we start to marry these tools in effective ways to deliver information and services, the degree of transparency, the degree of involvement of citizens in the way their government operates, will be expanded."
Chris Vein, CIO, San Francisco - "He recently launched DataSF.org, a Web portal that publishes more than 100 public-sector data sets that residents can mash up to create shared applications."We are opening up a dialog that's never been there before between the city and citizens," Vein said. "They're sharing their experience and expertise to help improve government."

Quite a trend, eh? Don't get me wrong, there were several other very important and consistent themes that ran throughout the profiles of the winners, including topics such as consolidation and public safety communications. I am not discounting those. But what I do note with great interest is that so many of these influential govies have either a successful 2.0 track record or a strategic eye towards the incorporation of 2.0 into government. This is a feather in the cap of that exploration. We've moved beyond R&D into the realm of acceptable use and I daresay incorporation into an overall business strategy. That's all folks - a simple point this time. Just sayin'...

Colorado Takes a Closer Look at the Cloud

2010-01-22T01:37:45Z

On Wednesday, Jan 20th, the organization behind the Colorado state web portal issued an RFP "for web-based Collaboration, Office Productivity and Email functionality through a Software as a Service (SaaS) model." According to the state web portal, the Statewide Internet Portal Authority (SIPA) was created ...to provide efficient and effective services for citizens through the use of modern business practices and innovative technology solutions. In an accompanying press release issued by SIPA, the organization believes that the move will save the state a considerable amount of constituent dough because it will enable them "to synchronize private sector capabilities with the needs of governments for foundational IT services".

The news release also references a 2009 study done by Forrester that claims that the average cost for an on-premise email is $16-$25 per month per user, depending on the size of the organization. I don't know about you, but that it a might bit steeper than the cost here in my organization. And judging from the chatter on my listservs today, my lower cost estimate seems to be more commonplace, at least here at the local level. That being said, email and the collaboration tools we use are not exactly cheap. For those of us running Exchange, Groupwise, LotusNotes and the like, we are facing constantly increasing maintenance fees and ongoing personnel costs to fuel these beasts, so the appeal is certainly there. As one of my astute peers said today in an email: "We are considering moving to a hosted environment for e-mail, but we are doing it for survival, not savings." Many of us are entering the second or even third year of gouging budget cuts. Our bottom line keeps getting lower but our colleagues in the organization seek technology to automate their labor and cost intensive process to meet their own reduced target. Something has gotta give here peeps!

Enter SaaS, or more specifically enter a serious conversation and consideration of that cloud stuff. Colorado's RFP is a strong indicator for us in the public sector. When a tech-savvy and incredibly diverse organization like that can show a formal interest in the cloud, the times they are a changin'! Of course Colorado is not the first to head down this path to take a look. Back in October of 2009 the City of Los Angeles blazed a contentious and widely publicized path when they committed to replacing their aging Novell Groupwise system with Google Apps...in the cloud. Just this week LA confirmed their progress on this front, undeterred by the recent China-based attacks on Google's infrastructure. That's 30,000 accounts folks...starting at the end of March. And LA is not alone. Orlando has already made the move along with smaller governments such as Macon and Canton, GA. And Washington DC made the move before their CTO moved to his new federal CIO post.

To me, this progress shows us in the public sector that SaaS as a viable cost savings effort has got some sturdy legs to it. The concept of moving to the cloud has gone from "trendsetting" to "costsaving" and this is a move that I think all of us in the public sector can get behind these days!

Social Media Policies: Leading Without Bleeding

2009-11-05T13:04:02Z

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 approved.

However, social media policies should not be feared. Believe it or not, they are not that difficult to construct. I'll grant you that although it can be an arduous process to get them fully vetted, when they are done, they can be used as a shield, a megaphone and a flashlight! They're like the MacGyver of policies.

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

"Yeah, But Do You Have To Be a Wolf?"

2009-09-02T17:28:09Z

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!

White House Deputy CTO Gets a Second Life

2009-07-17T12:37:32Z

On Monday, July 20, Second Life will be hosting a simulcast presentation from Beth Simone Noveck, deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House responsible for Open Government. Ms. Noveck will be presenting her new book, WIKI GOVERNMENT: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A, in which participants from both Second Life and in person can ask questions of the author. The event will begin at 12:00pm EST/9:00am PST on Monday, July 20, 2009 and will take place in Second Life on MacArthur Island.

According to the book's summary, "Ms. Noveck's Wiki Government insightfully demonstrates how technology, along with citizen participation, can help the government become more open and effective at solving the complex social and economic problems we face today."

These kind of small incursions by the nation's senior technology executives into the virtual realm provide me with some hope that eventually, with some refinement, some standardization and some positive educational opportunities, more of our peers in the government sector will sit up and take note of the broad and deep potential that maintaining a presence in a virtual environment can have for us in the public sector.

