Category Archives: Gov/Mil News

Gov/Mil News on GovEvents Blog includes editorials and media pertaining directly to current events happening in Government & Military.

Measuring the Thankfulness of Attendees

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Most events provide some type of feedback mechanism whether it is hard copy surveys left on chairs, post event email surveys, or open ended questions on social media. A post entitled "Do not poke the conference feedback bear if you are not willing to act" made us laugh and then got us thinking. How should we gather feedback to ensure we're able to act on it?

One key to getting effective, actionable feedback is the timing. How do you get people's fresh, raw opinions? Low tech paper surveys may be the quickest way to get an immediate response, but they are not terribly effective. Most people pick them up at the beginning of the session and have either stashed them away or taken notes on them by the end. How else can we gauge response right after an event or session while it is fresh in attendee minds? Continue reading →

It’s official: FOSE is dead — for now

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From time to time GovEvents will come across information we feel our members and audience would benefit from. Here's something we wanted to share:

Originally posted on FedBiz

It's been a long time coming: Murmurings of the demise of government technology conference FOSE are officially confirmed -- just as its owner, 1105 Media, shakes up its leadership.

GovLoop's Chris Dorobek, who is also the former editor of 1105 Media's Federal Computer Week, wrote Monday that the 37-year old event won't happen in 2015. Mark Amtower, a government contracting consultant and host of his own radio show on WFED, posted an obituary to LinkedIn Tuesday: "After a long coma, FOSE has passed away. Efforts to revive the once healthy computer show were, well, unsuccessful."

I wrote a blog in 2011 about the changing FOSE landscape, noting that "what used to be a primary gathering of federal contractors has become dominated by mostly small product manufacturers peddling their latest gadgets and software applications."

So, yes, this has been a long time coming. Continue reading →

Picking Up the Open-Gov Torch

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From time to time GovEvents will come across information we feel our members and audience would benefit from. Here's something we wanted to share:

Originally posted on FCW

In September, the White House announced a series of new initiatives as part of its second Open Government National Action Plan. Among them was a commitment to developing and implementing a governmentwide open-source software policy by the end of 2015.

But two of the leaders of that initiative -- Todd Park and Steven VanRoekel -- left the White House toward the end of the summer, raising questions about whether the program will stay on track.

Former U.S. Chief Technology Officer Park and former U.S. CIO VanRoekel were in their respective positions for more than two years and played a role in the launch of the Digital Government Strategy, the Presidential Innovation Fellows program and the U.S. Digital Service. They also had a hand in writing the second open-government plan, which set a Dec. 31, 2015, target for developing an open-source software policy that, with the Digital Services Playbook, "will support improved access to custom software code developed for the federal government." Continue reading →

DHS Sketches the Tech Future

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From time to time GovEvents will come across information we feel our members and audience would benefit from. Here's something we wanted to share:

Originally posted on FCW

Reginald Brothers will probably be out of his job in another two years or so. But he's making policy plans for the next three decades.

This week, Brothers -- Homeland Security undersecretary for science and technology -- laid out an ambitious, though very general, long-term agenda for DHS's tech-development arm that concentrates on developing a seamless cybersecurity infrastructure, networked threat detection technology, and speedier traveler and cargo security detection capabilities.

Brothers unveiled the goals for the Science and Technology Directorate after consultation with a number of stakeholders. Continue reading →

Ch..Ch…Ch…Changes: Changing Up Your Annual Event

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We're all comfortable with familiarity and routine, but when it comes to annual events, a measured amount of change is a good thing. In an age of decreased travel, training budgets, and time strapped attendees, freshening up your event is not just a good idea, it's necessary to build audience growth and profit.

This article from BizBash provided insight from leading event planners as to when and why to look at changing up annual events. Some comments that jumped out were: Continue reading →