New Federal Communicators Network Coordinator
Hello, I’m Lee Wexel your new FCN Coordinator. I’m one of the Department of Defense NPR representatives and will be serving your coordination needs for the next year. If you’d like to contact me about the FCN Forum, Alert or Calendar, please send me an e-mail to lee.wexel@npr.gov or call (202) 694-0036.
The Federal Communicators Network site at http://www.fcn.gov provides resources, tools, and information to help our members write stories about government reinvention. If you have resources, stories, or time please contact me and we’ll discuss how to best use your talents.
Report on FCN and Plain Language Action Network Workshop on September 25, 1998
Many thanks go to the FCN Steering Committee, two presenters, volunteer support, and NPR staff who made the plain language workshop a success. To stress the importance of plain language, Morley Winograd, the senior advisor to the Vice President and Director on the National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR), opened the workshop with comments that demonstrated how plain language improves government operations. He then presented Wayne Peal with a surprise letter of appreciation from Vice President Gore for his 35 years of service in the Intelligence Community and his leadership as the chair of the FCN. Wayne is retiring from the Central Intelligence Agency, but will continue as a member of FCN and our steering committee.
Annetta Cheek, the NPR Lead on Plain Language, opened the workshop with an overview of plain language concepts and then introduced John Strylowski from the Department of the Interior and Melodee Mercer from the Veterans Benefit Administration as the key presenters for the workshop. John’s interactive presentation highlighted how some of their regulations could be developed in a plain language question and answer approach. Melodee Mercer’s video, presentation, and question and answer period explained how they are using a Focus Group approach to making drastic improvement to mass customer communications. On a rating scale that went up to five, both presenters received highly favorable ratings over 4.25. We had 87 attendees and 62 feedback responses, will be use to improve future events. The NPR list of books and articles that was handed out during the workshop is being posted in the resource section http://www.fcn.gov/resource/index.htm. Keep checking.
Free Press Passes for Calendar Events
We usually get one free press pass for each calendar event listed on the FCN web site http://www.npr.gov/calendar. If you’re interested in attending a conference with a free press pass, contact me. Press passes are given out on a first come first serve basis. Your only obligation is to write a report on the conference to share with FCN members on the net site.
FCN Steering Committee -- Recruiting Members
Contact me if you would like to serve on the FCN Steering Committee. We meet a couple of times per month to discuss upcoming strategies, plans, upcoming events, and coordinating support.
Note from Our Information Technology Team
If you haven’t checked out the Chief Information Officer Council web site, we recommend you take some time and visit it at http://www.cio.gov. This web site helps keep Chief Information Officers informed of upcoming activities, events, and issues facing the information technology community.
Access America Online Magazine
FCN is co-sponsoring a new website with your information technology success stories. Visit often and tell your colleagues and customers about http://www.accessamerica.gov. Submit your story(s) today to Pat Wood at pat.wood@npr.gov or Pat Smith at pat.smith@gsa.gov. If you want to talk about a story before you write it, call Pat at (202) 694-0063.
General Services Administration (GSA) Contract for Creative Services
Communicators, this is your chance to provide feedback to GSA’s Services Acquisition Center on "Marketing, Media, and Public Information Services". Please take a look at the information on this contract at http://pub.fss.gsa.gov/services/market-svcs and provide constructive recommendations to them that will help you obtain the creative services you need. This effort will give government agencies immediate, voluntary, access to a Multiple Award Schedule, which is supported by GSA’s Federal Supply Service. This is their first time to offer creative services on the Schedule.
October 22: Interagency Regulatory Reinvention Forum (Washington, DC)
This forum will be held from 9:00 a.m. until noon at the Ronald Reagan
Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Room 6.4, "Bridge Conference Room"
(Federal Triangle metro stop on Orange/Blue lines. Allow time for building
clearances. The program for the meeting, in cooperation with the National
Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR), will focus on "Plain Language
-What is it?" And, " Plain Language - Results!" All are welcome! For
additional information, please contact the Food and Drug Administration's Audrey Borja on (301) 827-4225 or by e-mail at: aborja@ora.fda.gov.
Don’t Forget the FCN Forum
If you have a story, question or topic that you would like to present to over 600 communicators just click here (http://www.govexec.com/fcn) and then fill in the details. As you can see this is a service provided by the Government Executive magazine. Additionally, please feel free to answer questions that might be posted by clicking on the message.
Hammer Time!
- A little history...the Hammer Award is the Vice President's answer to yesterday's government and its $400 hammer. Fittingly, the award consists of a $6.00 hammer, a ribbon, and a note from Vice President Gore, all in an aluminum frame. NPR has presented more than 1250 Hammer Awards to teams comprised of federal employees, state and local employees, and citizens who are working to build a better government based on four reinvention principles.
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Based on numerous requests for advance information on Hammer Award recipients from the Sept 25, 1998 FCN/Plain Language workshop, this will be a regular column in the Alert.
