A blog about government-to-citizen digital communication and engagement, Government 2.0, GovDelivery, and other e-government issues
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Reach Out and Touch Someone

January 21st, 2013 | Posted by GovDelivery in Community Management/Engagement | Federal Government | Government 2.0 - (2 Comments)

By Lance Horne, General Manager, GovDelivery Federal

reach out and touch someone

More than 30 years ago, an ad agency came up with a tagline to soften AT&T’s image and position the company as an indispensable element of everyday American life: “Reach out and touch someone.”  After spending the last 15-plus years working within the public sector in a variety of roles, I’ve formed some strong opinions about how agencies can leverage technology to communicate more effectively with citizens. I’ve also seen how more effective government-to-citizen (G2C) communications can boost an agency’s image and position it as an essential part of citizens’ lives, much like AT&T managed to do with its “Reach out” campaign. Over the next few weeks I’ll share some of my thinking on this, starting with today’s post that focuses on G2C outreach and communication.

Government agencies have come a long way over the years in jumping on the Web 2.0 bandwagon – more are using web sites, Facebook and a variety of other social media channels to try to facilitate communications with citizens. But one area that’s still a quandary is how to get better at G2C communications, meaning ensuring that targeted information reaches the right audience, measuring the impact of communication efforts, and providing a conduit for citizens to not just consume information, but to react and respond to it. Many government agencies still rely on the more traditional forms of communication to get information to targeted groups of citizens, including advertising, print media, and channels that rely on physical delivery services.

Government agencies, much like industry entities, are most effective when efforts are focused on meeting the core mission. Things like defending our country, coordinating the logistics involved in keeping people fed and safe after a natural disaster such as Hurricane Sandy, and maintaining vital services are just a few of the areas where government focus is critical. It’s understandable that agencies might not have the time – or the expertise – to figure out how to more effectively reach out and touch citizens with vital communications. Clearly, leveraging industry providers with innovative and efficient technological offerings that have the capacity to effectively reach millions of recipients is a better approach.

Anyone who works within government realizes that you’re always going to be asked to do more with less. It’s been a general mandate for the past several years and isn’t going away anytime soon. So what do you do to boost G2C communications? One way is to develop a subscriber base and to immediately adopt subscribers from agencies with interests similar to your own. Working with the right industry G2C partner is something that agencies can do right off the bat to boost their profile and reach out and engage constituents more effectively.

If part of your overall mission is to have better relationships with citizens, then having a process in place for good G2C communications can help you accomplish that. And in the words of the AT&T tagline, you’ll be better able to reach out and touch someone.

Watch for more of my thoughts in coming weeks on topics such as cloud computing, improving communications with returning military and their families, and mining big information and ideas using big data technologies. In the meantime, I’d like to hear your thoughts on G2C communications. What challenges are you having in this area? What successes?

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What an entrepreneur can teach us about public sector communications

January 18th, 2013 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in Compelling Content | Events | Government Success Stories - (0 Comments)

play from scratch logoJeff Freeland Nelson, a local Twin Cities entrepreneur, took hard-earned lessons from his former career in public affairs and service and built his company, Play From Scratch, with a simple mission in mind: raise kids who are creators. Play from Scratch believes that “creative kids become adults who thrive” and seeks to inspire families through open-ended, problem-solving play with sustainable materials.

Government communicators can learn from Jeff’s crossover expertise in the public and non-profit sectors, public leadership, and education that have led to Play From Scratch’s innovative approach to business and playtime. Here’s an overview of the company’s key tenets and how you might be able to take his lessons and turn them into government magic:

1.  Find Raw Materials

Play From Scratch encourages families to use recyclable materials like newspaper, boxes, cardboard tubes and tape as raw materials for playing. Communicators in government organizations with limited resources (and who isn’t?) can apply the same mindset. You should identify basic resources and information that may be taken for granted around your department or office. Then tease out creative ways to invigorate and transform that content.

Source: Uploaded by user via :: Play From Scratch /:: on Pinterest

 2.  Create a Challenge

How do you tease out ways to be more creative? Create a challenge! Creative people are motivated by challenging problems. Play From Scratch drives enthusiasm and inspiration through fresh ideas for kids like a “Go Creative” card game or building giant cardboard structures. Adults can jump start their imagination by adding challenging elements to project initiatives and organizational goals. Putting a goal out there that is bigger than anything ever tried before inspires innovation and motivation.

3.  Build Big Ideas

Jeff built a toy company by expanding on the idea that the world is full of exciting challenges and available resources that make solving problems fun. Government communicators with a mindset of “go big or go home” open up a whole new level of opportunity. Highly successful campaigns such as the CDC’s Zombie Apocalypse campaign, which we just talked about in our last post, are brought to life through agencies willing to seek out interesting challenges; looking for ways to build those ideas into something bigger; and identifying what makes the idea resonate and “stick” with the public. This doesn’t mean that you have to max out your limited budget, though. Jeff’s company is built on reusable cardboard, boxes and newspapers — the stuff most people toss out at the end of the day. Don’t underestimate how big you can go using the small stuff. Leverage sparks of creativity by noting out-of-the-box ideas as they come to mind and working in teams to stretch the limit of what is considered possible.

