All about sequestration

The ugly comes after sequestration, after March 27 we will need a new continuing resolution.

Courtesy of GovLoop:
DoD program managers can talk sequestration with contractors
Sequestration affecting congressional hiring, so at least they are feeling some of the pain on Capitol Hill.

Sequestration treadmill picking up steam across DoD

Are contractors exaggerating sequestration impact?

The entire sequestration process is completely opaque.

Of course congress could simply repeal the Budget Act of 2011, pass a new continuing resolution and be done with it.

Social Media and the Italian election

The Guardian has a tremendous article about How Beppe Grillo's social media politics took Italy by storm. More accurately, it is the story about how Grillo used social media to spread his message of radical populism. Grillo's message resonated with an electorate who feels it has been betrayed by traditional leaders, both political and media. Therefore, social media was the logical tool for spreading Grillo's message.

Head on the internet, and feet on the ground, as Grillo himself puts it.

So what does this mean for the developer of software tools for the federal market? Presumably you have a Facebook page, or a Google Plus page, or at least a Twitter account. Wherever you have established your online presence, you have identified your community. So, when you have an event, invite your followers.

Realistically you can't hold a rally and have thousands of people cheering for your software tools, or web widgets. But you can generate a steady flow of traffic to your booth at the trade show and/or guarantee a full room when you present at a conference or the monthly meeting of a user group. For purposes of building a prosperous company, that is sufficient.

Pre-fab online presence

Have you noticed those manipulative Facebook posts, "like" if you hate cancer and so forth? It seems that the more "likes" your posts receive, the higher your EdgeRank. What is EdgeRank you ask?

EdgeRank is an algorithm developed by Facebook to govern what is displayed—and how high—on the News Feed.

Just because someone has "friended" you, it does not follow that you will get to see their posts. Facebook has a complicated algorithim that decides what goes into your feed. You don't see all the material that has been posted by your friends and the pages you have "liked." Facebook, not you, decides what you really like.

So, if you want to build a page with a very high EdgeRank, you post manipulative posts asking readers to support a cure for cancer.

All about those Facebook "like" scam posts

Businesses worldwide are trying to figure out how to best utilise platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus (haha, na I’m just kidding about Google Plus). They know that EdgeRank, likes, brand exposure and followers are important, even if they don’t know exactly why or what to do with it.

So a social media consultant manufactures a page with a high edgerank and sells it to some business who wants a page with high EdgeRank, but does not know how to build it. You know what would be cheaper and more effective than buying a pre-fab fan page from a social media consultant? Building a page on Facebook, putting interesting content on that page, and then buying advertising from Facebook to generate traffic, and ultimately EdgeRank. Sometimes paying the Facebook toll is the superior solution.

NIST issues RIF for Cybersecurity Framework

NIST has issued a RIF for Cybersecurity Framework (PDF), which will soon be published in the Federal Register. The Information Technology Laboratory of NIST has created a web site for Cybersecurity Framework.

Interested parties need to study the Request for Information, and make whatever response they deem appropriate. Those with questions and concerns should contact  cyberframework@nist.gov.

Most of us can content ourselves with watching the Cybersecurity Framework website. I am hoping to attend the local events.

The Cybersecurity Framework

I suggest that everyone who is interested read the Executive Order -- Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity before you read the news coverage. It is not long and is reasonably clear.

Clearly, much depends upon how this is implemented. I would encourage all those who are interested to participate in the process. Now is the time to speak out, before the Executive Order is implemented.

I would draw particular attention to Section 7:

Sec. 7. Baseline Framework to Reduce Cyber Risk to Critical Infrastructure. (a) The Secretary of Commerce shall direct the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (the "Director") to lead the development of a framework to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure (the "Cybersecurity Framework"). The Cybersecurity Framework shall include a set of standards, methodologies, procedures, and processes that align policy, business, and technological approaches to address cyber risks. The Cybersecurity Framework shall incorporate voluntary consensus standards and industry best practices to the fullest extent possible. The Cybersecurity Framework shall be consistent with voluntary international standards when such international standards will advance the objectives of this order, and shall meet the requirements of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act, as amended (15 U.S.C. 271 et seq.), the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-113), and OMB Circular A-119, as revised.