Virtual worlds are not going to solve all of our problems, but they certainly will go far in creating that "open and effective" government that we strive for. Requiring minimal funding and relying on platforms that exist today, virtual worlds afford a prime opportunity to extend two-way channels of communication and provide a permanent collaborative realm in which citizens can come together with each other and their governments to design and build products, open dialogs and fulfill concepts that can result in innovative solutions of which we can all be proud.

This Monday's upcoming virtual simulcast of Ms. Noveck's presentation will certainly be interesting to watch. I am curious to see how many other SLers will opt to show up and hear what she has to say, and how the feedback and Q&A from the SL audience will differ from her real world audience. If you are there, please shoot me an IM and let me know what you think too. I'll be the wolf in the top hat (Greever Wemyss).

Virtually Yours....

MuniGovCon'09 - A Belated Recap of a Virtually Historic Event

2009-05-28T17:12:14Z

Well, it occurred to me this week that it has been nearly six weeks since the MuniGov2.0 group pulled off our very first organized project - MuniGovCon'09. I'd be remiss (and perhaps flogged) if I didn't do a post on the conference and what it meant to us and the growing 2.0 movement in government. It turns out that I had to miss the conference due to a last minute family emergency, but I was there in spirit, my peeps were representin' and we got it all on film for eternal posterity. You can view all of the speaker sessions on the MuniGov2.0 Blip.tv channel.

This was a virtual government conference held entirely in the virtual world of Second Life. The theme of the conference was introducing Web2.0 to the government realm. Based on our estimates, this conference would have cost us $165,00 (USD) to pull off in the real world. By offering it virtually, we estimate that we saved each attendee at least $1300 to attend a similar real life conference of this caliber (and we gave out the souvenir t-shirts to prove it!)

By the time the conference time rolled around, we had nearly 170 registrations. And although we don't have an exact number, we estimate that the number of attendees was actually at least double this. Many organizations filled a real-life conference room and watched the conference on the big screen via the virtual eyes of a designated avatar. As you'll note from the session videos, we certainly had a fair share of technical hiccups throughout. We knew this was inevitable, given the heavily concentrated noob herd that the conference attracted. However, your friendly and courteous MuniGov2.0 hosts and our speakers showed tenacity, resourcefulness and perseverance in working through the problems and still putting on a good show. And if you were in that audience - thank you for showing patience with us and thank you for being willing to help us try out this new avenue for collaboration and discussion!

Our speakers at the event were certainly well-received by the crowd. We had all levels of government and higher-education covered with intriguing ideas and engaging topics that seemed to be very popular with the audience. We even had an interactive Q&A session that engaged the audience with a panel of government 2.0 enthusiasts focused on several social media related topics. (Again - you can see all the sessions at our blip.tv site)

If you want more detail on the conference itself, I'd encourage you to take a look at Pam Broviak's blog post about it (hers was much more timely than mine). If you are in Second Life, you can also visit the MuniGov2.0 Center to view some excellent billboards that highlight the dynamic demographics of the conference attendees. And while you're at the center, you can take a stroll through the Technology Showcase - a virtual mini-exposition highlighting the wares and services of some of the vendor members of MuniGov including CDW-G, ActiveGovernment, Microsoft and Earth911.

During our post conference wrap-up, we gathered tremendously valuable feedback from the attendees in the form of a survey, and we documented a lengthy list of lessons learned from the MuniGov members who pulled the conference together. All of this feedback will guide us in the development of future events and gatherings to make them even more valuable for the participants. For example, we are working now on a regular schedule of Second Life Orientation sessions exclusively for government participants.

And finally, this post would not be complete without a special shout-out to the MuniGov peeps who stepped up to really make this thing happen. This conference was a culmination of the efforts of many members of the MuniGov group, without whom this would have not been possible. I would like to personally recognize my fellow ringleaders in this endeavor:

Barry Condrey, CIO for Chesterfield County, VA (who also stepped in to be my stunt double for the keynote when I had to unexpectedly bail at the last minute)
Leslie Fuentes, IT Director for Hampton, VA
Robert Menter, Human Resources Analyst Virginia Beach, VA
Lisa Nelson, Program Manager with the Intergovernmental Solutions Group of the General Services Administration
Jeff Jacob, Junior Applications Analyst from Nanaimo, British Columbia
Joe Mangano, Bus Dev Mgr, Vertical Solutions, CDW-G
Beck Sullivan, Manager of Interactive Communication Services, Municipal Association of South Carolina
Sonya Shoreman, Public Information Officer, San Diego County
Wayne Chronowire, Detective Sergeant, Wells, ME
Lynette Shaull, Web Content Coordinator, City of Winston-Salem, NC
Michelle Gardner, Coordinator of Administrative Services for the John Scott Dailey Florida Institute of Government at the University of Central Florida
Paulette Robinson and Jim Rich and the rest of the folks from the Information Resources Management College of the National Defense University, who were gracious enough to lend us their experience and this excellent venue for the event.
And of course my founding partner in all this, Pam Broviak, a Public Works Director and City Engineer in IL

If you are not a member of the MuniGov group, I would encourage you to register today. Pam Broviak and I started MuniGov2.0 back in Sept of 2008 with the purpose of bringing together like-minded government people who were interested in exploring the possibilities that the tools and concepts of 2.0 could bring to us here in the public sector. I am happy to report that as of today we are over 430 members strong with a diverse membership from all levels of government in several different countries and from a dozen different disciplines! We have a very dynamic Web site, an active list serve and some very productive meetings in SL each Wed evening at 7PM EST/4PM PST. In addition to the group meetings, access to the list serv, etc. we also offer every member organization free use of the Munigov facilities, including your own customizable govpod - a virtual office that you can use as a home base while exploring SecondLife. If you are interested in membership, you can sign-up on our Web site.

