Archive for the ‘community’ Category
Godspeed Valerie Wallick — a public servant who was dedicated to improvement
The government IT community this week lost one of the greats: Valerie Wallick.
I don’t have many details, but she passed away this week after a battle with cancer. Wallick worked at the Department of Navy and on the Information Technology Resources Board, which was a organization of feds who worked together on improving government performance. They worked behind the scenes — and were interested in making things better. And it is good to remember how long performance has been a challenge for government — this isn’t a new challenge. (Want an interesting read — ITRB’s report, Project Management for Mission Critical Systems . It could have been written today but it is more than a decade old.)
Wallick also served as a senior senior adviser to the John Koskinen, the chairman of the President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion… and she worked at SAIC for a period after retiring from government.
I will post additional details as I get them. If you get details before I do, pass then along and we will make sure people hear about them.
Wallick was a remarkable and dedicated public servant who worked tireless for better government and for the American people. I know you will join me in honoring her, wishing her godspeed, and offering peace to her family and friends.
Reminder — help returning warfighters at Operation Jump Start on Tuesday
My good friend, Bob Brewin from Government Executive’s NextGov, wrote in his most recent column — and it reminds me to remind everybody — that this coming Tuesday is Operation Jump Start 2009. I mentioned the event back in December, but it is easy to forget. Now is your chance. This is an absolutely wonderful program that helps warfighters returning from Iraq and Afghanistan as they “jump start” their post-military careers.
I have specific information after the break about how you can help. The event is Tuesday, Jan. 27 at the Army Navy Club in Arlington, VA. You can get all the information after the break… and you can register here… And although the early information says that registration is closed — my friend Ed Meagher tells me that you can go ahead and register — and bring your donations. After the break, I also have information on all the ways you can help.
And an offer — if you are somehow not able to make the event, get in touch with me — cdorobek at chrisdorobek.com — and we’ll figure out a way to make it happen. If you are able to drop stuff at Federal News Radio 1500 AM in NW DC, I’ll make sure it gets there. It is a very worthy cause.
Get all the information… after the break.
Talking to my replacement — FCW editor Rapp on Federal News Radio 1500 AM Tuesday
David Rapp
Editor’s note: Find a link to our conversation with Rapp on Federal News Radio 1500 AM’s Daily Debrief with Chris Dorobek and Amy Morris.
I told you last year that the 1105 Government Information Group hired a new editor for Federal Computer Week — the person who effectively replaces me. David Rapp officially joined the organization last week, and… he’s diving in this week.
Before the holidays, I had the chance to sit down with Rapp over tea (I’m not a coffee guy)… and there is no doubt he is a bright guy. And he is probably very well suited for this post — probably better than I was, truth be told. (I don’t do false modesty — really!) Having left Congressional Quarterly in 2007 to a dot-com, he understands the challenges that all print organizations face as they struggle to deal with the new media world.
So on Tuesday, you’ll get to meet him for yourself — at least on the radio. I have asked him to be on Federal News Radio 1500 AM’s Daily Debrief with Chris Dorobek and Amy Morris… and we’ll talk to him Tuesday afternoon.
We’re not going to ask him all sorts of very specific questions — he has only been with the organization for several days, after all. This will be something of an introduction. That being said, I have asked him to talk about why he decided to take this post… what are some of the challenges thatFCW and its sister publications face — and what are some of the advantages that it has… and we’ll talk a bit about the challenges of the print world as it seems to get buffeted by the online world. And what the role of publications is these days.
In the end, I’m particularly pleased that 1105 gave made him editorial director, overseeing all of 1105 GovInfo’s editorial products — FCW, GCN, Washington Technology, Government Health IT, and Defense Systems. When the merger happened some two years ago, I wrote that I thought there was a real opportunity to tell more stories, not fewer. When I sat down with him, I told him I thought that most people — most readers — don’t believe that statement to be true. In fact, since leaving 1105GovInfo , the question I’ve been asked most often is, ‘When are they going to close one (or more) of the publications?’ The question still makes me sad because, in the end, I think the government community is better served with multiple outlets — all kinds of media — yes, including radio — featuring all kinds of voices and covering stories for many different angles. I hope they are able to make the justifications — the editorial justifications for multiple publications… and the economic justification for multiple publications. The more voices makes for a better community — and a more vibrant community.