4.  Share What You’ve Created

Play From Scratch encourages families to share imaginative experiences with neighbors and friends. Their website offers many channels for sharing online, including using social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube. Their perspective is that sharing what you’ve created with others fuels creativity and only helps people learn from each other. Social media and the web have made sharing efforts and accomplishments easier and more fun than ever. New and existing social channels can be used as a forum to talk about big ideas, what has worked, and what doesn’t work. The knowledge gained from trying something new and asking for public input – whether the idea is successful or not – can only help the next time around.

5.  Recycle Raw Materials and Start Over

“Raw” materials don’t have to be brand new. Just like kids playing castle can re-use couch cushions over and over again to build new forts, communicators can break down existing content to digestible pieces. Smaller components broken out from previously created content can be used to brainstorm new ways to use the material. Communicators can use previous successes as a foundation to tackle new challenges, build big ideas from the ground up, and create content that helps you meet your organization’s mission goals in an innovative and engaging way.

Want to hear more? You’re in luck. Jeff will be joining us as the keynote speaker for the Minnesota stop on our Digital Communications Tour.

Register now to join more than 100 of your colleagues from around the state – the event is free for all government employees!

2013Tour

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Zombies and Buzzwords – Communication Strategy That Gets Inside Your Brain

January 16th, 2013 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in Compelling Content | Government 2.0 | Government Success Stories - (0 Comments)

As your organization fills the fresh slate of 2013 with a new communications strategy, consider the issues and topics that make you squirm. Many government agencies struggle year after year with the same topics that are either uncomfortable for the org or are avoided by the public. Citizens shy away from topics that make them nervous, afraid, or even bored, while organizations skirt issues that are difficult to explain or to present in an engaging way.

Misinformation circulated by journalists on the particle physics work performed at the international laboratory CERN suggested that the lab could destabilize and cause apocalyptic reactions without warning (you can see information about the safety of the lab’s particle accelerator here). This has led to widespread misconceptions about the research and a general fear of “radiation” by the public. PhD students working in the lab decided to try and provide education on the public’s long-standing misunderstandings in a new and entertaining way… with a zombie movie.

zombies

Image credit: http://www.decayfilm.com/category/media.html

Researchers with little film-making expertise and a $3,500 budget created a gory flick called “Decay” that takes place in CERN’s real maintenance tunnels. The film showcases brain-eating, undead lab workers in bloody detail but also sneaks in scripted informative snippets on the Large Hadron Collider (the world’s largest particle accelerator), how it functions, safety features of the lab and the “God particle” discovered by CERN researchers. The creators wanted the film to “[appeal] to a wide-ranging, science-savvy audience, as well as to zombie enthusiasts as a new approach to the genre” and took the chance to “do some satirical commentary on various aspects of people’s perceptions of science.” The film sold out its premiere at the University of Manchester, was released for free on YouTube and has been over 400,000 times, and has gained a Twitter following of over 700 users.

CDC also played on the past few years’ zombie trend with their 2011 campaign, “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse.” CDC director Dr. Ali S. Khan explains, “If you are generally well equipped to deal with a zombie apocalypse you will be prepared for a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake, or terrorist attack.” The initial blog post includes information on how to build an emergency kit, creating an emergency plan with your family, and the services provided by CDC. The post went viral in May 2011 and the increase in traffic crashed the blog website. The campaign has been so successful since its launch that it has been expanded to include lessons plans for educators, t-shirts, posters, and a graphic novella.

These examples of clever campaigns demonstrate the benefit of sharing information with the public with a “wink and a nod” that is accessible and entertaining. Dare your organization to take a hard look at the keywords and themes that have historically been off-limits and confront them in the New Year. Building a communication strategy around them can provide a fresh boost to your organization’s approach and increase public outreach and education in surprising ways.

What is the biggest issue or idea has your organization been avoiding? Share with us in the comments about how your organization takes on tough topics in out-of-the-box ways!

 

Statistics on page views current as of 1/6/2013.

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Top 10 Most Viewed Blog Posts on Reach the Public

January 9th, 2013 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in Analytics/Data | Community Management/Engagement | Compelling Content | E-Government | Email Communication | Federal Government | Government 2.0 | Government Success Stories | GovLoop | Integration | Local Government | Social Media | State Government | UK Government - (0 Comments)

top 10 RTP blog postsI know 2013 started just over a week ago, but it already feels like it’s been weeks since I celebrated the holidays and New Year’s with my family and friends. I think part of this is jumping back into the work day after some time off, but part of it is probably due to the fact that 2012 “year-end” reviews started weeks ago. (Google posted their Zeitgeist 2012 video a month ago! If you haven’t watched it, take a look and note how many cool events were driven by government organizations like yours.)

So I may be a little late to the game in adding my 2012 “top viewed blog entries” list, but I console myself that it’s only been a week or so. And with the belief that this list contains good reading that’s timeless. For those who may have missed these along the way, here are the top ten most-viewed blog entries on Reach the Public in 2012 and why I think they’re worth revisiting:


number 1

In this post, Lauren Modeen, Engagement Strategist extraordinaire, answers a question she received in a Reddit chat: how can you use rewards to motivate your online community?

She highlights four different ways that rewards can spur conversation and keep a community engaged, from simply featuring a member’s activity (whether that’s a discussion, question, or profile) to sending thank you notes or swag.