What goes into the frame work and what is left out will determine what sort of cyber culture we will live with. And by "we" I don't merely mean Americans, this framework is sure to affect the entire industry.

The Executive Order clearly  requires a consultative process that will include a public comment process. Section 5 sets for the privacy and civil liberties protections that are to be based on the Fair Information Practice Principles. Privacy and civil liberties advocates would be well advised to familiarize themselves with these principles.

I would also note the deadlines the Executive Order establishes (listed in order of the deadlines):

Within 90 days of the publication of the preliminary Framework, these agencies shall submit a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, the Director of OMB, and the Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs, that states whether or not the agency has clear authority to establish requirements based upon the Cybersecurity Framework to sufficiently address current and projected cyber risks to critical infrastructure, the existing authorities identified, and any additional authority required.

(b) If current regulatory requirements are deemed to be insufficient, within 90 days of publication of the final Framework, agencies identified in subsection (a) of this section shall propose prioritized, risk-based, efficient, and coordinated actions, consistent with Executive Order 12866 of September 30, 1993 (Regulatory Planning and Review), Executive Order 13563 of January 18, 2011 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review), and Executive Order 13609 of May 1, 2012 (Promoting International Regulatory Cooperation), to mitigate cyber risk. The Secretary shall coordinate establishment of a set of incentives designed to promote participation in the Program. 

Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security (the "Secretary"), and the Director of National Intelligence shall each issue instructions consistent with their authorities and with the requirements of section 12(c) of this order to ensure the timely production of unclassified reports of cyber threats to the U.S. homeland that identify a specific targeted entity.

(c) To assist the owners and operators of critical infrastructure in protecting their systems from unauthorized access, exploitation, or harm, the Secretary, consistent with 6 U.S.C. 143 and in collaboration with the Secretary of Defense, shall, within 120 days of the date of this order, establish procedures to expand the Enhanced Cybersecurity Services program to all critical infrastructure sectors.

Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary and the Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce each shall make recommendations separately to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and the Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs, that shall include analysis of the benefits and relative effectiveness of such incentives, and whether the incentives would require legislation or can be provided under existing law and authorities to participants in the Program.

(e) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of General Services, in consultation with the Secretary and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, shall make recommendations to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and the Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs, on the feasibility, security benefits, and relative merits of incorporating security standards into acquisition planning and contract administration. The report shall address what steps can be taken to harmonize and make consistent existing procurement requirements related to cybersecurity.

Sec. 9. Identification of Critical Infrastructure at Greatest Risk. (a) Within 150 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall use a risk-based approach to identify critical infrastructure where a cybersecurity incident could reasonably result in catastrophic regional or national effects on public health or safety, economic security, or national security. In identifying critical infrastructure for this purpose, the Secretary shall use the consultative process established in section 6 of this order and draw upon the expertise of Sector-Specific Agencies.

(e) Within 240 days of the date of this order, the Director shall publish a preliminary version of the Cybersecurity Framework (the "preliminary Framework"). Within 1 year of the date of this order, and after coordination with the Secretary to ensure suitability under section 8 of this order, the Director shall publish a final version of the Cybersecurity Framework (the "final Framework").

(c) Within 2 years after publication of the final Framework, consistent with Executive Order 13563 and Executive Order 13610 of May 10, 2012 (Identifying and Reducing Regulatory Burdens), agencies identified in subsection (a) of this section shall, in consultation with owners and operators of critical infrastructure, report to OMB on any critical infrastructure subject to ineffective, conflicting, or excessively burdensome cybersecurity requirements.

