Tag Archives: Government Resources

Rebuilding Trust in Government Through Service

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A survey released in April 2021 showed only 24 percent of the American public had trust in the Federal Government. This was up from 21 percent in 2020 but still near a historic low. Knowing this reality, the Biden Administration made improving customer service a cornerstone of the President's Management Agenda (PMA) Vision with a goal of "delivering excellent, equitable, and secure Federal services and customer experience." This was followed by the Executive Order, Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government, directing government leaders to account for the experiences of the public in seeking government services.

This Executive Order includes 36 customer experience (CX) improvement commitments across 17 Federal agencies, all of which aim to improve people's lives and the delivery of Government services. Services supporting the following focus areas were called out for immediate attention and improvement: Continue reading →

Events Go or No Go? Maybe Both?

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I recently had the pleasure of participating in a virtual panel discussion organized by Government Marketing University titled, "Fusing Government and Industry: Event Go or No Go." The webinar looked at the current reality of in-person event planning and attendance using research findings as well as anecdotal observations and experiences.

Market Connections conducted a survey of government event attendees in January to get a pulse on their appetite for attending face-to-face (F2F) events. The findings of this research echoed the responses we received to our most recent survey. People are slowly but surely reintroducing in-person events into their schedules and planning. The latest survey found 40% of respondents plan to attend at least one in-person event in 2022. This is a considerable jump from the 25% that reported attending a 2021 event. Continue reading →

Embracing a Focus on Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace

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The past two years have included decades worth of seminal societal moments. We've navigated the health crisis of a pandemic while working and socializing in completely new ways. We've seen a racial reckoning, an insurrection, and several major international conflicts over sovereignty. Luckily, through all of this upheaval, we've also seen an unprecedented focus on mental health.

This understanding of the importance of mental health has made its way into the workplace, with many organizations implementing new and improved mental health support for employees. These efforts include more widely publicizing mental health services available via employee assistance programs, building in mental health breaks and activities, as well as updating wellness programs to focus on the specific mental and physical health needs, we have today. Continue reading →

Event Organizers Must Plan for 2022 Normal, Not 2019 Normal

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While COVID-19 cases continue to decline, and states and localities start dropping mask and vaccine mandates it's easy to get our hopes up for a return to "normal." But we've seen this "movie" and now know how quickly things can spike back up to levels impacting public health. In reality, we don't know what normal really is. For the near future, we should expect to see many pandemic precautions remain in place in some form for in-person events for the foreseeable future. This includes sanitization, spacing, masks, and vaccine mandates.

Experience has shown us that careful planning can lead to safe events. The first known omicron case in the U.S. was found in a person that had attended a 53,000-person anime convention in New York. The initial fear was that the event would reveal itself to be a super spreader. The reality showed that was not the case. A CDC study credited good air filtration, widespread vaccination and indoor masking. Events should look to scale these types of efforts to keep attendees healthy even in less contagious environments. Continue reading →

Recognizing and Celebrating Women in Technology

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March is Women's History Month, a time to reflect on the contributions women have made to history, culture, and society. The technology industry is one area where the contribution of women has been greatly under-reported. In fact, some of the innovations that are the cornerstone of today's tech were developed by women. Continue reading →