About 36 hours ago, I was interviewed by community radio talk show host Ron Martino, representing The Long View, a sustainable development program in affiliation with WUML, a community FM station housed at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
The subject of my 20-minute interview was new media and the public forum, which you can listen to at this link. (The program begins two minutes in.)
Armed with a master’s in public administration and experienced with nearly three years as both a state and local government manager, I speak the language of government. While I know and respect many social media consultants who work with government clients, I observe their frustration with bureaucratic constraints.
Enter me. Earlier this week, I filed a business certificate to do business as Ari Herzog & Associates, advising business and government leaders on the benefits of and guiding the implementation of social networking, interactive marketing, and online branding.
One of the social networks that I find a constant source of inspiration and a launching pad for amazing partnerships is Govloop.
In recent months, Govloop dialogues led to Skype conversations with San Francisco city attorney investigator Adriel Hampton, coffee talk with Department of Defense contractor Maxine Teller, and numerous online and telephone chats with USDA Graduate School business development manager Andrew Krzmarzick.
I am pleased to share with you that Andrew and I will meet each other in person for the first time at the end of March, when we co-present a workshop, “Measuring The Impact Of Social Media And Determining Next Steps,” at the Advanced Learning Institute’s “Social Media for Government” conference in Washington, D.C.
If you are interested in hearing Andrew and I speak on how the President’s Management Agenda ought to be applied to social media, our workshop (and the rest of the two-day conference) is a must-attend event.
Since I am participating in the conference, I am able to save you $200 off the entrance cost with the code “SPK.”
If you work for a government institution or are affiliated with the public sphere, I’d enjoy talking to you. Feel free to email me.
Also, you may enjoy reading Mark Drapeau’s inspiring study of how social media is transforming government in advance of President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration next week.
Have a great weekend! I’m flying to Denver in the morning, and I’ll be back on the blogosphere late Monday night interviewing Chris Rasmussen, a social software knowledge manager with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Chris will share his thoughts on best practices in social media.
Photo credit: World Resources Institute @ Flickr
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Great news, Ari! I think you are the kind of person Gov 2.0 needs – someone grounded in both traditional government modes and in new media and open source. You will be a great translator between the two. I hope to talk again soon.
Wikipedia has gotten on the bandwagon with an article on Government 2.0.
And though it probably doesn’t actually fit there, one of the external links is absolutely fascinating: a list of projects around the world of attempts to substantially transform government into a Web 2.0 democracy.
Agree with Adriel, it’s good to see local governments getting more involved in the social media scene – it’s long overdue, particularly for such a people-facing entity.
Of course, we’re a long way off total acceptance and engagement, but it’s a good start.
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Aww, thanks for the pep talk, Adriel! I was away over the weekend so getting caught up on blog comments I hadn’t replied to! You’re too kind!
Thanks for the link, Steven.
A good start is better than no start, Danny! Will your agency help government leaders if they seek people relations advice?
Funny you mention that, Ari – although slightly different, I’m currently actively engaging local and national Chambers of Commerce to ensure they’re in the position to advice SMB’s on social media and community-building. It seems to be a very under-developed market at the minute.
And, of course, I’ll (very) rarely say “No” to new clients
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