Why do I think this post is worth revisiting now? As we moved through 2012, it was impossible to ignore the impact of social media in government. Not just because it was a “new” way of amplifying the reach of government communications but also because of the emphasis on social. At the end of the day, people want to be part of a community; they want to interact with others who are interested in things they’re interested in. And government organizations began to understand that creating, developing and managing communities could be one way to truly drive mission value in a way that had never been done before.

Using Rewards to Motivate Your Online Community

number 2

This post was written quickly as I sat in a hotel room near GovDelivery UK’s office, up late with jet lag; so please allow me a moment to be a bit proud that it’s in this top ten list.

I logged onto my email to catch up on news in the communications world, and I saw the article on ReadWriteWeb detailing Mark Cuban’s opinion on Facebook. It was a fascinating read to me, mainly because of the very provocative but highly understandable situation Cuban faced with his basketball team (the Dallas Mavericks.) His organization had worked hard to gain Facebook fans, and they’d worked hard to engage that audience over a long period of time. So to come face-to-face with the knowledge that those connections aren’t actually available when you want them — or worse, that you have to pay Facebook to reach them — was jarring. For a government agency, that can mean a matter of life or death when you consider a situation like Hurricane Sandy.

Why is this post worth revisiting? It’s a good reminder that direct connections matter, especially in urgent situations. But it’s also good to remember that an integrated communications approach is still the key to ensuring that your government organization’s message is distributed as broadly as possible.

Abandoning Facebook

number 3

You’ll notice as you go through the rest of this list how much of these posts cover social media in government. Do you think it’s odd that the second most-viewed post was about abandoning Facebook but other posts in the top ten are about how to leverage or use social media? I think this is indicative of our society’s love/hate relationship with social media.

In this post, we summarize one of the most popular webinars I’ve ever hosted in my professional career (and I’ve hosted a lot of webinars). Our main speaker, Kristy Fifelski, also known as “GovGirl,” detailed her top 8 ways for government to engage citizens with social media – and boy, did we learn how hot a topic that was.

With nearly 1000 registrants, we had to expand our webinar contract (which had been limited to 250 “seats” to 1000 just in case everyone showed up.) And we had to expand our teleconference capability to ensure that everyone who attended could hear us. The experience gave myself and my IT team a mini heart attack – but it was all for a good cause, because this webinar was really amazing.

With concrete examples, in-the-field knowledge and expertise, and a fun presentation, Kristy/GovGirl gave our audience of government communicators key tips and tricks that could be implemented immediately to start using social media in more engaging ways. This is one post definitely worth revisiting.

8 Ways for Government to Engage Citizens with Social Media

number 4

Pinterest, another social networking site, launched in beta form in 2010 but didn’t start picking up more traction until mid-2011. By early 2012, it had become, as our post notes, “the hottest thing in social media.” By the end of 2012, the hotness had worn off a bit; but Pinterest remains a solid social networking site, with the most year-over-year growth for social desktop, web and app usage, according to Nielsen’s 2012 Social Media Report.

So take a look at this post on how government organizations can leverage Pinterest. As a site that stresses the social aspect of images, Pinterest can be a powerful storytelling social platform that extends beyond the capabilities of a social network like Twitter. This post reminds you of some ways to leverage this storytelling foundation to generate more interest and provide more value for your stakeholders.

Why Should Government be Interested in Pinterest?

number 5

That’s right, folks. The Internet and technology is no longer the sole purview of the young. In this post, we take on the idea that you can’t reach older demographics with digital means. That’s bollocks, as the British would say.

“Studies show that senior citizens are fast adopting email as one of their primary methods of digital interaction and communication. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 87% of senior citizens use email and search engines, while the Nielsen Company found that checking email was the primary online activity for 88.6% of seniors.”

If that’s not a prime reason to review your communications strategy and ensure that you’re using your digital communications to reach a broad spectrum of stakeholders, take a look at this post to find out which age group uses digital technology to do what (i.e. to get email, to use a search engine, to look for health information, etc.) The statistics will surprise you!

Tech-Savvy Senior Citizens on the Rise

number 6

The title says it all. Here’s a guide to help you with the best practices we’ve found in utilizing digital communications to reach your stakeholders and the public.

The post talks about why the guide is important and some of the strategies used by well-known public sector organizations. In fact, the guide’s been accessed more than 8,500 times since it was released last April.

The guide itself is a pretty deep dive into what works for digital communications, culled from over a decade of work with government organizations worldwide. If you don’t have the time to sit down to read it all, why not download it and try to tackle one tip or trick a week?

Digital Communication Best Practices Guide Now Available

number 7

Our friend and professional colleague, Steve Ressler, Founder of GovLoop, allowed us to share his thoughts on internal communications.

In the world of Gov 2.0 and Web 2.0, he tackles the next version of internal communications, drawing on current technologies used to communicate with the public to help facilitate internal communications. For instance, Human Resources could use text messages/SMS to remind employees of form deadlines.

As one of the top ten most popular posts of 2012, I think this post speaks to the need not only to reach the public to drive mission value but to reach our own internal audiences to help ensure that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same big goals.

Internal Communications 2.0

number 8

I have to be honest: this was one of my favorite posts from 2012. Why? Because it brought something virtual and often “abstract” or conceptual into something physical that I understood: a shining example of how great communications can be.

In this post, our resident community management expert, Lauren, addresses the question, “How do I design an online community? What’s it supposed to look like?” And her answer is, in my opinion, pretty awesome.

