Rise Up!
Is government human? Most certainly. Is government brave? By my definition, rarely. How do we impress upon government decision-makers that increased transparency, listening to citizens, engaging citizens at the expense of losing control of the message is a good thing for democracy? A good thing for us and ultimately them.
The challenge is similar in the private sector. There are senior vice presidents of marketing and communications who are completely out of touch and working within large organizations. Fearful of the big, bad, negative, waste of time social web. Those who are inching towards entering the global digital conversation because the peer pressure walls are closing in on their brand are looking for simple ways to “bolt on” a Facebook fan page here and a Twitter account there to appease everyone. Well that’s not enough for me.
How to change processes internally is through leadership.
Understanding the current objectives of an organization or government is critical to effectively integrating social into everyday processes while closing the gap between the government and citizens. That said, most leaders act like stubborn, ignorant mules who won’t move an inch no matter how much you pull on the rope. To those political incumbents and executives I say the following.
“Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way.” – Walter Schwabe, modified from Lee Iacocca.
As senior leadership, you may think you’re leading (conservatively) by resisting the social web. You’re not, you’re simply acting as a mule. The tone of this post isn’t designed to be a hostile rant, rather a bit of encouragement for those struggling, patient and persistent internal evangelists within your organizations. I’m really speaking to them. Rise up people!
As elected officials, you need to look right into the eyes of those administrators who are afraid that citizens will expect social media to be the norm in your government and say, “bollocks! You’re too late!” To the administrators, I say this. One day you’re going to wake up and be working for a Mayor and Council that will stand-up to your stubborn mule like behaviour and if you resist, you’ll be gone. Don’t think it’s possible? Pick up Escape Velocity when it’s published and read the story about how one newly elected Alberta mayor did exactly that. For you, a socially enabled candidate like this mayor, (or as was encouraged last week – someone like me) would be a nightmare.
Municipal election candidates are not exempt, you need to be ready for this Open Government reality as well. Chances are, you are not going to be elected without strong social credentials, nor should you be in my opinion. To all those government and business leaders without computers on their desks, I’d suggest retirement is looking pretty good right about now. If you did’t need the hassle of learning new fan-dangled technologies like keyboards, mice and emails on a screen rather than printed off, then Open Government must really be sending you for a loop. Oh what am I saying, you haven’t heard of the term or the movement in general anyway. Yup. Go golfing.
To the rank and file, those of you who have drawn the horrifying images of social technology frustration and social access imprisonment – Rise up! Create a project that you feel will benefit the government you work for. Don’t call me scared for using a picture when no one knows who you are, it’s time to “cowboy and cowgirl up!” Many start anonymous blogs so they can vent and snipe, twitter accounts that criticize their government bosses 140 characters at a time. Rather, I encourage you to think positively. Just like the gladiators of old Rome, get the crowd on your side, this includes citizens and colleagues. Create ways for residents to communicate with your government transparently and out in the open, no matter how simple or small. Let the complexities of building strong sustainable digital community relationships come later, that’s a discussion for those already in the game. Am I suggesting you should proceed without a plan? Quite the opposite, think things through, you’re about to change the world. Need moral support? Call us, our lines are open so that you can bark at the moon.
Create a small and simple example of success to build on. Sometimes that’s a grassroots event, sometimes that’s one single social profile or account. Be innovative and creative. Tell real stories and be brave. If you feel comfortable, create a tactical team to help you but do it!
Go off the grid!
Last week I interviewed LTC Gerald Ostlund, Office of the Chief, Army Reserve, Army Reserve Communications, Webmaster and Chief, Social and New Media for Escape Velocity, which I’ve been working on since last year. He explained that there was some heavy resistance regarding the use of social technologies internally within his organization. This resistance came from several directions. The only way to accomplish what he knew he needed to do, what the US Army Reserve needed to do, was to go off the official network. I’m talking about the official defense intranet. He works in a place where when I get emails from LTC Ostlund at the end of every subject line it states (UNCLASSIFIED).
