Preface: I'm a bit jaded, faded, skeptical...about anyone from the government when they say they're here to help. And what blessed company I have on this sentiment. And this sentiment, such as it is, only thickens when someone from the government says they're here to help...small business.
Recently, though...my world was turned upside down. Or in particularly, this paradigm was turned upside down.
It started as, as all things do now, on twitter. BusinessDotGov is the government's link to the business community. I followed them...but, what did I expect, really, ya know? I mean, seriously Posers....
And then I was notified about a community site that linked business and government. (Whatever. Can anyone say cost overruns...?)
I looked closer. The text of their announcement seemed like they knew of that which they spoke. This is a government agency...?
( What? And this government agency's announcement says they're building an online community, a forum, hosted by a government agency where...conversations could take place and resources would be shared in an easy-to-find/use format. I didn't say transparent. Maybe their announcement did. But, I doubt I could say that even if I'd read it. That would be too much to expect. And, psychologically, maybe too much for me to embrace before I even spoke it. )
And the next announcement asked for my feedback. I read it twice. Yep. They wanted my input.
The site, business.gov, was up for private viewing. It was available to the public. But there was no promotion. And before the organizer promoted it, they wanted my feedback.
I'm such a sucker for someone asking me to help, asking for my opinion. Like a moth to a flame...So, I offered some input.
They thanked me!
Now, I'm confused. The last person from the SBA who interacted with me from my blog insisted I not blog about his comments. And here's someone from this same organization now asking for mine, and thanking me.
And now, Tracy Johnson, Marketing Manager, comes back and points out how they'd handled some of my input. And...you know would I write a blog post?
I'm reeling, now.
And that's a good thing.
Besides following the suggested guidelines for PR with blogs and bloggers, they have a site that offers tips and resources and moderated conversations to help small business. And it's a government agency doing this!
And it's also well-designed. And...its content is...useful. Pertinent. Easy-to-find. And the colors are easy on the eyes. And the navigation is fast, straight-forward.
It's still a work in progress. (Aren't we all?) It's a conversation. It's a community, just getting started. There's tons of content waiting to be added....from us, the business community. And yes, from Tracy and others with her crew.
But, gosh, this is a great start. So....when I thought about the phrases yes, we can and Change, Hope....all that...I never once thought they'd be applied like this...to a government site, by a government agency...for small business. Now, it's not an Obama-thing. Change in this manner, open, transparent, community-driven...is happening all over. I just never thought I'd see it here, in this format, from this agency.
Ms. Johnson. Thank you and all your colleagues for their work in building this site. Thanks for inviting myself and others to participate with you, even in a small way, towards its completion. I look forward to helping as I can.
Comments