Archive for June, 2010

Check Out Videos of NGG Contest Winners

By on June 26, 2010 in all, summit, Uncategorized with No Comments

wo weeks ago we launched a contest to see who could cook up the best video response to the question: Why are you the next generation of Government?

Well ladies and gentlemen the results are in and five government rockstars have scored free tickets the Next Generation of Government Summit July 6th and 7th in Arlington.

Here are the winners and their videos:

Candace Riddle



James Hanson



Kristy Fifelski



Giselle Jasmin



And Nichole Henley (she rocked a .wmv instead of youtube)


Find more videos like this on GovLoop – Social Network for Government
You can still get free tickets by inviting friends to join GovLoop but hurry cause that will end this Friday!

Ready to Hear The Gov’t Awesomeness

By on June 22, 2010 in all, summit, Uncategorized with No Comments

***Register today for Next Generation of Gov’t Summit – Join 200+ gov’t rockstars – nextgengovt.com***

As you may know…we are big fans of awesome at GovLoop. Our charity is AwesomeGov.org. We have great bloggers that advocate awesomeness like Christopher DuFour.

And generally it has always been my point that government CAN be AWESOME. Government has done all these awesome amazing things from inventing the Internet to putting a man on the moon to helping create frameworks like CMMI and ITIL.

I’ve always felt government failed to use this to recruit and retain government leaders. Government should be THE place to work if you want to tackle the biggest problems facing the world (environment, health, poverty, security) and we should do more to say that it is AWESOME to go tackle these huge challenges and serve your country.

So when we launched Next Generation of Government Summit, I really wanted to ensure that this message came loud and clear.

And it reminded me of my buddy Neil Pasricha who I met when I was on a conference panel in Toronto.

At the time, Neil had a pretty successful blog 1000awesomethings.com where he highlighted one awesome thing a day (examples include “Licking all the flavor off your fingers”, “Do Nothing Days”, “Getting Exit Row on an Airplane”)….

I asked Neil to participate right as he was about to launch his book “The Book of Awesome” and he agreed to speak at our conference as a favor to me. Fast forward, 8 weeks later and Neil is a bonified rockstar. His book is #1 bestseller non-fiction in Canada for 6 straight weeks, he just wrapped up a week of 40 interviews, and he’s been asked to turn his book into a TV series.

And I just talked to him last night and he’s super jazzed to be speaking to the over 200 registrants at Next Generation of Gov…And he’s been crafting his speech…and I’m so excited to hear the awesomeness.

3 Skills To Learn at Next Generation of Government

By on June 16, 2010 in all, summit, Uncategorized with No Comments

So I’m super excited about the GovLoop/Young Government Leaders Next Generation of Government Summit July 6 & 7th. We are already at almost 200 registrants of the raddest, smartest, government innovators and it’ll be a blast. Make sure to register soon before it sells out

There are lots of skills I hope people learn at Next Generation of Government…but here’s my top 3

1) Managing Your Career – It’s a skill that is rarely taught and doesn’t sound important. But it is so key to learn how to think through changes and make strategic decisions in your career. We’ve got a couple great sessions on this:
-Managing Your Career & LIfe – A Framework – amazing session by Frank DiGiammarino where he walks through key decision process
-Career Conversations – a discussion with two government SES about how they made key decisions and key success tips in their career.

2) Get Things Done – I’m all about action so It’s amazing to see how some people get amazing things done in government. They know how to manage a project, sell ideas, and navigate political waters. We’ve got a couple great sessions on this:
-Project Management – The real story on how to get things done
-Top Young Execs – Getting Stuff Done – Real tips on how to navigate and get things done when you are much younger than your colleagues.
-William Eggers, author of If We Can Put a Man On the Moon – How to Get Big Things Done in Government…an amazing book on (yes you guessed it)..how to get big things done in gov.

3) Managing – Management is such an essential part of work whether you are managing or being managed. We’ll have a number of sessions such as:
-Managing for the 1st Time – where you will learn how to deal with being a boss from the leading expert from the Washington Post
-Managing Up – You may not be a manager yet…but everyone needs to learn how to manage up. A great philosophy.
-Performance reviews – Everyone gets one and some have to give them. This session we’ll learn from the best on how to navigate to ensure they go smoothly

These are just a couple of amazing things that I hope people learn at Next Generation of Government. Register today.

Retro Flashback: Next Generation Government Will Be Mobile

By on June 12, 2010 in all, summit, Uncategorized with No Comments

From Andrew Krzmarzick, Community Manager, GovLoop and author genshift.com

One year ago, I published a post entitled “Next Generation Government: Mobile, Measurable and Malleable.”