LTC Ostlund explained, “we went out and purchased laptops and aircards with our own money.” This was the only way access could be gained so that the work of integrating social into Army Reserve communications could begin. What was the risk to LTC Ostlund’s career regarding this brave move I wondered, so I asked the question and his response was immediate. “What are they going to do send me to Afghanistan or Iraq? Been there, done that,” replied LTC Ostlund. The conversation continued and it wasn’t that LTC Ostlund didn’t consider all the risks to making this move, he and his team just felt so strongly about what needed to be done they took personal initiative despite any potential negative career repercussions. When compared to working within a hostile theatre of war, I can easily see why this was basically a no-brainer.
Access Granted!
The result of all this effort and perseverance? A nine month study was just completed to see if allowing access to social networks such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter would affect operational capacity of the US Defense Department’s networks. On the basis of this study, access was granted just weeks ago. Way to go LTC Ostlund, you and your colleagues are an inspiration.
Are you looking for a way to start something interesting in your government, department or business? Why not run it by us? What’s the worst that could happen?
Sustainable engagement
Yesterday I had been asked a question regarding the number of “hits” we received during our last fusedlogicTV broadcast entitled “On The Road.” I was explaining to a group on a conference call that what is much more important to us in terms of measuring success is the overall time people spent watching our show and the overall viewer minutes in general. Further, how that engagement turned into opportunity.
The point is. Which would we rather have. 10,000 hits from 10,000 unique visitors who spend 1 minute watching and do not communicate to us? OR 100 unique visitors who spend on average 20 minutes watching while communicating within our chat room and who call us or email us looking to talk about an opportunity? The ultimate scenario is having both factors be higher and yet still remain manageable. The reality is we were closer to the second part of that example and we’re in the middle of several new business discussions as a result.
We define success via engagement, not hits. This I think is evident because within my personal digital profiles I don’t have the most massive numbers pertaining to raw hits, followers, connections, friends, fans etc. What I can tell you is that from our efforts on that very fun Thursday at the Golden Rice Bowl, we’ve generated several strong opportunities for more business. I believe quality is far more important than quantity.
We are surrounded online by those who would look to drive what I call “false positives.” Essentially big numbers. You can quickly identify them on Twitter and elsewhere. They typically generate lots of “white noise.”
We have found sustainable growth within the quality engagement model. That works for us AND the concept of quality over quantity is certainly not a new concept. Katie Paine has been saying H.I.T.S. – How Idiots Track Success for years. My intent is not to offend my colleagues from yesterday, it’s simply to communicate a different set of priorities. We’ve seen it work for others as well.
In the context of Open Government/Data for example, it’s not how many data sets you can put out the door in a catalogue, it’s how many data sets are being used in applications. A point made just this morning by Andrea DiMaio of Gartner. If you launch Open 311 API’s and no one asks to use or develop with the available data, is there any value to offering it? Was there a strong desire for the information? Luckily in the case of the City of San Francisco there is a slight increase in demand for this data set and the level of development is climbing.
I’m with many when describing the need to have more public organizations open up their data. First, because I believe that many of the organizations we’re talking about are “tired.” This is a way to get cities, provinces and the feds to step forward. However, we must step forward on a basis of quality and sustainability. My hope and my intention in Ottawa while at Canada GovCamp next week is to propose and hopefully lead a break-out session on the topic of “sustainable engagement.”
Do you or does your organization focus on sustainable engagement? Do you think there is enough discussion about Open Government being sustainable?
I’d rather be GovCamping!
This morning I read tweets about Australian Senator Kate Lundy speaking at Gov 2.0 Expo in Washington, DC and couldn’t help but think about the upcoming opportunity in Ottawa next week at Canada GovCamp.
One of the slogans for the event is “I’d rather be GovCamping.” In fact, I’ve just seen the logo that we’ll be using as placeholders on fusedlogic.tv. What’s really going on here of course has little to do with roasting hotdogs or marshmallows over an open fire. Instead, the expectation is to build a national dialogue surrounding Government 2.0.
If we can attract new audience members at the decision-maker level of government on June 1st that’s great. If those new audience members agree to take the Open Government policy discussion forward into their federal boardrooms, provincial legislatures, municipal councils and administrative offices, then we’re winning this challenge of momentum building and that’s even better.