I trust that those tasked with creating the Framework will follow the excellent example of the Federal XML Work Group by setting up a website where the rest of us can follow their work. It is particularly important that the minutes of their meetings be posted in a timely manner and that their email discussion groups be publicly posted. This will build trust and increase the chances of a smooth adoption and implementation of whatever Framework is established.

Blog around the Potomac

Inside Adams (from the Library of Congress) talks about football and turf grass.

Appian posts a guide to modeling and reporting.

Ted Voss talks about the federal mobile computing summit.

Fit & Finish talks about Achieving Balance and Harmony on Your Next Digital Project - Introducing "The UX Chakra Model"

Celia Kang reports that Mobile Internet use expected to surge

And people will use their mobile devices more than home computers to access the Internet.

This reflects what I have been hearing at local tech events.

New to me local blogs

The Federal Communicators Network has a blog.

 PPC

The Federal Buzz, blog of Riva Solutions

In defense of social media experts

The Onion has a very funny video on social media experts.

So what is the value of social media experts? Why would anyone hire us? The genius of social media experts is understanding online conversations. Our skill is knowing how to present content in such a way that amplifies its impact. Lets take a well known example. Someone, no one knows who, secretly filmed Mitt Romney at a fundraiser where he said that 47% of Americans would not support him because there were dependent upon government handouts. And there the matter would have rested, on an obscure YouTube channel where almost no one would see it. Even the most sensational content needs promotion.

As we all know, a certain James Carter chanced upon it while surfing YouTube. Carter forwarded the video to a reporter at Mother Jones Magazine, and the rest is history. Carter did this as a Democrat, and a loss leader for his political consulting business. So if anyone wants to know the value of what we do, here it is. We take content that would other wise remain obscure and pitch it to someone, traditional media or online community, where people would be interested. It is very similar to traditional media relations, where you take a client's story and pitch it to the news organization that would be interested.

Done properly, there is great value in social media consulting.

PR FAIL

Ryanair's new comms chief to eschew social media

Noting the existence of more than one fake Ryanair account on Facebook and Twitter, which have significant consumer followings, Kiely said: 'A Facebook account would not be helpful to us, as we would have so many people looking for a response.'

He called the social network a 'two-way tool' and said maintaining a dedicated account would probably mean 'hiring two more people just to sit on Facebook all day'.

Presumably, responding to the public is what a company hires a communications chief to do. Or does he suppose that he can just issue statements to the traditional news media, which they would duly print, and take no account of the general public, also known as Ryanair's customers and potential customers?

If responding to the public requires you set up a Facebook account and respond to their concerns all day, then that is what you need to do.

A professional looking press release is not the same as an effective press release

If you want to write a press release that actually gets placed with a news organization, don't model your news release on other news releases, model it on the style of the news organizaton you want ot place it with. If you want to place your story in the Washington Post, write like the stories you see in the Washington Post.

If you go to a trade show you will see hundreds of press releases, and they all read the same. It is truly a pity, because most of them have interesting stories to tell.

Too many press releases are written to be professional looking rather than newsworthy. If you put the phrase "leading provider of" in the first paragraph, you need to rewrite your release. Describe your company in the simplest way possible, say you are a content management company, or financial software company, or SaaS provider, or something the reader can easily understand.

Put your news in the headline or at least the first paragraph. It is astonishing how often this obvious technique is overlooked.

Here is an easy test to find out whether your news release is effective, give to a friend or family member and ask if they understand it. If they don't, it needs to be rewritten. Even the most technical stories can be communicated to a lay audience.

No one will struggle to understand what your product or service does. No one will struggle to understand why it is newsworthy.

Social Media is your friend if you will make it so

Tom Foremki has some advice for marketing people and others who won't join Facebook, Twitter.

If it has to do with your job, then you need to join them. You have to be in them to know them.

I have to admit, I was shocked by his report. I thought that by now everyone in PR and marketing communcations had caught on that there was this thing called social media and it offers tremendous opportunities for engagement and tremendous risks for those who ignore it. I could understand that back in 2004 marketers had still not caught on to the importance of social media; but surely now people would understand. Even more puzzling is that Foremski operates out of Silicon Valley, where one would imagine social media adoption would be at its highest. Can it be that the Potomac area is ahead of Silicon Valley in this one respect?

