About a month ago I had to take an overnight trip to Ottawa for a meeting. Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) negotiates rates for accommodations and car rentals for federal employees travelling on government business. My meeting was downtown and I wanted to find a good hotel within walking distance. I had the PWGSC accommodation directory open in one browser window, Google Maps in another, and tripadvisor.ca in a third. I was getting a bit frustrated flipping back and forth among them, and posted on Twitter:
@jeffmrose: My kingdom for a mashup of Google Maps, TripAdvisor reviews, and the PWGSC accommodation list. #GoC #w2p
It was an idle thought, a frustration I guessed a lot of public servants might share. A couple of people retweeted me right away, commenting that they thought it was a cool idea, but I wasn't expecting Sean Kibbee to say what he said next:
@SDKibb: @nellleo @RyanAndrosoff @jeffmrose Should be easy enough to do. Where do I get said PW accomodation list?
Then three weeks later:
@SDKibb: @nellleo @RyanAndrosoff @jeffmrose I've databased & Googlemapped PW accomodations data.Waiting for TripAdvisor license key 2 mash it all up.
And a few days ago:
@SDKibb: .@nellleo @RyanAndrosoff @jeffmrose Until Trip Advisor opens their API to me (!) here's a dirty but working version http://t.co/kmaQ8nXW
I don't generally use the term, but I can't help myself: this is pure awesomesauce, with a side of win. I've played around with Sean's app, and it would have saved me time last month even without the TripAdvisor data.
This very cool experience has reinforced a couple of things I tend to take for granted:
1. Express your ideas, even if they seem small, even if you don't have the time to do anything about them yourself. You never know what they will turn into.
2. If you think something is a good idea, say so. I don't know whether Sean would have noticed my tweet or been inclined to act on it if Ryan and Nelly hadn't publicly supported it, but I'm sure it didn't hurt.
3. Social networks are important for ad hoc collaboration. I get why some departments feel the need to block certain sites, but I think it's unfortunate, and I'm glad that the new Guideline for External Use of Web 2.0 encourages departments to trust employees in their online activities as they do in other aspects of their work.
This post doubles as Follow Friday Director's Cut, Vol. 2. Follow Sean on Twitter here. Read Vol. 1 here.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Friday, October 28, 2011
Follow Friday Director's Cut
And now for something completely different... (Actually this can't possibly be an original idea. Can it?)
140 characters sometimes just isn't enough to adequately express why people should care about your Follow Friday tweet. The idea of Follow Friday Director's Cut (or #FFDC) is to give your followers a bit more of an idea of why you follow somebody and why they might want to as well.
I know that part of Follow Friday's charm is its relative ease. I also know that I follow a lot of bloggers, many of whom revel in finding les mots justes, ease be damned. Follow Friday is fundamentally about providing positive feedback, and G215 taught me that feedback is more meaningful when it's specific.
So without further ado...
My first #FFDC is @georgewenzel. George is a federal public servant from Edmonton and a very active member of the #GoC community on Twitter. One of the things I like best about George is that he often posts great links that I don't see anywhere else. The first post of George's that I retweeted was an article about prioritizing fatherhood and rejecting lifestyle inflation. He's a tech geek but he comes up with stuff like 7 High-leverage life skills they should teach in grade school and 10 Things You Should Be Able To Say Before You Die. Interesting, thought-provoking stuff that otherwise doesn't usually show up in my tweet stream, which skews fairly techie. George would also be a good "gateway" follow if you're in the GoC, new to Twitter, and interested in finding other actively engaged public servants.
I'd love for this idea to catch on, and if you think it's cool, I'd appreciate a retweet, or better yet, an #FFDC of your own. I'm planning to do more of them regardless, and any feedback would be welcome!
140 characters sometimes just isn't enough to adequately express why people should care about your Follow Friday tweet. The idea of Follow Friday Director's Cut (or #FFDC) is to give your followers a bit more of an idea of why you follow somebody and why they might want to as well.
I know that part of Follow Friday's charm is its relative ease. I also know that I follow a lot of bloggers, many of whom revel in finding les mots justes, ease be damned. Follow Friday is fundamentally about providing positive feedback, and G215 taught me that feedback is more meaningful when it's specific.
So without further ado...
My first #FFDC is @georgewenzel. George is a federal public servant from Edmonton and a very active member of the #GoC community on Twitter. One of the things I like best about George is that he often posts great links that I don't see anywhere else. The first post of George's that I retweeted was an article about prioritizing fatherhood and rejecting lifestyle inflation. He's a tech geek but he comes up with stuff like 7 High-leverage life skills they should teach in grade school and 10 Things You Should Be Able To Say Before You Die. Interesting, thought-provoking stuff that otherwise doesn't usually show up in my tweet stream, which skews fairly techie. George would also be a good "gateway" follow if you're in the GoC, new to Twitter, and interested in finding other actively engaged public servants.
I'd love for this idea to catch on, and if you think it's cool, I'd appreciate a retweet, or better yet, an #FFDC of your own. I'm planning to do more of them regardless, and any feedback would be welcome!
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