- Check out the Hammer Award information at: http://www.npr.gov/library/awards/hammer. A searchable database is at: http://www.npr.gov/library/papers/dbase/hsearch.html.
We hope you’ll use the following information to develop stories for your newsletters, news releases, and your web site. To facilitate better coverage of hammer awards we are providing advance information on: Projected date of award, Name of the agency and team, Results, Where the award will be presented, and a Point of Contact (POC) name and number. Please note this information is subject to change. Please call Denise Clyburn of NPR at (202) 632-0150 or email her at denise.clyburn@npr.gov, if you have questions.
October 21
Who: Department of Defense Miniature Microminiature Repair and Module Test and Repair
Results: This reinvented process allows seamen and civilians to repair electronic modules and circuit card assemblies at the lowest operating levels. Performing repairs in the field improves readiness and reduces operating costs.
POC: Thomas Ingram (703) 607-2447 ingram-tom@hq.navsea.navy.mil
Lois Douglas (703) 607-9708 or douglasl@ousdc.osd.mil
Where: Crystal City, VA
Presenter: Vice Admiral Amerault
October 23
Who: Health and Human Services/Federal Drug Administration New England District Biotechnology Team
Results: This team replaced some inspections and reviews with improved industry Good Manufacturing Practices education and improved investigation technologies.
POC: Richard H. Penta (781) 279-1675 ext. 126
Audrey Borja 301-827-4225 or aborja@ora.fda.gov
Where: Cambridge, MA
Presenter: Betsy Adams, FDA
October 24
Who: Six-way Member Team -- USDA Forest Service, Citizens for the Gorge Discovery Center, Wasco County, Grayco Resources, Wasco County Historical Museum, and Columbia River Gorge Commission
Results: This partnership dramatically increased the size of a major regional attraction, reduced construction costs, and with privatization eliminated an estimated $1 million in annual operating and maintenance costs.
POC: Mike Ferris (541) 386-2333 mferris/r6pnw,crgnsa@fs.fed.us
Gypsy Banks (202) 720-8453 Gypsy_Banks@wdc.fsa.usda.gov
Where: The Dalles, OR
Presenter: Robert Williams
October 26
Who: Department of Energy -- The Power Systems Modernization (PSM) Project Team
Results: The Power Systems Modernization team reduced overall costs of upgrading Sandia National Laboratory electrical transmission and distribution systems which allowed 20% more improvements. The additional improvements returned to this project enhance safety, reliability and reduce long term operation and maintenance costs.
POC: Milton West (505) 845-4452 mwest@doeal.gov
Marge Gildenhorn (202) 586-4699 or marjorie.gilenhorn@hq.doe.gov
Where: Albuquerque, NM
Presenter: To be announced
October 26
Who: Lightening Bolt #9 Virtual Classroom Integrated Product Team (IPT)
Results: This team gave Air Force acquisition workers access to current acquisition information and training through the Internet. This improves training availability, access and exchange of information, timeliness of instruction, overall workforce proficiency and reduces projected travel costs by $1.6 million. This reinvention effort shows how acquisition reform issues can be taught through the Internet.
POC: Randy Adkins (937) 656-3675 or radkins@wpgate1.wpafb.af.mil
Lois Douglas (703) 607-9708 or douglasl@ousdc.osd.mil
Where: Wright-Patterson AFB, OH
Presenter: To be announced
October 28
Who: Department of Defense - Army Transition Assistance Management Program (TAMP)
Results: Through business process reengineering and empowering TAMP Team personnel to update retirement data, the team reduced processing time by 36 days. Soldiers who are transitioning out of the military receive benefits faster and processing cost are reduced $145 thousand annually.
POC: Michael H. Howell
Lois Douglas (703) 607-9708 or douglasl@ousdc.osd.mil
Where: Louis, MO
Presenter: To be announced
October 29
Who: Health and Human Service/Indian Health Services & Department of Defense TRANSAM Team
Results: $20 million worth of excess military medical supplies and equipment were distributed to more than 200 Indian Health locations through this joint team effort.
POC: HHS Ed Sullivan (202) 690-6559
HHS/HIS Hardy Stone (301) 443-1095
DoD -- Lois Douglas (703) 607-9708 or douglasl@ousdc.osd.mil
Where: Ft. Worth, TX
Presenter: To be announced
To subscribe to the ALERT, send an e-mail to "listproc@lucky.fed.gov"; in the body of the message, type "SUBSCRIBE COMNET-L" followed by your FIRSTNAME LASTNAME. For further information on items mentioned in the ALERT, contact: FCN, National Partnership for Reinventing Government, 750-17th Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20006. FCN Coordinator: Lee A. Wexel e-mail: lee.wexel@npr.gov Tel: (202) 694-0036 FAX: (202) 632-0390