How can you help?
Government 2.0 is about people taking action. Not only elected officials and administration but of course everyday citizens and residents. You and me. To that end, we’d like to encourage you to use the embed code we’ll be providing and insert that in a prominent place on your website or blog. Help spread the word about Government 2.0 in Canada and abroad at a grass roots level. Help others understand that here in Canada, we care about a more efficient, transparent, and collaborative government system. With that in mind, I have another slogan for Canada GovCamp - “Carry the stream…”
Also, don’t forget to register for the live webcast if you’re unable to attend in person.
Greater Edmonton Region Speaks
Thursday was the inaugural launch of fusedlogicTV – “On The Road.” A made for web live TV series we intend to continue and bring to a neighbourhood near you. Contingent on sponsors and interest of course.
I’m not going to run through the entire show play-by-play, but I would like to mention a few key take-aways. Technically, we had very little really go wrong with the day. Oh sure, there were guests I’d never met until seconds before going live, guests without pants, pet cameos, names I got wrong, a lack of food all day and not wanting to chow down on camera means I was operating on fumes. Which probably contributed to situations with panelists where I rudely cut them off in mid-sentence, not intending to be rude, but what are you going to do? All in a days work on fusedlogicTV. One thing is for sure, we had no shortage of great people on the show. I’m so gratified that nearly everyone we asked was able to participate.
Another key moving forward is that we have some fine-tuning to do on our production. I believe we can make programming improvements that will help the next show flow a bit better. We gave everyone at least a half-hour on the show, and it seemed to me with all the panels, there simply wasn’t enough time to cover all that we wanted to. In each and every case, we could have talked for hours. A tribute to the quality of the guests, they were great.
In particular, I want to mention that this had an effect on the time that our Open Government panel had to speak. Compounding the issue was that I elaborated a bit too much and because of some technical things with cell-phones, Skype bandwidth etc, I might have come off a bit rude cutting things off on air. That was totally not my intention when setting the stage for a question or response from our panelists. A panel that collectively could fill days of airtime with their wisdom and knowledge on Open Government was distilled down to a few moments each.
Note to self, “Walter, shut-up and let your guests speak, ya bonehead.” That’s something I’ll definitely work on for next time, less the presenter and more the listener.
I tend to get really passionate about the topics and excited about the guests. Listening more will be part of my personal journey, something my wife will be happy about too.
Laughter
Of course, having said all of the above, if you caught our pro-sports with Allan Watt from the Edmonton Oilers, David Jamieson from the Edmonton Eskimos and the Team1260′s Kyle Chase, there was certainly no shortage of banter, laughter and great discussion going on. Also, Kyle was kind enough to join us at the last minute and I wasn’t aware until literally seconds before going live who he was by face. I said, “Hi, what’s your name?” “Kyle Chase, Team1260.” I said, “Kelly, great to meet you.” Thankfully, there was no shortage of people there to correct me, thanks Allan. I got it right on air, watch the segment and notice Kyle shakes his head up and down as I mention his name.
More laughter was had on Skype with Duleepa (Dups) Wijayawardhana, CEO of local Edmonton start-up Empire Avenue. This is a serious contender and we had lot’s of opportunity to tackle some of the misconceptions that are floating around on Twitter, and elsewhere. During the interview the battery on Dups’ laptop was about to die so he said, “Please excuse me while I move, I didn’t anticipate this and I don’t have any pants on.” Just shortly after that his cat decided to be the star of the show and walked into camera…awesome TV!
Thank-you to our guests
The proof of a great show is in the feedback. Thankfully that has been very positive on many fronts. From in studio guests, panelists, viewers in our chat room, by email and online. I’d like to thank each and everyone one of you for providing feedback. We look at each one as a chance to improve or continue in a positive direction. You make us better. Please continue to speak-up and let us know. Do you see value in a regular video podcast telling the kind of stories we did on Thursday?
