In December 2009, the White House issued its Open Government Directive to all agencies. Collaboration is one of the three pillars of that Directive. A panel of expert speakers will give their insights and lessons learned on developing and implementing collaboration tools to facilitate direct online communications between the agency employees and private citizens. We look forward to your participation in this lively discussion.

FEIAA invites you to "Opening Government From Inside Out - Perspectives on Emerging Collaboration Tools" at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. (enter directly at the Smithsonian Metro stop - Independence Avenue, SW Exit).

Moderator: Karen A. Malkin, Assistant to the Administrator, USDA Farm Service Agency. Karen is responsible for assisting with coordinating open government planning efforts across three agencies.

Speakers: 

Danielle Germain, Director, The Collaboration Project, National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA).  Danielle will share the story of how NAPA came to host this project, what it's scope is, and where it is going.
 
Elizabeth Kittrie, Senior Policy Analyst, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Elizabeth is a leader for the Intergovernmental Ideation Community of Practice. She will describe this group and highlight some of the best practices revealed, as well as developments within HHS.

Tim McCarthy, Program Analyst/Presidential Management Fellow, Office of Strategic Planning and Management, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD is the first federal agency to host an online ideation collaboration tool open to the public and employees alike. Tim will discuss lessons learned and plans for enhancement.

Dan Munz, Public Dialogue Specialist, General Services Administration (GSA). Dan was one of the founders of NAPA's Collaboration Project, and is now at GSA where he helps lead the Agency's implementation of IdeaScale tools for agency-to-public engagement around the Open Government Directive. He will discuss how the tool works, how agencies can use it, and the lessons and best practices that are emerging from this effort.

WHEN:  Monday, March 15th, 12:00 noon to 1:30 PM. Lunch can be purchased beforehand in the USDA cafeteria and brought to the presentation, which is conveniently located in the conference room at the back of the cafeteria.

WHERE: USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C., 3rd corridor, back of the cafeteria. This is best accessible from the Smithsonian Metro (Independence Avenue Exit). This is a federal government office building with significant security screenings in place. Please allow time for entry and to purchase your lunch, if you so choose.

Registration Required: To attend this event,you must register on-line at www.feiaa.org [Click on EVENTS]. If you are an FEIAA member, please login as a member first and then register. This is a NO COST event but PLEASE REGISTER.

Please join us for this very informative developmental and networking opportunity.