FOSE 2013, the nation’s premier event for government technology professional tool place in DC May 14-16. Here is day 1 of FOSE through a social media lense.
Read more here: http://storify.com/sarahkneip/day-3-fose-recap
1105 Meet-Up: Sequestration & Government Events, Mobile & Government Workforce
We participated in a great meeting with top notch leaders in the information technology community. With all the buzz around sequestration and potential effects on events, we thought this was a timely piece. This guest post from GovEvents recaps the insights and discussions. The original posting of this blog can be found here.
1105 Meet-Up: Sequestration & Government Events, Mobile & Government Workforce
Posted on by GovEvents.com
Vienna, VA—1105 Media Group, organizers of the FOSE and GovSec Conferences & Expos, hosted a FOSE 2013 Blogger & Speaker Meet-up Thursday, March 21 at 1105 Media Group offices in Vienna, VA. Invitation-only and held specifically for government technology influencers, the FOSE 2013 Blogger & Speaker Meet-up is the fifth in an ongoing series of high-level meetings, where FOSE speakers and bloggers are given an opportunity to discuss significant topics including sequestration and government events, mobile and the government workforce, cybersecurity and more.
This meet-up included influencers Brand Niemann, Ph.D., Director and Senior Enterprise Architect – Data Scientist at Semantic Community, Ghadi Ben-Yehuda, Director of Innovation and Social Media for IBM Center for The Business of Government., Brad Barker, Director of Professional Services at Master Key Consulting and Young AFCEANs National Capitol Region President , Ajay Budhraja, Chief Technology Officer, EOIR at the United States Department of Justice, and Nick Wakeman, Editor-in-Chief at Washington Technology. The meet-up was also attended by representatives from the Capital Area Food Bank and GovEvents.
After brief introductions, the topic of sequestration and government events was first to arise. Program Manager for GovEvents, Stacie Flynn, provided details on how the government events industry is currently being affected by sequestration. She noted that while sequestration will not help the already ailing events industry due to travel restrictions and continued backlash of conference overspending, only a few conferences have been cancelled since it actually took effect on March 1. Stacie also announced that GovEvents will soon be rolling out a new program aimed at assisting event organizers with delivering content through a virtual conferencing platform (keep an eye out for details!).
This announcement led into a discussion of virtual conferences and webcasts, praising them for their cost-cutting abilities, while also sharing the challenges of online events, such as lack of interaction and captivation of viewers. In brainstorming, the group came up with several ways webcasts and virtual conferences could be enhanced to create an extensive engagement span of viewers:
- Create ways to multi-task within the webcast/virtual forum—many people will gravitate to email or other tasks while participating in a webcast.
- Change the value proposition of what attendees expect to gain from the webcast/virtual forum.
- Speakers–get right to the point! Too much ‘pipe-laying’ causes distraction to come easily to the viewer.
The topic of mobile and the government workforce was headed up by Ghadi Ben-Yehuda from IBM Center for The Business of Government, discussing the upside of mobile’s flexibility—allowing professionals to work virtually from anywhere, at any time. However, it was noted by others in the room that the flexibility mobile allows becomes a management priority when employees telework regularly. Proper training and management of both managers and employees was deemed the ultimate key to a sound teleworking staff.
Be sure to stop by GovEvents booth at FOSE 2013, May 14-16 in DC!
GovEvents is the premier web portal for all Government & Military events worldwide.
“One Click” Resolutions for Social Change in 2013
I am excited to kick off the New Year and not simply focus on eating better and time management, but also making a difference in this world. I’ve always been passionate about using technology for social change. In our digital world, helping others has become more accessible and “user-friendly” making it easier for each of us to use the internet for change.
Alleviating hunger is a cause that has been important to me for some time. I am a mother, wife, sister and daughter and to wake up every morning knowing there are millions of people just like me who don’t have the basic necessities such as food is unacceptable. I ran across a search engine called Sleedo (powered by Google) whose slogan is “Feed the poor with every search you make!” The site regularly donates money raised from advertisers and sponsors to the World Food Programme for every search. With each search you make, 10 grains of rice are donated.
Another go-to search engine for good is Benelab (powered by Bing) which was founded by a teenager in Seattle to make philanthropy easy and more accessible. 100% of it’s revenues go to charity.
There are other ways to help in the digital space. If you enjoy online games, check out WeTopia, a game where you play for good. Players earn joy and choose real world projects to fund while having fun with your friends. This is a great way to introduce the concept of giving to your children.
The New Year can’t be complete without a resolution for better health. If you are trying to stay fit like me, check out the Charity Miles app. You can walk, run and bike while earning money for charity. Select which charity you’d like to workout for and press “start.” It tracks your distance and earns money for the organization you select. Bikers earn 10¢ per mile; walkers and runners earn 25¢ per mile. The app is available on iPhone and Android.
If you are always on the go, check out the app Give 2 Charity. It allows users to earn points that equal donation for charities just by carrying your phone. The Give 2 Charity app collects your location data, and in exchange, lets you earn points to redeem for a monetary donation to selected charities including: Make-A-Wish Foundation, American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Humane Society, Sierra Club and Action Against Hunger. At the end of the month, 100% of the proceeds are donated to the charities. This is a new app which is available on Google Play and will soon be available for iPhone users.
There are many more online tools out there which incorporate social change, but my wish for you in 2013 is to think about ways to help others in the real world, through the digital world.