Column: A Personal Story of Renewal

Below you will find the audio/slide capture of a presentation I did in Vancouver at the Governexx Conference and again in Ottawa at PWGSC's National Youth Network Annual Forum. First I want to thank both groups for the invitation, it is always a pleasure to meet other public servants.

The presentation below is just over twenty (20) minutes and chronicles my personal story of renewal, explaining the challenges I faced when I entered, how I almost left the public service after one year, my decision to get more involved in my organization and in public service renewal more generally, and finally my call to action directed at others (leveraging that personal story), because "we" can do so much more than "me" ever could.

Feel free to watch the embedded video below, or grab it at the source. My apologies about the poor quality of the audio/video, but it is the best I have.

Warning: Viewer discretion is advised.

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Update: Case Study Jam: What the Doers are Doing

Hey Everybody,

I just wanted to drop you all a quick note regarding a great opportunity for those of you interested in social media in Ottawa. On Thursday November 19th at 6pm the first Case Study Jam will take place at La Roma Restaurant (430 Preston).

[Proactive Disclosure: I am a very small part, of a great team heading up the Case Study Jam.]

The Jam is a free event inspired in part by a session held at ChangeCamp Ottawa by my friend and all around good guy Joe Boughner. Joe is the man behind the Association of Canadian Financial Officers (ACFO) use of social media to communicate more effectively with its members. You may recall that we did an interview with Joe about the unions efforts back in January.


So what is a Case Study Jam?

Case Study Jam is a place for communications practitioners to come together and share their stories – successes and failures. How are on-the-ground, front-line folks using social media and, more importantly, how are they integrating these tools into overall communications strategies and practices?

You can find more information about the Jam here.

Come'on out to the Jam and find out what the doers are doing.

Column: The Three Laws of Open Public Servants

1. If you don't act, you don't exist
2. If you don't share, you can't engage
3. If you can't act or share, you can't empower

Act, share and empower. That's what we want, and that is what public service renewal is at it's core.


(Note: This post was prompted by some great work done by David Eaves, namely the three laws of open government piece.)