If your government organization has an online community or is even thinking about starting one, take a look at this post. It’s a critical piece to consider when developing a community. Oftentimes, when we think about communities, we consider finding people who are going to be the community managers and hype people; how to keep an online community going; or how to generate discussion – all of which is important. But a clean, easy, and structured online community helps with all of that, and Lauren gives you an easy-to-read road map here.

How to Design an Online Community

number 9

Just a few days ago, Joseph Marks posted a short note about content on government websites, noting that most “dot-govs fail on content, not technology.”

That makes this post increasingly relevant. As a communications person myself, the power of content is becoming more and more apparent. It’s what drives connections between an organization and its audience.

In this post, our Digital Marketing Manager/Guru, Mike Bernard, tackles the idea of content marketing for government and provides ten tips that your organization can start using immediately to leverage the power of content to help meet your agency’s goals and drive mission value. From repurposing content to curation to making content easily shareable, these tactics can help you see an uptick in your outreach programs.

Content Marketing – Government Style

number 10

If you’re remotely interested in government technology, you probably already know the acronym “APIs”. It was hard to miss Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel’s tweet about it.

That’s why I think this post was one of the most-viewed from 2012. In 2013, I’d be surprised if APIs weren’t a continuing hot topic. The integrations available with this technology make it a critical component of the Federal Digital Government Strategy, but even more than that, it allows connections in ways that make government more efficient. What’s not to love?

In this post, Richard Fong, a (master) Technical Implementation Consultant, discusses his work in helping the US National Weather Service (NWS) implement APIs to help get the word out with tsunami warnings. Their API integration with their digital communications tool allows NWS to send out tsunami warning communications more quickly than ever before, helping to save lives in situations where seconds really matter.

It’s a good post to end the list, too, because it’s a great reminder of the crucially important work that government organizations do and how critical communications are in helping organizations meet their mission in serving the public.

National Weather Service Using APIs for Tsunami Alerts

 

So that’s our top ten list of most-viewed blog entries on Reach the Public. Was there one that you found especially insightful that I’ve missed here? Did you find these posts useful? Let me know in the comments!

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How effective is your government website?

December 13th, 2012 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in E-Government | Government Success Stories | UK Government | Web/Tech - (2 Comments)

Even in this computer-driven age when information is virtually at our fingertips, many people still discover that finding the answer to a simple question can be a protracted, frustrating, complex process.

Unfortunately, in many cases, government agencies are a prime offender in perpetuating this information muddle.

Consider many government websites: Users go to a government site with a simple query, only to find themselves confronted by pages of dense type, dozens of confusing links that lead them deeper, and obtuse bureaucratic language that makes it impossible to decipher which section of the site might provide the sought-after answer.

After spending time searching without finding what they need, it’s no wonder that users finally give up in frustration and call the help desk to find someone who can provide them with that simple bit of information.

The result? An irritated customer who’s likely to view his or her experience as a typical example of government inefficiency and bloat. From the government side, there’s a corresponding and pronounced rise in costs for staff time in order to field that frustrated caller’s request for information.

In the end, both sides lose.

So what’s the problem? Why do so many government agencies fail to provide their citizens with an efficient, satisfying communication experience?

The answer may lie in the old-world model of how government agencies typically communicated with their customers or stakeholders. In the old days—read that, “before the Internet”—government agencies often assumed the role of the mountaintop, and pronouncements were delivered from that lofty position to the masses. There was only one arrow in that communication diagram, and it pointed down to the customer. Today, however, customers are more proactive. They want answers to the questions they have, and they want that information to be available and easy to obtain.

A few forward-thinking government agencies manage to get this dance right. And the latest attempt to provide customers with easy access to government information is the United Kingdom’s GOV.UK portal.

More than 60 million people live in the UK, making this site the potential one-stop destination for an extraordinary number of users. If the administrators behind the site had followed the too-typical government habit of defaulting to outdated web design or confused information production, the repercussions could have been literally overwhelming.

Instead, the web site is an exceptional example of simplicity paired with robust usability, with a tagline that succinctly explains its mandate: Simpler. Clearer. Faster.

Rather than confronting users with a bewildering array of choices, the home page has a simple, clean design that breaks information into sensible segments that promise to answer the type of questions the public might have.

Gov.UK home page

In the top third of the page, links are prioritised and offer one-click access to topics such as “Driving, transport and travel”, (which houses information about common issues such as car taxes and passport information), or “Employing people” (which answers questions about pay, contracts and hiring). Other links are also a model of brevity and conciseness, such as “Disabled people: Includes your rights, benefits and the Equality Act”.

The middle third of the home page hosts a highly visual offer that will likely rotate as the site grows. For now, it offers users to “Take the Tour” of the site (since it is fairly new), which leads to a brief video explaining the various services that the government offers.

The bottom third of the page is split into three columns to maximise content, displaying a “most active” list of links and news.

This site combines good, user-focused design (intuitive, clean, and easy to read) with Web tools consumers are accustomed to (brief video overviews). The people behind GOV.UK are now taking their efforts one step further: providing stakeholders with proactive information delivery. They’ve recently started using GovDelivery Digital Communication Management (DCM) to provide email notification services for Inside Government, a section of GOV.UK that holds content related to government policy information. As a multichannel, digital communications platform, DCM helps stakeholders (researchers, media, analysts, etc.) stay up to date when any of that content changes. They can choose topics of interest to receive notifications when specific content changes, drawing back users to the website. The GovDelivery platform is currently driving successful results for more than 550 government agencies worldwide, including other UK-based organisations such as Parliament, Driving Standards Agency, Department for Business Innovation & Skills and the Met Office.

