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Are you having trouble getting your supervisor to approve the budget for your ticket to NextGen? Are you not even sure how to approach him/her about it?

We’ve written out a sample letter for your use to help convince your supervisor to come to NextGen.

This type of written communication is a skill the next generation needs to develop – how to make the case and ask for what you want.

Dear (boss)-

I’d like to attend the training sessions at the Next Generation of Government Training Summit (nextgengovt.com) on July 25-26th in DC and would like to get your approval.  

As training dollars are scarce, I know we need to be smart with every dollar and that’s why I think this training would be great:

Designed specifically for Gen X & Y leaders with an advisory board of leading SES leaders and rising professionals

Cost-effective and time-effective training that would replace multiple courses & thousands of dollars of training

OPM-approved and all sessions are mapped to meeting OPM executive core qualifications

I think this training will help me do my job in the following ways:

1) Presentation Skills – A big part of my job is presenting my work and analysis to senior management. I would love to improve these presentations both in terms of PowerPoint skills and public speaking skills. There is a session titled “Powerful Presentations: Persuasive Pitches, Poignant PowerPoints, and Prezis with Pizzazz”,  in this session participants will learn practical tips for sharing ideas with others through presentations. We’ll cover selection and use of presentation tools as well as basic public speaking and persuasion tips.

2) Time and Project Management – I’m excited to have so many great projects to work on. I would love to improve my ability to manage my time across projects and deliver great projects on-time and within budget. There will be a session titled: “Agile Project Management: Leading Change One Project at a Time″. This session will teach participants how some project managers have taken this responsibility and are helping lead important change efforts in government by using agile methods to quickly deliver solutions.

3) Lessons learned from Other Agencies – For my current assignments, I know there are other agencies doing similar work and I’d love to learn and leverage their best practices. During NextGen, there are opportunities for me to have one-on-one conversations to gain insight and build relationships in an intimate setting. I will be able to bring these connections and lessons learned back to our agency.

After the conference, I plan to write-up an analysis of the sessions I attended and key takeaways for our team. I can also provide a short briefing in our weekly team meeting.

The cost to attend the training is $685 (before June 23). In the course of two days, I’ll learn the basics of a variety of topics that normally would take weeks of trainings and thousands of dollars.  Based on the level of learning, I think this is a good value – similar trainings such as a course on “Time Management” at Learning Tree are upwards of $1,500.

Thank you for considering my request. If you would like to discuss further, please let me know when you are available this week.

Thank you!
- (Your Name Here)

For more information on The Next Generation of Government Training Summit 2013 please contact Megan Price (megan@govloop.com).

Registering for a training event you’ve never been to can be intimidating. So here is your chance to get a better feel for what goes on at NextGen.

Listen to what people thought about last year’s training summit, what types of people attend and what they learned the most from attending:

Also, here are a few articles that may help you better understand what happens at NextGen:

“Young Leaders Get Their Gov On at NexGen Summit” – OnMyGov, July 2012

“NextGenGov Pairs New Government Leaders with Mentors, Career Tips” – CivSource, July 2012

And a few more that discuss the sessions:

“Civic Startups Introduce New Technology to Government” – PBS News Hour, July 2012

“Blind NIH employees form own resource-sharing group” – Federal News Radio, July 2012

“FEMA turns to data to fix employee morale problem” – Federal News Radio, July 2012

The agenda is set. Now we are counting on you. We are hosting a Speaker Contest!

In the agenda, we have built in 5 minute lightning speaker slots. Based on the information we heard during last year’s lightning speaker talks we couldn’t resist doing it again – basically…they were fantastic! Don’t believe me check out what Michael Gale, Teresa Shea and Emily Sadigh shared last year!

Now it’s your turn – join in on the action!

Are working on an innovative project at your agency? Got a great idea to revolutionize government?

This is your chance to share your 5-minute story in front of 500+ government leaders and share the stage with Obama appointees, current Mayors, and CEOs.

Here is how it works:

1 – Email nextgen@govloop.com with your Name, Title, Organization and up to 200 words on what you’d talk about. Include the subject line “Speaker Contest Entry“. Here are examples from last year.

2 – Entries must be submitted by 5:00 PM EDT on Monday, April 15th.

3 -  The maximum of 15 Finalists will be notified by 5:00 PM EDT on Wednesday, April 17th.

4 – Finalists must accept their submission, send in their photo and short biography by 5:00 PM EDT on Friday, April 19th.

5 – Finalists will be announced Monday, April 21th. Voting will begin.

6 – Voting will close Friday, April 26th at 5:00 PM EDT.

7 – Winners will be notified Monday, April 29th by 5:00 PM EDT.

The speaker selection committee’s scores and peer votes will be counted to determine the overall winners for the summit. The 15 finalists will be vying for FIVE 5 minute slots that will take place in person at the Next Generation of Government Training Summit on July 25th or July 26th. All winners will receive 1 registration pass for both days of the summit.

Have questions or need more information – email nextgen@govloop.com – and utilize “Speaker Contest QUESTION” as the subject line.

