[Update on Bev from Feb. 10, 2009 is here.]
Bev Godwin says the goal of the award-winning USA.gov is to make easy the accessing of U.S. government information and services on the Web. Bev's title is Director, USA.gov and Web Best Practices.
Bev directs the "content, information architecture, look and feel, and usability" of the site, the U.S. government's official Web portal. "I also direct our Web Best Practices team, which helps improve all U.S. government Web sites by providing tools such as Webcontent.gov, training via Web Manager University, and a government Web content manager listserv," she said.
Bev also manages a new blog called Gov Gab, a fun blog about U.S. government information:
What is the history of USA.gov, and what are its goals?
USA.gov, the official web portal of the U.S. government, was launched in September 2000, under the name FirstGov.gov. We changed the name to USA.gov in January 2007. USA.gov's goal is to make it easy for the public to get U.S. government information and services on the web.
We must be doing something right. USA.gov had 99 million visits in 2007. People come to USA.gov when they don't know where in government to start, or they've looked and looked and cannot find what they want. Or, they know USA.gov and know how easy it is to find government information and services.
USA.gov has also won over 100 awards and recognition, including: Innovations in American Government Award, Time's 25 Sites We Can't Live Without, Brown University's Rating of #1 Federal Site for the fourth year, and the President's Quality Award. You can view USA.gov's awards and recognition here.
What is the history of Gov Gab? What do you seek to accomplish with it?
We launched Gov Gab in September 2007. We launched the Gov Gab blog for three reasons:
1) To reach new audiences. There's a lot of interesting, really helpful government information out there that people just don't know about. The blog is a chance to bring it to peoople's attention in a fun, interactive way.
2) To put a human face on government by writing in the more personal, less formal style of a blog. We hope to dispel some myths about the impersonal nature of the federal government.
3) To open up more conversation between the government and the public. To join the conversation, readers are able to comment on entries and share bookmarks through social networking sites.
Tell me a little about the blog team. And: Do any of these people actually have homes? (I have seen their photos.)
The Gov Gab bloggers are staffers at the Federal Citizen Information Center, a part of the U.S. General Service Administration's Office of Citizen Services. They are all experts in government information as part of their jobs. They work on USA.gov, 1 (800) FED-INFO, or consumer publications from Pueblo, Colorado.
They are all fabulous writers who are passionate about sharing information they know with the public. The Gov Gab bloggers have diverse interests and points of view, and they want to share how they use government resources to make their daily lives better, easier, more interesting, and more fun. And, yes, contrary to popular myth that government workers are so committed to public service that they live in the office, our bloggers all have homes in areas surrounding Washington, D.C. Some rent apartments and some live in single family homes. You can learn more about our bloggers from our Meet the Bloggers page.
In your opinion: Will we see more federal government blogs in the future? What do you see as the benefits of blogging, for federal agencies/departments? Can government ever get blogging?
Government is already getting blogging and yes, we will see more government blogs in the future. There are 16 active federal agency blogs [listed here] and another five that were active for a limited time for specific purposes. In addition to the federal agencies, there are many examples of blogs by elected officials at all levels of government. [Bev pointed to this report on government blogging, which Municipalist has profiled here.] The benefits of blogging to government are the same as the reasons we started GovGab: 1) reach new audiences, 2) put a human face on government, and 3) open up more conversation between government and the public.
And finally: When I searched for Gov Gab, Google asked me if I meant “Gov ab.” Would you read a blog called “Gov ab”? I wouldn’t. That’s for sure.
No, I wouldn't, but I'd certainly read Gov Gab ... So click to http://www.govgab.gov and enjoy. Our bloggers post every day Monday through Friday, so you can read a new post every week day.
Extra credit: Some very powerful people read Municipalist, as you can imagine. When they see our little Q & A, they will likely rush to call you up, interview you for a big think piece piece on the vastly hip trend of government blogging, and put you on the cover of Time, or some other washed-up, old media bag of wind that meant something back in 1978. So, then naturally, my question: Are you ready for such attention and celebrity? Is this town ready?
We welcome such attention. We have done several print, radio, and TV interviews on Gov Gab and on government blogging. Bring it on.
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