Back in August, FCW made my departure the Buzz of the Week. (Yes, I’m always thrilled to see Dorobek and Doan in the same headline.)… After the break, you can read FCW’s “Buzz of the Week” from its most recent issue about Rapp written by 1105 GovInfo’s President Anne Armstrong.
Read the rest of this entry »
Obit: Christina Nelson, formerly of the Digital Government Institute
Our condolences to the family of Christina Nelson, who passed away late last week. Many remember Nelson because led the Digital Government Institute, which she founded in 1998 and sponsored — well, sponsors — a number of conferences focused on the government market. In 2006, she sold the Digital Government Institute to MikeSmoyer , who had led 1105 Government Information Group’s events team for several years. It had been quietly known that Nelson was battling cancer. She moved toAsheville, where she died last week.
Here is the obit from the Asheville Citizen-Times:
Anna Christina Nelson
Asheville – Anna Christina Nelson, an Asheville resident, died on Monday, November 10, 2008, at the Solace Hospice Center after a return of cancer which she had proudly beaten twice before in her life. She was predeceased by her beloved husband of 25 years, Mat, in 1999. A native of Washington, D.C., she founded, managed and sold a successful educational conference business in that city, the Digital Government Institute. She moved toAsheville in 2006, and worked as a consultant and advocate for sustainability issues about which she was most passionate. There will be a celebration of her life at 5 p.m. Monday, November 17, in the fifth floor penthouse of the Grove Arcade, 1 Page Avenue, inAsheville . Memorial contributions are suggested for animal rescue, about which she was also most concerned; to hospice work, and to Trinity Episcopal Church,Asheville.
Published: 2008-11-14
Hat tip to Anne Armstrong of the 1105 Government Information Group for giving me a heads up.
The run of the geeks — their term, not mine
This weekend was the inaugural Run! Geek! Run! 8K road race along the Potomac River here in DC. More than 600 runners participated and proceeds benefited the Equal Footing Foundation, a nonprofit focused on youth development and education.
For those keeping score…
IBM’s Anne Altman was one of the runners. Congratulations to her… and the other 600.
The event was organized by Welz & Weisel Communications.
Get more details… more photos… after the break.
Read the rest of this entry »
Dee Lee wins ACT/IAC’s prestigious ACT/IAC Mendenhall award
The 2008 Mendenhall award -- all we are missing is... Dee Lee
One of the big parts of the ACT/IAC’s annual Executive Leadership Conference is the awarding of the annual Janice K. Mendenhall Spirit of Leadership Award, the highest tribute that ACT/IAC can bestow on a member of the government IT community.
The actual award was a funny experience. ACT/IAC had given out all of its awards — read all the winners after the break — and the Mendenhall award is the big one of the evening. The late Mendenhall was a long-time GSA leader. I knew her in passing, but she is still well respected — even years later. And the Mendenhall award is one of the highlights of the Executive Leadership Conference each year. And last year’s winner, Ellen Glover, had very nice words to say about Lee.
And when they called Lee to the stage, everybody was on their feet giving a standing ovation. Fortunately or unfortunately, Lee didn’t know she was the winner, so she had gone to her room to work on a presentation she was giving later on in the week.
They ended up giving out the award to Lee on Tuesday morning.
The photo is of the previous Mendenhall award winners who were at ELC holding Lee’s award.
The full list of Mendenhall award winners are:
Previous winners have included:
- Ellen Glover (2007)
- Renato (Renny) A. DiPentima (2006)
- Marcella Banks (2005)
- Kevin Carroll (2004)
- Howard Ady (2003)
- Sandra Bates (2002)
- Ginny McCormick (2001)
Earlier this eyar at FCW’s 2008 Federal 100 Awards Gala, we gave Lee a special recognition for her outstanding service.
Lee is beyond well respected having served a distinguished government career. After the break, I will post the full ACT/IAC release, but… soon after Lee retired, I wrote FCW’s editorial praising Lee.
Lee is one of those rare people who can build consensus and be forceful at the same time. She listens, yet she manages to keep the ball moving down the field. She has always looked out for what was best for the agency, the government and the citizens of the country for whom she worked.
After that, I got a note from another well-respected fed who has worked in government procurement:
I couldn’t agree more. She is, in short, simply remarkable.
Get the list of the other ACT/IAC ELC award winners after the break…
Read the rest of this entry »
Mintz’s daughter on The Daily Show
Mintz
Transportation Department CIO Dan Mintz’s daughter, Miriam, is an actress in New York. And this political season, she got a big break — to play an undecided voter on Comedy Central’s fake news program The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Yes — one of those people who are undecided.
