Public service renewal: the weekly round up

July 25 - 29, 2011

Heya!

Welcome back.

It's summer and with long weekends and plenty of off-screen reading to do, this week, WATCH THIS if nothing else: What motivates us, anyway?

Cuts and criticism:

• In New Brunswick, more than 150 term positions are being cut.
• Apparently, one staffer was disciplined for posting this video criticizing the close of the search and rescue centre in Halifax.
• Feds silence scientist over salmon study.

Cool stuff happening in the U.S.

• The White House continues engaging by trying something new on its social networks. Starting last week, senior staff at the White House will have regular "Office Hours" to answer citizen questions on a host of issues and topics. Interested? Use the hashtag #WHChat, and follow @WhiteHouse for the latest updates.
• Lose lips sink ... organized crime syndicates?? The National Security Agency will use social media and improved data sharing as part of an enhanced strategy to fight organized crime in the United States and abroad.
• Last month, the U.S. General Services Administration completed the transition of its employees to Google’s cloud-based email and collaboration applications

And here at home:

• To mark its 100th anniversary, Parks Canada launched its first mobile phone application, Heritage Gourmet, which offers more than 70 recipes tied to the country’s historical landmarks, some dating back to the 18th century. Yum, there's a recipe for Sourdough Flapjacks!!
• If you want to learn how Canadians are communicating and interacting online, look no further than social networking sites. According to Ipsos’ most recent Canadian Interactive Reid Report special feature on Social Networking, one-half of all Canadians (50%) and the majority of online Canadians (60%) now have a social networking profile.

Misc.:

• Google+ took only 24 days to reach 20 million users but their decision to delete accounts without real names attached has caused anger.
• What is Program Evaluation and Does it Really Matter?
• How to capture Twitter conversations

This post has been a collaborative effort from Lee-Anne Peluk and Nicholas Charney.

You can check out Lee-Anne's blog "In the Shuffle" at www.leeannepeluk.wordpress.com







Originally published by Nick Charney at cpsrenewal.casubscribe/connect