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the support from the community. The show is only as good as the people on it and the discussion and we had wonderful people and organizations participate. Here’s the list in no particular order.
| Panelists | Title | Organization |
| Adriel Hampton | Investigator | City of San Francisco, City’s Attorney’s Office |
| Roxanne Carr | Councillor | Strathcona County |
| Don Iveson | Councillor | City of Edmonton |
| Don Westman | Councillor | Fort Saskatchewan |
| Jaqueline Biollo | Councillor | Beaumont |
| Gerry Gabinet | Economic Development Officer | Strathcona County |
| Kent McMullin | Economic Development Officer | Edmonton Economic Development Corporation (EEDC) |
| Dups | CEO | Empire Ave |
| Jerry Aulenbach | Realtor | YEGHelps |
| Alain Saffel | CEO | Page One SEO |
| Felicia Dewar | Blogger | |
| Sue Huff | Trustee | Edmonton School Board |
| Mark Suits | Journalist | Edmonton Journal |
| Greg Gazin | Freelance Tech Journalist | Sun Media |
| Miles Hunt | CEO | Base HD |
| Gord McCallum | CEO | First Foundation |
| Chris Moore | CIO | City of Edmonton |
| Sarah Schacht | CEO | Knowledge is Power, Seattle |
| Allan Watt | VP | Edmonton Oilers |
| Dave Jamieson | Director, Communications | Edmonton Eskimos |
| Gilbert Allan | Local Director/Producer | |
| Franco Imbrogno | Local Actor/Producer/Educator | |
| David Bates | CEO | Tyrant Motion Pictures |
| Don Norris | CEO | Bamboo Strategy |
| Alexis McMillian | CEO | Christie Communications |
| Archie McLean | Journalist | Edmonton Journal |
| Shauna Scott | Freelance TV Director |
More of the great feedback regarding our show includes one viewer’s comments that we had “too many good guests,” they would have liked a shorter show possibly. We’ve also had feedback that we’ve reached new audiences as people who would have never consumed a live video podcast in the past tuned-in or showed up to witness it in person.
Thank-you to our sponsors
As I said live, a show like this cannot go forward without the kind support from the business community we were fortunate to receive. Our lead business sponsor was First Foundation, Gord McCallum and his team including Sheila Hawkins stepped-up and said we want to be a part of this. They put together a great panel including Kelly from CMHC, whom I only met a minute before going on air, and Stephen Lau, a successful Realtor. Great discussion regarding how people should prepare for applying for a mortgage. Watch the high-priced car loan folks, it can prevent you from getting that new home.
The Golden Rice Bowl equals fantastic authentic chinese food. I know this for a fact because after the show all of us were exhausted and Miranda Lau, the owner came by, took one look at us and said, “you guys sit down and eat, I’ve got food coming for you.” and boy was it good. This is not the first meal I’ve had at the Golden Rice Bowl but it was a clear reminder as to why the place is packed much of the time.
What’s next?
Well certainly our archived video will be up as soon as Mr. Evan (I broke my hand) Adnams can work to get the video up on fusedlogic.tv for those who missed the live show to watch. One thing I will caution everyone on. We had lower than preferred upload bandwidth so our playback quality will suffer a bit as a result. Still that’s mostly us being perfectionists.
Certainly, we’re looking for interesting stories to cover and we’ve received many requests to do “free” shows. Unfortunately, there is quite a production that goes on to do this right and with high production values. If you’d like to have a show for your organization, region or cause we’d love to help, we just cannot afford to help everyone for free or at a discount. We are happy to work with you on getting some funding for your project via the sponsorship model, for the the right show that works really well. We’ve generated over 100,000 viewer minutes in 2010 just with the few shows we’ve done, there’s more eyes looking at fusedlogicTV everyday and your great stories are the reason why.
How would you like to use live streaming video?
Microsoft – The Inside Story
Some may recall my unfortunate experience with someone representing the Microsoft brand at Open Gov West. Well today, my perspective of this company has changed. Here’s why. I was contacted by John Weigelt, National Technology Officer (NTO) for Microsoft Canada and we had a very pleasant phone conversation and yes we did briefly talk about the Open Gov West incident, as well as, my subsequent blog posts. What better way to learn more about what Microsoft is really doing than from a top inside source? That was my thought in Seattle, and that didn’t turn out so well. This second opportunity, a vastly different experience altogether. Apparently, John had heard from a trusted source in the Canadian Federal Government about some of our work in the Open Government space and wanted to discuss some things related to an upcoming event he was organizing in Ottawa – Canada Gov Camp. The conversation progressed to a point where I thought it was relevant and appropriate to request an interview for Escape Velocity, my book on Open Government to which John graciously agreed. Coincidently as it turns out, he was presenting at Technocon here in Edmonton so we had a ready-made opportunity for an in-person interview.