Combining good design principles, methodical information delivery and cutting-edge technology tools, the GOV.UK website is giving its users exactly what it promises: simple, clear and fast information.

As a side note, why not borrow design tips from the best of the best? This infographic recently released by Go-Globe drew together home page design elements for the top Fortune 500 companies. Unsurprisingly, many elements are similar to the GOV.UK design.
Go-Globe Home Page Infographic

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Responsive Design – The Future is Here

December 10th, 2012 | Posted by Mike Bernard for GovDelivery in Compelling Content | E-Government | Government 2.0 | Usability | Web/Tech - (2 Comments)

If you haven’t heard of Responsive Design yet, you will soon enough. Responsive Design is a new way of dealing with the multitude of devices people are using to view digital content. Responsive Design uses the functionality of CSS3, combined with Unobtrusive JavaScript, to provide an optimal viewing experience across multiple viewing platforms (desktop monitors, ultrabooks, tablets and mobile phones) for websites, blogs and email.

So far, Responsive Design has not been adopted by very many government organizations yet, but as new websites are designed, more and more will be adopting Responsive Design.

Three great examples of what I’m talking about:

1) Here is how Michigan’s homepage looks on my desktop:

Michigan web

And here’s how it looks on my phone:

Michigan Screen shot

2) Rhode Island looks great on a desktop

Rhode Island Web

And on mobile

Rhode Island Mobile Site

3) This very blog uses Responsive Design. Here’s how it looks on a mobile phone

GovDelivery Blog

Two main elements that make up Responsive Design

1) CSS3 Elements

Responsive-Designed sites use the most contemporary CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) design elements to adjust the layout of your digital content to the appropriate screen size. These apply to web content as well as email.  Here’s how Wikipedia explains them:

  • Media queries allow the page to use different CSS style rules based on characteristics of the device the site is being displayed on, most commonly the width of the browser.
  • The fluid grid concept calls for page element sizing to be in relative units like percentages or EMs, rather than absolute units like pixels or points.
  • Flexible images are also sized in relative units (up to 100%), so as to prevent them from displaying outside their containing element.

Basically, to summarize, instead of creating absolute sizes for items, you size them in relation to size of the browser displaying your content. So, instead of setting a table to be 700 pixels wide within a 1,000 pixel web page, you set the table to 70% of the width of the browser. On your desktop, that would be 700 and 1,000 but on your smart phone that might be 350 and 500. You get the idea.

2) Unobtrusive JavaScript Elements

Unobtrusive JavaScript is a new concept that doesn’t have a consistent, agreed upon set definition yet, but it’s generally accepted that there are 2 main components. (This gets a little more technical, so I will try to summarize how Wikipedia lays it out.) Unresponisve JavaScript applies to web content only. Putting JavaScript in email is a no-no!:

  • Separating the JavaScript from HTML – keep JavaScript independent of other code. Think keeping all your JavaScript in a separate area and not inline with your HTML.
  • How the JavaScript “degrades” – Content should be available without all of the JavaScript running successfully and the JavaScript should improve the HTML. When there are instances of people using an unusual browser configuration, things will still render.

So what do I do with all this and why should I care?

Excellent question to ask, especially for the non-tech-nerds, reading this. There are 4 main reasons Responsive Design is the way of the future:

1) We all know smart phone adoption is going to continue to grow in years to come. The same is true of tablets and any other yet to be invented digital technology. As the screen size variations begin to reach exponential numbers, it will become impossible to design digital content that work well on all the different variations without Responsive Design. So, you can either go with Responsive Design or have a website, blog or email that looks good on one platform and horrible on all the others. Also, since your one site works on all platforms, you don’t need to maintain completely separate mobile sites, saving your web team time and money.

2) The Federal Digital Government Strategy lays out several initiatives that Federal agencies will have to meet. Nearly all of the initiatives have a component of increased accessibility for mobile platforms. And, as goes the Federal Government, so goes the rest of government.

3) Responsive Design is a great tool to allow you to have nice looking digital content and still remain 508 compliant. Gone are the days of needing to sacrifice design for accessibility. With Responsive Design, everyone can enjoy the benefits of a great website or email.

4) It helps with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Since you site looks better and is easier to navigate with Responsive Design, people are less likely to leave right away and will spend more time browsing your content. That directly translates to reduced bounce rates and increased time-on-site metrics. If they are leaving less and spending more time your site, it gives you more time to get them to sign up receive your content in the future, thus converting them from browsing into some you can engage. Finally, having a completely separate mobile version of your site could be seen as having duplicate content on your site, something search engines really frown upon.

I’m sure there are several other benefits I’m missing out on but this is enough to get you thinking. When it comes time to redesign that website, make sure start with Responsive Design from the get go. Otherwise it might be extremely painful to come back in after your site is finished and retrofit Responsive Design techniques.

Speaking of Responsive Design, check out this short video of GovLoop Founder and President, Steve Ressler, talking about how Responsive Design in being implemented in the Federal government.

Steve Ressler talks about the Digital Government Initiative from GovDelivery on Vimeo.