Good luck! Can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with for this year.

Help us configure space – which session will you attend during each breakout session?

Based on popularity, we will configure the room capacity to coordinate with the responses. The rooms vary from 50 people to 200 people so this choice is big!

Click Here to View the Full Agenda.

Breakout #1

Breakout #2

Breakout #3

Problem Solving Sessions

Breakout #4

Breakout #5:

Click here to view the full agenda.

Looking for a Mentor? You’re in luck!

The GovLoop Mentors Program is a first-of-its-kind, government-wide initiative that connects public sector professionals across agencies and at every level (Federal, state and local) of government. This free program responds to the unprecedented need for effective knowledge transfer and leadership development throughout government.

Interested in participating? Here’s the process:

• Go here to sign-up: Mentors.GovLoop.com/signup (Group ID: govloop)
• GovLoop will select Finalists for the respective cohort.
• Mentees reach out to request a mentor; Mentors approve pairings.
• Participate in the four-month program.

GovLoop will select program finalists based on the following criteria:

• Completeness of application
• Track record of success
• Career goals
• Specific mentoring outcomes
• Overall clarity of writing / quality of application

Don’t wait! The Finalist selection process is highly competitive as we’re only making 50 matches per 4 month program out of hundreds of applicants. The more complete your application, the better – especially when it comes to your goals for your career and the program.

HOWEVER – you can get a guaranteed a spot in the program! Register for the Next Generation of Government Training Summit by February 1 and we will lock you in for the Spring cohort. REGISTER HERE! (Note: Be sure to click the “Enter promotional code” link and type MENTORS when you do)

As with any new beginning, we set goals and strive to keep them throughout the project or time frame. Just like every new year, we call these goals Resolutions.

When we hear about new year resolutions, we often think of the “Loose More Weight” or “Get out of Debt” – but what about “Find a Mentor” or “Read More to Enhance my Career”?

I think it is always important to set attainable resolutions that will better personal and professional development. So…

What Professional Resolutions have you set for 2013? Post Reply Here.

Buying personal items on Cyber Monday?!? Why not invest in professional development while you’re at it!

Today only, you can cash in on major savings!

Save $40 on NextGen+ DC and/or $75 on Next Generation of Government Training Summit!

So don’t waste time…enhance your government career, save money and you’ll never regret it!

Register for NextGen+ DC – here.

Register for Next Generation of Government Training Summit – here.

Let’s face it.

We’re all moving too fast.

Texts are flung out on the fly.

Emails are all too frequently half-baked or marked by massive misspellings.

Conversations are rushed or rudely interrupted by a phone call.

There’s no doubt that we are operating in an increasingly communication-challenged environment…and we’re bound to fall into avoidable blunders.

In fact, my guess is that most of us have a way-more-memorable-than-we’d-like-to-admit mistake in communicating with our colleagues.

So how about you?

What has been your biggest communications gaffe and how did you fix it?

Bonus: The best answer will receive a free ticket to the GovLoop and Young Government Leader’s NextGen+ event on December 6, 2012.

Deadline is Friday, Nov. 16. Share yours in this discussion on GovLoop!

You may submit an anonymous response to andrew@govloop.com.

P.S. Andrew will also be leading a workshop at NextGen+ DC called “Become a Brilliant Communicator.” We’ll explore strategies for methodically moving through your daily communications minefield and explore common scenarios that can trip you up.

Originally posted on GovLoop by Andrew Krzmarzick.

Many agencies have been prepping for the “retirement wave” hitting the Federal Government, including the Office of Personnel Management with new reforms to the Pathways Program. In addition to recruiting a talented workforce, however, agencies face the additional challenge of retaining young employees.

At the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Michael Lawyer had noticed that attrition was especially bad with workers who had been there less than five years. It was with that in mind that he and Anthony Soriano began the group, Under 5, for employees who have been with HUD for less than five years. Laywer and Soriano spoke with Chris Dorobek of the DorobekINSIDER regarding both Under 5, as well as the impact of GovLoop’s NextGen and their upcoming involvement in NextGen+ as lightning speakers.

Lawyer said that what had initially begun as a griping session for the group quickly transformed into a problem solving session. “We had some good luck with our first initial push to make things better – it was amazing, it was a really small thing. We were using an outdated version of Internet Explorer as our browser, which doesn’t seem like much, but for new employees [...] to come and use a five year old browser that wasn’t compatible was a real culture shock.” After reaching out and having conversations with the CIO, they were able to transition to downloading Google Chrome.

Other agencies are starting to take notice of Under 5, with many beginning to recognize the real need for organizations like this for new employees. Laywer also commended many new government leaders who attended the NextGen Summit, who are currently engaging in this issue all across the Federal Government.

Lawyer and Soriano will be lightning speakers at this year’s NextGen+, an extension of this summer’s NextGen Training Summit. The half-day training will focus on educating, inspiring and training emerging government leaders – these two are definitely a great success story for making change in government.

For more about Lawyer and Soriano, check out: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bureaucracy

To save your seat at NextGen+ DC, Register Today!