Tapping N 2 Totally Terrific Teen 2.0 Talent

2009-04-27T13:01:59Z

Recently I had the opportunity to present on Web2.0 at the National Parks and Recreation Assocation's Legislative Forum in Washington DC. Specifically, my session was a primer on how the NRPA's membership could use these new technology methods as advocacy tools to help further their missions. During my research in advance of the session, I had a very enlightening "duh" moment that I thought might be helpful to those struggling to find the resources needed to dive into 2.0.

Parks and Recreation, Libraries and other direct service departments develop programs and provide services focused on very specific segments of the population - summer camps for school-aged children, themed travel opportunities for seniors, storytimes for preschoolers, etc. These types of departments are often some of the early adopters of Web2.0 tools, but frequently they face issues of limited resources and more recently, shrinking budgets for non-essential services. However, these agencies have a leg-up when it comes to providing new services via Web2.0. These departments frequently have very active teen programs aimed at giving teens safe and productive recreation and social opportunities. We need to be capitalizing on the talent and the volunteer opportunities that are right on our doorstep with these teens!

I recently had dinner with a fellow govt 2.0 evangelist and her 21-year-old daughter. We were prepping for a presentation on 2.0 and I asked her daughter what she thought about all the tools we were discussing and whether or not she used them. Never in my 36 years did I feel more ancient than when she said my beloved Twitter was for "old people". No wait, that's not true. When American Idol recently had the theme of Songs from the Year You Were Born and they were singing songs from my early high-school days I got that same kick-to-the-gut feeling. You know - the one where you can actually feel your hair graying? Bah!

The point is, these teens and early twentysomethings are already doing social networks, instant messaging and the like. The tools we struggle to understand are "so yesterday" to them. We've got to remember that our digital natives (8-28 year olds) grew up with technology as a given. As these digital natives enter the workforce, the cultures of organizations shift and there is a massive blur between work and leisure. Connectedness and instant search and communication capabilities are assumed. The technology becomes consumable and distributed content administration becomes sanctioned and preferred. They live and breathe in a culture that we are still trying to comprehend.

So why not tap into their skills and their subject matter interest in order to help us with our organization's migration to 2.0? Try some experimental efforts focused around a cause, an initiative or a program that the teens can get behind because they care about the outcome. We can cultivate our very own cool communications cadre who are passionate about their subject matter. They get the tools AND they get the message! The simple formula goes something like this: give them a little bit of guidance, a few parameters and then get the H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS outta the way and let them go to town!

Sounds like a win, win, win situation to me. You put their interests to work, you get a 2.0 initiative underway and they get experience in a real-life work environment that will look great on a resume or college application. And don't forget that getting them to participate in these projects will give your message much more street cred and viral marketing capability than it would if it was just some sad, sterile govspeak propaganda coming down from "the man".

Below are just a few real world examples to ponder and perhaps emulate. These projects were all either created directly by teens or teens feedback and involvement has helped shape their current value and form. Check 'em out and let the creative juices flow!

Teens take to YouTube to spread their municipal message

Homer Glen Teen Picks

The public library in Homer Glen, IL works with its Teen Advisory Group to set up an del.icio.us account where teens can collect and share web sites of interest as well as web sites to assist with completing homework assignments. Teens hone reading, web searching and critical thinking skills as they evaluate which sites to include on their del.icio.us account.

Hampton Youth Council

Hampton, VA has a dedicated Web site focused on teen activities and services at www.areyouinthegame.com. Additionally, they have augmented their online presence with a Facebook page that is maintained by teen volunteers under direction of their Youth Coordinator.

Overland Park, KS: Camp Inferno

According to their Myspace page, "Camp Inferno is a week-long camp where young women, ages 15-19, get to experience the physical and mental rush it takes to be a firefighter." The page is coordinated via the Overland Park FD, but a visit to the page reveals that a community has sprung up amongst former camp attendees. By getting into MySpace, OPFD has clearly recognized and bridged the gap between the bureaucracy of a typical government Website and today's teens.

MuniGov Milestones Merrily Met!

2009-03-04T22:57:35Z

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

MuniGovCon'09 - A Virtual Conference for Govt, by Govt

2009-02-12T15:07:31Z

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

Confessions of a Government Twit

2009-02-04T21:21:11Z

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