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Building Community and Collaboration through Innovative Technology in Government

December 5th, 2012 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in Community Management/Engagement | E-Government | Government 2.0 | Government Success Stories - (2 Comments)

Community and collaboration tools like Facebook, Google Drive and Salesforce.com are quickly becoming the status quo in the private sector and consumers’ lives, and citizens and government employees are increasingly expecting the same from the public sector in the form of online tools, customized services, and cloud-based document and information sharing. But government agencies are also dealing with the realities of budget allocations, resource constraints and meeting the needs of challenging initiatives. By leveraging the right tools to efficiently connect government resources and develop innovative solutions, government agencies are able to rise to modern challenges in today’s fast-paced and ultra-connected world.

Approaching the Future with Innovative Technology

As companies in the private sector have placed collaboration at the center of corporate IT strategies and frameworks, government agencies have taken note and followed suit. Collaboration tools and proactive IT strategies have become recognized as a crucial component in connecting government employees and agencies:

Government organizations are addressing modern challenges through a variety of approaches that increase collaboration between stakeholders. New technologies improve access to communities and connect government agencies internally, to each other, and to the public.

connecting people

Reaching Outside the Agency

For organizations that place mission value in citizen input and stakeholder engagement, benefits can be gained from connecting with stakeholders internal and external to the agency and communicating within the local, regional, and national communities.

Agency-to-agency collaboration: Organizations can network and collaborate with other similar organizations to leverage successful strategies and drive more value for stakeholders. For example, the National Weather Service (NWS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) use collaboration tools to help keep citizens aware of recommended and required safety measures with a citizen-focused communication approach.

Community-driven collaboration: Community building and engaging in citizen-to-citizen collaboration is more accessible to government agencies thanks to the availability of easy-to-use online tools and the rise of citizen utilization of new technologies.

National collaboration: Building connections across organizations, businesses, communities and government agencies is possible on a national scale with collaboration tools. Cross-functional relationships can help foster innovation, drive healthy competition and impact community-wide issues.

The challenge in engaging across the boundaries of organizations and communities lies in the differences between the basic requirements of platforms serving each of these groups. When compared with business-to-business or business-to-consumer platforms, government collaboration communities have more stringent requirements around:

  • Security and restricted access to communities and projects both behind and outside of government firewalls
  • Accessibility to meet the needs of those with disabilities
  • Ease of use considerations such as Software-as-a-Service offerings
  • Certification and accreditation to the Federal Information Security and Management Act (FISMA)

The benefits in increased value for internal and citizen stakeholders are worth navigating the requirements associated with building communities and collaboration tools for government. Collaborative community platforms eliminate barriers and provide flexibility to innovate across organizations, communities, and geographic locations, and solutions tailored for government offer easy installation, scalable applications and unique security features.

Benefits of Collaboration

An effective government collaborative platform provides a secure community to organize and collaborate with stakeholders and enables organizations to:

  • Connect more widely: Collaborative platforms can help strengthen the relationship and connections between a government organization and consultants, other government organizations, and the public. Wide and deep community connections are beneficial for organizations looking to reach and impact the maximum number of stakeholders. Collaboration breaks down silos and connects decision-makers to stakeholders for broad learning opportunities.
  • Encourage free-flowing communication: More conversations allow organizations to make better decisions with more input. Collaborative tools and websites provide platforms to ask open-ended questions and pull in answers from unexpected sources and perspectives. Collaboration allows government agencies to better serve the public through improved awareness, engagement and participation in government.
  • Reduce costs by streamlining information flow and resource allocation: Online collaboration and document sharing help to  distribute best practices, improve response time, and clarify decision-making to increase efficiency. Organizations with effective collaboration are able to respond to critical needs and strengthen the overall community by sharing strategies that work.
  • Combine traditional-style tools with interactive tools to gain useful data: Community platforms offer tools like events, surveys, polls, forums, integrated threaded messaging, blogs, and moderating capabilities to encourage higher levels of engagement. Establishing groups can help form digital work spaces and project teams for focused collaboration.
  • Improve organizational culture to embrace change and adapt to collaborative work styles: As communication and collaboration shifts to a more mobile and technology-focused workplace, government collaborators will need systems that accommodate different ways of creating and sharing information. Software-as-a-Service platforms often offer easy updates and customizable implementations to allow flexibility.

Collaborative Community Solutions

In order to deliver value to the public, government organizations need to adapt to new technologies that allow connecting with stakeholders in innovative ways to save cost and improve impact. Collaborators need solutions to the barriers they face in:

  • Collaborative document writing and videoconferencing
  • Sharing photos and other files
  • Analytics and reporting
  • Email and discussion forum integration
  • Integration with social media platforms where the public already congregates
  • Administrative overview and control of collaborative participants
  • Government-level security for collaborative media

Today’s technology offerings in collaboration and community management software create value by improving the flow of communications to foster teamwork and innovation. One example of successful collaboration on a scalable platform can be seen in FEMA’s national community, which utilizes an easy-to-use platform to engage the community and rally around national preparedness. FEMA uses the collaboration tools integrated with their platform to put out calls-to-action and improve citizen engagement. Users can join in regional and national discussions, find events near their location, sign up for newsletters, and learn from other members’ experiences.

It is clear that government agencies and employees will benefit from widespread implementation of collaboration platforms. Collaborative communities allow organizations to manage communications at the internal, local and national scale, build dialogues across relationships, and encourage teamwork and innovation to meet the challenges of government in the digital age. Has your organization considered implementing a collaborative community management platform? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or reach out to info@govdelivery.com for more details and specific examples of real value driven by building collaborative communities from the ground up.