Miriam Mintz on The Daily Show
Daily Show “correspondents” Samantha Bee and Jason Jones brought together a focus group to try and figure out what eight undecided voters are waiting to hear. Remember — she’s acting! (More information on Miriam Mintz on her Web site: www.miriammintz.com. Being a good and proud father, Dan Mintz let me know that she is going to be in a Shakespeare play next month in Flushing, and that Miriam works at Lure Fish Bar restaurant in SoHo.
Happy birthday to… Karen Evans
Dorobek and Evans
A very happy birthday to… none other then Karen Evans, administrator of the Office of Electronic Government and Information Technology (IT) at the Office of Management and Budget.
Evans has been enormously influential over the years — particularly in this role, which services as the de factor government CIO. And, agree or disagree with her — and I have done both — and while even she acknowledges that she can be a difficult boss sometimes. All of that aside, there is no doubt that she is passionate and dedicated to government service and agency missions. And, as I have grown to know her better personally, she is a very honest and honorable person.
Unfortunately, the biggest event on this date in history… well, this event strikes just a bit too close to home these days — it is the stock market crash of 1929. Any idea the percentage that the market dropped on that day? I’ll give you part of the answer — it dropped some 38 points.
Here is the write-up from the public radio’s Writer’s Almanac…
Black Tuesday was the beginning of the Great Depression. By 1932, more than 100,000 businesses had failed and 13 million people had lost their jobs.
This from Wikipedia:
Black Tuesday was a day of chaos. Forced to liquidate their stocks because of margin calls, overextended investors flooded the exchange with sell orders. The glamour stocks of the age saw their values plummet. Across the two days, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 23%.
By the end of the week of November 11, the index stood at 228, a cumulative drop of 40 percent from the September high. The markets rallied in succeeding months but it would be a false recovery that led unsuspecting investors into the worst economic crisis of modern times. The Dow Jones Industrial Average would lose 89% of its value before finally bottoming out in July 1932.
Want to find out more — which Simpsons star was born today… which senator was born today… and earlier we told you about the birthday of one of Charlie’s Angels — another “Angel” shares Evans’ birthday today… Find out more after the break…
Happy birthday to… Bruce McConnell
Bruce McConnell
A very happy birthday to Bruce McConnell, the former information technology chief at the Office of Management and Budget who went on to be the founder and head of McConnell International and Government Futures, which he recently sold.
Some of the events and birthdays on this date:
I’m watching NBC’s Meet the Press and Tom Brokaw, who is interviewing Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), just noted that this is the anniversary that McCain was shot down. He was flying his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam, when his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile over Hanoi. McCain fractured both arms and a leg, and nearly drowned when he parachuted into Truc Bach Lake.[33] Some North Vietnamese pulled him ashore, then others crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him. McCain was then transported to Hanoi’s main Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed the “Hanoi Hilton.”
(A total aside, but… one of the analysts on Meet the Press this morning is Charlie Cook, who watches congressional races carefully in his Cook Political Report. Meet the Press is coming from Iowa today, but… he is going to be at IAC’s ELC 2008 tonight. Let’s hope there are no flight delays.)
On the other side, it’s the birthday of Sen. Hillary Clinton. (More over on the public radio’s Writer’s Almanac.)
It is the birthday of Mahalia Jackson, the American known as the queen of gospel singing, was born. Following her death on Jan. 27, 1972, her obituary appeared in The New York Times.
Big events on this date:
1774 The First Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia.
1825 The Erie Canal opened, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River in upstate New York. Again, from public radio’s Writer’s Almanac:
1881 The gunfight at the OK Corral took place in Tombstone, Ariz., as Wyatt Earp, his two brothers and “Doc” Holliday confronted Ike Clanton’s gang. Three members of Clanton’s gang were killed; Earp’s brothers were wounded.
More events and birthdays after the break, including one of Charlie’s Angles and a country music star.
Celebrating a happy new (fiscal) year with the next generation
Last night, I spent some time with the AFCEA Bethesda’s Young AFCEANs at their third annual Fiscal New Year party — held this year at Current — a hip club on Connecticut Avenue in DC.
Some photos from the festivities, thanks to Tchad Moore of Blackstone Technology Group.
More after the break.
DorobekInsider 