As the Next Generation of Government Summit fast approaches, I thought I’d dust off this blog post and play it again to spark discussion in advance of the event. I’m going to run it as a series – breaking it up in three sections. YGL and GovLoop Founder Steve Ressler took a shot at defining the next generation of government last week as well, so be sure to check out his post.

In my mind’s eye, the next generation of government will be MOBILE (I agree with Steve here):

Mobile connotes the idea that work is no longer a place, but a set of tasks that can be performed anywhere – whether that’s in a government-owned building in a major metropolitan center or a privately-owned family farm in the middle of Minnesota. In the private sector, this type of flexible work environment is already commonplace. Not so in the public sector where fewer than 10% of eligible employees are teleworking. I believe that three primary drivers will lead to a more mobile government:

1) Collaborative technologies – also known as Web 2.0 or social media – will enable people to exchange information in ways that mitigate time and distance. Public sector personnel will wake up one morning, and about 75 minutes into their 5-mile commute, will recognize that there is a much better way to work. They’ll turn around, turn on their laptop and turn in a respectable day’s work…in less than 8 hours!

2) Boomers will retire, leaving Generation X and Millennials to take the reins. And what does the next generation want but a better work-life balance? Unlike our parents, we don’t live to work. We work to live. We’re projectized people that desperately want to live the critical path – the quickest route from start to finish…so we can give more attention to our personal pursuits.

3) Boomers will retire, becoming bored and realizing that they want to keep contributing. For all that’s been said about it, the impending “retirement tsunami” may or may not happen by 2015. With their workaholic approach and life savings shaved in half, Boomers are most likely not leaving anytime soon. Think about it: the youngest among them are still in their mid-40s and many of them are on Facebook, GovLoop, and Twitter. And surveys by relatively respectable institutions like AARP, Harvard, Merrill Lynch and MetLife indicate that two out of three Boomers expect to NEVER retire. Rather, they plan to cycle between periods of working, volunteering and vacationing.

To summarize: we all want the same thing! But it’s up to you, brilliant and bold Boomers, to put this mobile culture in place now before you head off to work from your waterfront villa in the south of Florida or France.

What do you think? Do you buy it? Or will we stayed mired in the muck of mindless commutes?

Engage in dialogue here…and join your peers in person at the Next Generation of Government Summit.

Lights, Camera, Get Free Tickets!

By on June 8, 2010 in summit, Uncategorized with No Comments

Originally published in Government Technology
Jun 7, 2010, By Russell Nichols, Staff Writer

The future leaders of government have a passion for public service and know how to navigate the Web to stay connected in ways that couldn’t be done a decade ago.

That’s the philosophy of Steve Ressler, (pictured) founder and president of GovLoop, a social network for civil servants. Bringing together these rising local, state and federal government leaders is the driving force behind the upcoming Next Generation of Government Summit.

Two hundred government leaders of tomorrow will assemble on July 6-7 at the Westin Arlington Gateway in Arlington, Va. Launched by GovLoop and the Young Government Leaders, the summit will rally the brightest minds in the public sector to exchange information, tips and case studies, and address the present and future issues facing governments.

By answering one simple question, you might get to attend the summit for free.

GovLoop will award five free registration passes to those who create the funniest, most creative, most inspiring and best overall short video responses to this question: “Why are you the next generation of government?”

Ressler wants to see innovative entries (i.e., no talking heads). He wants to see passion about public service with a creative approach in videos that are no longer than two minutes. The deadline is June 18. Videos must be submitted via GovLoop in a blog post form tagged “NGG Contest.”

“Times are tough, but we think it’s really important for the next generation of leaders to come to these types of events,” he said. “As the baby boomers retire, we really need to equip these young leaders with the skills to do the job better.”

As a third-generation public servant, Ressler saw government service as a way to tackle big problems such as Social Security, homeland security, war, health and the environment.

“I saw that there are more and more people like me,” he said. “They come to work for the government not just for the benefits or the pension, but because they want to do something bigger than themselves.”

In recent years, contests have been the ticket for connecting citizens with government officials. From President Barack Obama’s YouTube addresses to the rise of e-town hall meetings, videos represent the trendy tool in the push for government transparency.

In prior years, Ressler said, GovLoop has done contests with text messaging and blog posts. This time, he said, he wanted to “kick it up a notch.”

“Video puts a face on government,” he said. “It’s very important to see who people are and see the passion. Video adds a rich color to it all.”