 

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Citizens’ Maslow Hierarchy of Needs

November 28th, 2012 | Posted by GovDelivery in Compelling Content | Government 2.0 | GovLoop - (1 Comments)

By Steve Ressler, Founder, GovLoop

I’ve recently had a number of conversations with folks government on what citizens truly want.

Transactions/FAQ - There’s one camp that argues to focus on the break and butter – For example, the relaunched gov.uk which has a strong emphasis on fixing top frequently asked questions and optimizing 100,000+ transactions. Another example would be Honolulu Answers.

Deep Engagement - There’s another camp that really wants to focus on citizen engagement and action. How do we get citizens to share ideas and take collective action? Think companies like MindMixer that host great online town halls like Folsom 2035 where they ask “What is your vision of this community over the next 20 years?”.  Or crowdsource funding for agency problems (great start-ups like Citizinvestor).

There’s no right or wrong answer but I think Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a great way to view the citizen demand curve.  You must meet the basic needs before moving up the hierarchy of needs chain.

Fundamental needs like applying for benefits or emergency alerts, are inherently more popular than deeper engagement as I’ve seen from looking at three interesting data points:NC online services

So let me get into Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and how they relate to citizen’s hierarchy of needs.

  1. Physiology = Basic Transactions – The foundation of Maslow’s hierarchy is physiological – breathing, food, water.  For government, that’s the basic transactions – getting your driver’s license, renewing your passport, applying for food stamps.
    Maslows_Hierarchy_of_Needs
  2. Safety = Emergencies/Jobs – One step above is safety – security of body, employment.   Think of this as emergency alerts like text/emails with snow/hurricane information.  Also it’s finding employment – being able to find and apply for government jobs.
  3. Love/belonging = General Agency Content/News – Is a sense of community.  To me this is getting news about your community, getting the parks information for example or the latest on a new school opening.  Or NASA sharing its trip to the moon with you via great images, conversations, and more.
  4. Esteem = Sharing Ideas – Esteem to me is the process of sharing ideas.  One builds self-esteem, confidence, and achievement by the ability to share one’s voice with others – an in-person or online townhall, ability to give feedback on a program, etc
  5. Self-actualization = Citizen Problem Solving - Is the highest level of Maslow’s need and involves creativity and problem solving.  I think of this as building on open data or organizing a citizen watch group.

Conclusion – As you plan citizen engagement activities, think about where you are on the Maslow hierarchy of needs.  Are you meeting the base needs?  Are you connecting the base needs to the deeper engagement?

 

Original post on GovLoop.

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MUSTARD MAIL: 20 things to learn from #govd12

November 19th, 2012 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in Current Affairs | E-Government | Email Communication | Events | Government 2.0 | Government Success Stories | Local Government | UK Government - (1 Comments)

This is a guest post from Dan Slee, Senior Press and Publicity Officer at Walsall Council in England. Last Thursdsay, Dan attended GovDelivery UK’s Annual Digital Communications conference to hear more about delivering real value to the public through effective use of digital communications.

Okay, so here’s three things that may just help you fall off your seat a little bit. Or at least raise an eyebrow.

Boom! Email can be a bit sexy. Not shiny hipster Apple sexy but in an effective way of communicating with people kind of a way.

Boom! I’m seeing one of the key roles of public sector communications is to point people at more efficient ways of contacting them that’s going to make them happier and save the organisation a stack of money.

Boom! Somebody somewhere in a restaurant had a service so very bad they spelt out their complaint in mustard and ketchup.

bad service

Here’s 20 things I learned from the excellent GovDelivery Delivering Real Value to the Public Through Effective Use of Digital Communications 2012 event at the National Audit Office.

1. Bad customer service can be repaid in ketchup

Gerald Power from Trapeze used this rather fabulous slide that told a rather splendid story. Person or persons go into restaurant with wipe-clean tables. Nobody comes and talks to them for half an hour. They spell this out in condiments, take a picture, post it to the web and leave. It’s a perfect tomato-based illustration of where we are with customer service in the social web.

If people just ain’t happy they’ll tell their friends. In creative ways that will go viral.

2. Email is…. sexy?

Actually, bad email is always bad news. The sort that clogs the inbox. The cc to far. But cutting through the rubbish, email does have results as a comms channel. Clearly, govdelivery are keen to stress their product which helps government deliver opt-in targeted emails on request on a whole bunch of subjects. But actually, there’s some pretty good results. Thinking it through,  wouldn’t mind opting in as a parent for child-friendly events in the borough where I live. Or winter school closure updates.

3. Comms is essential

As one speaker said, the role of comms in delivering the changes needed in local government is central, fundamental and essential. That made me think a little.

Research by accountants PWC has worked out the cost of local government contact by residents to resolve a problem. For face-to-face it’s £10.53, for telephone it is £3.39, while post costs £12.10 and online just 8p.

One of the roles of comms teams is to help point people at the channel that’s most effective to help save money.

So point people at more efficient ways of talking to the council and you’ll earn your worth as a comms team. That’s just a bit important.