What I learned today about Microsoft is fascinating and most certainly refreshing. The general public, including myself (until today) has little to no idea what Microsoft is “really” up to with respect to Open and the rest of their business. I now at least have had a glimpse. Others only have what I would consider to be a stale perception of the brand to some degree, and I was one of those masses. In that context, today was a definite eye-opener on many levels and John admits there’s still much work to do to combat the brand perception issue. I can’t speak for all of the approximately 90,000 Microsoft employees around the world, but if they’re anything like John Weigelt, this company and their many initiatives around the world are in really good hands. Also, I feel no remorse here in saying that you’ll have to wait for my book to get the full story that came out over lunch at Original Joe’s Varsity today. However, I’d like to share one strong Microsoft brand related sentiment here and now.
I left today’s interesting discussion with John thinking, “this is not the same company Bill Gates ran day-to-day when a company I was a part of was a development partner way back when.” That’s neither good nor bad, just different. Evidence of this was present as I opened up my Macbook, put my iPhone down beside it and pulled out my iPad for good measure just for a reaction. John said jokingly with a smile, “don’t worry my wife has the larger one (Macbook) and I’m not allowed to touch it.” John certainly didn’t jump up and down in his chair when I pulled out all that Apple hardware, and that’s all I’ll say about that. From what I heard today, this is also not a company that would be caught up in another anti-trust lawsuit because it’s bent on forcing decisions on the marketplace. Especially in the context of the corporate culture. John allowed me to peer into this culture through his passionate examples, and it’s fascinating stuff. Maybe it’s the flavour of the Kool-Aid? I’m not sure, but something has certainly changed at Microsoft, and in my estimation, for the better. John bestowed on me, several examples of how through his work and that of his 29 other NTO colleagues around the world, are working to enable digital economies, strengthen online and offline communities by helping people, businesses, governments and their agencies export their strengths in ways that may not otherwise transpire. That’s not to say that an “Open Microsoft” is void of internal or external competitiveness brought on by as John describes it, an enterprise-wide “entrepreneurial culture,” because that drive and determination certainly still exists. There resides the big difference between Open government, “a model evolving from what is (in the case of Canada) well over a 140 years of “structure and process” which we both agree has yet to be truly defined and a more transparent and collaborative way of doing business.
So how do you describe this Open Microsoft? John explains today’s Microsoft not as a “tanker” as I first suggested, but rather as a “flotilla” of various sized ships and speed boats representing various products and services which look to collaborate not only internally as a team but externally with communities, organizations and businesses of all types and sizes. There is flexibility within the larger organization that we don’t always see and there in-lies part of the branding challenge.
Challenges like the one I asked John to describe related to the Microsoft brand. That related “perception” baggage that tags along with them as they enter conference rooms. Rooms or in one case, airport security, like the time John laid his Windows 7 bag down to be checked by security only to hear the sneering comment, “Windows 7 huh? You’ve got to be kidding me, what do you work for Microsoft or something?” Little did that airport security agent know that they were talking to someone who works to bridge global and digital communities, businesses and opportunities EVEN IF there isn’t Microsoft products and services as part of the package.
“Open” really is permeating throughout Microsoft on several levels according to John, and that my friends is very good for all of us, yes, even Mac users. A lesson I think Steve Jobs, Apple and Adobe need to pay attention to and learn from as well.
Do you have a Microsoft story you’d like to share? Feel free, John says that it’s important that Microsoft reach out to hold conversations about the brand and this is clear evidence of that. Oh and something else John pointed out to me today, you know they’re serious about conversations because according to a recent survey, Microsoft employees are the most social media savvy in the world. Hmm, imagine that.