Here’s some other things from the event:

4. There are 650 UK gov services (bar the NHS) costing up to £9bn a year but 300 have no digital presence at all.

5. The new gov.uk domain has saved £36m savings pa by moving from directgov and businesslink. GovUK website

6. There’s a government target to save up to £421m from #localgov by digitisation.

7. The UK gov could save up to £1.7bn by digitising more.

8. Investment in comms is critical for local government.

9. There’s no need for fancy emails. Simple, to the point and effective for MHRA audience.

10. The digital by default line for UK government isn’t just coming from digital people. It’s coming from the heart of civil service too.

11. There’s no universal best time for an email as each campaign is different.

12. Don’t automate social content. Re-shape it.

13. Only way to realise cashable benefits from digital is headcount reduction and estate rationalisation.

14. A quarter of UK adults and half of all teenagers with smartphones and 77 per cent have broadband.

15. Love @geraldpower‘s idea of avoiding digital ’magical thinking’. Don’t copy for the sake of it. Think it through http://bit.ly/cOFmkl  #govd12

16. Look to put #digital in BIG areas. Not little. Digital wedding bookings will save pence. Go to where you spend most cash.

17. LGA estmates £67.8m spent by #localgov on print public notices.

18. Public notices are an anachronism in a digital age.

19. 76 per cent of #localgov in an LGIU survey want to publish public notices online only while just 4 per cent want print.

20. There’s a debate about public notices being a subsidy to the print media. There a report. (You can download LGiU’s report here.)

 

Read the original post on Dan’s blog.

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Abandoning Facebook

November 14th, 2012 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in Community Management/Engagement | Compelling Content | E-Government | Federal Government | Government 2.0 | Local Government | Social Media | State Government | UK Government - (4 Comments)

Yesterday, ReadWriteWeb posted an article detailing why Dallas Mavericks owner and tech billionaire, Mark Cuban, is taking his social media engagement elsewhere, effectively abandoning Facebook as the Dallas Mavericks’ primary social media tool for connecting with fans. Why?

The short version: “He’s sick of getting hit with huge fees to send messages to his team’s fans and followers.” In fact, Mark tweeted a screenshot of the Mavericks’ Facebook page, showing the option to pay $3,000 to reach 1 million people.

First, some background. If you’re not steeped in social media news (and who really is these days?), Facebook recently changed their algorithm, also known as EdgeRank, which is a formula used to manage which users receive messages on their News Feed. In news stories around the release about a month ago, the changes were noted more as “tweaks,” which were supposed to simply make it “more likely that posts from brands with high engagement get priority placement in feeds over posts with little engagement.”

Facebook Edgerank, Tim SandersImage from Sanders Says

But Mark Cuban, along with many other users, has seen a distinct change in their Facebook activities. A private company designed to help brands manage their EdgeRank score commented on this change, saying,

Over time we’ve seen Reach slowly decrease as more Pages, and more users, create content. The more content that is posted to the news feed, the less likely your Page’s content will reach your fans. Facebook has also been rumored to provide 80% organic content, and “20% paid content in the form of sponsored stories” for Pages. So, tweaks in EdgeRank can cause fluctuations in metrics for brands on Facebook.

And daily Web magazine, Slate, reported yesterday that there was a workaround, detailed in a Washington Post article, but that the workaround was quickly shut down by Facebook after it started gaining buzz.

Facebook Edgerank Promote Story

But aside from all this Facebook-changing-its-algorithm-to-drive-revenue drama, Mark hits on a key point that is critical for government organizations:

The big negative for Facebook is that we will no longer push for likes or subscribers because we can’t reach them all…Brands have invested in getting consumers to like their Facebook page with the presumption that every like is created equal, that the brand can reach the user easily. That is not the case…Facebook has never allowed 100% reach. I think the disconnect is that not everyone realized that they didn’t allow 100% reach. I bet if you asked anyone who has subscribers if their posts reached 100% of their subscribers, they would say yes unless they have seen the dollar box for promoted posts show up. (emphases mine)

reach

Mark makes an incredible point here that is as relevant for the owner of a multimillion-dollar franchise as it is for a government organization.

It’s impossible to ignore Facebook as a communications channel: if you are hoping to connect with citizens where they are, it’s almost a necessity for your organization to have a Facebook presence. But if your communications strategy is built upon the number of likes you receive or number of comments you get on posts, you should rethink what it means to connect with your stakeholders – and the budget you have to do so.

Mark’s decision to move to the Mavericks’ communication efforts to Twitter or Tumblr or even MySpace is based on the realization that, through Facebook, he doesn’t have the kind of direct connections that lead to the incredible reach that he feels is critical to the success of his business and the franchise.

How does this translate into public sector?

Direct connections matter. The breadth of your reach is critical. Again, if your audience is participating in social media, it may be important for you to be there. But fighting through all the noise on social media also means that there are people you want to reach who aren’t getting your messages. What you need are true direct connections with citizens and stakeholders to help meet your organization’s program goals and initiatives.

Mark makes it known that he isn’t removing the Mavericks’ page from Facebook but that he’s going to start driving Facebook fans to Twitter while looking to build out a Mavericks’ brand page on other social media sites. At the end of the day, he knows that reaching those people who’ve already raised their hands to say that they like a brand or an organization is only the start – the true worth of that action is in how easily and directly an organization can communicate and engage with its fans.

What do you think? If your organization is on Facebook, have you seen a decrease in the reach you have with your posts? Would you follow in Mark’s footsteps or rethink your outreach and social media strategy? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

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