As Foremski points out, you don't have to actually participate, you can just lurk. But understand, your competition understands the value of social media. We understand how, by the use carefully chosen key words, we can attract additional site traffic. We understand how we can use Facebook to highlight client news. We understand how to use Twitter to engage and build community.

More to the purpose your competition is familiar with the many tools of social media to analyze online coverstiaons.

Marketers and PR pros can no more ignore social media than they can ignore the news media. It is part of presenting our clients to the general public. Anyone still holding back should listen to For Immediate Release, the podcast by the celebrated duo of Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz, which talks about the intersection of public relations and social media.

Telling the world about Modern Monetary Theory

Mike Norman does not think that MMT advocates are doing a very good job at communicating the concept of fiat currency. He criticizes MMT advocates as being too wonky for the lay audience. I agree with him only in one respect. Nowhere on the Web is there a brief catchy definition of MMT. Here is one my friends and I put together, which will have to do until we come up with something better.

Modern Monetary Theory is a school of economics asserting that:

-- The currency itself is a simple public monopoly; -- Governments provision themselves by creating taxes that cause people to sell real goods and services to get the funds they need to pay their taxes, and then by purchasing the goods and services they desire with their otherwise worthless currencies;

-- Since the economy needs the government's money to pay its taxes, the value of the currency depends on the prices govt. pays when it spends;

-- For a given size of government, unemployment is the evidence that the government is either overtaxing the economy, or spending too little to compensate for any residual desire to save;

-- Governments with fiat currencies create money at will when they spend, and destroy money when taxes are paid, further indicating that taxes function to regulate the economy, and not to collect revenue per se; 

-- The currency is a governmental tool that in a democracy is created and maintained to promote public purpose, and to provide for the general welfare.

We know, this needs to be shorter. Our real problem is the problem of shifting public debate from an idea that, however obviously erroneous, has been implanted in the public mind for decades: that the federal budget bears any resemblance to a household budget. Shifting public opinion is a little like turning an ocean liner, it cannot be done quickly.

I had never heard of Modern Monetary Theory until the spring of 2010, when I atteneded the Fiscal Sustainability Teach-In Counter Conference; which was organized to counter a Pete Peterson anti-Social Security conference that was organized for the same day. As I recall, Warren Mosler opened the conference and just blew me away with his presentation on Modern Monetary Theory. It was like watching little Toto pulling back the curtain. When I found out that Mosler was running for the US Senate from Connecticut, I immediately offered my services and found my self managing his Senate campaign.

Thus I found myself in the position of having to explain MMT to hundreds of voters who were not interested in economic theory, but were interested in policies that could lead to economic recovery. I heard all the common Weimar inflation fear mongering, but the real problem was getting heard at all.

Warren Mosler's campaign was a turning point, and I am very proud of the role I played in it. We managed to catapult his ideas for economic prosperity into the mainstream, specifically his idea for a FICA holiday. Unfortunately it was only a tiny FICA holiday, which is why the recovery was so muted. Even more unfortunate, the FICA holiday has ended, withholding has gone up with its deleterious effect upon our economy.

Pete Peterson and his fellow deficit hysterics have been pouring money into his propoganda machine, buying politicians, think tanks, and even journalists to parrot his talking points. MMT is limited to a group of determined bloggers, mostly eonomists, trying to ge the word out.

So it is remarkable that we were able to catapult the idea of the Platinum Coin into the mass media, at least for a few weeks. Still, we need to do a better job of getting the word out. I am working on putting together a MMT talk show. Send word to marshall@prestovivace.biz if you would like to know more.

Edit -
There is a great discussion of this over at Mike Norman's blog.

Games

At tonight's meeting of Net Squared there was a great deal of discussion about games. Both panelists and members of the audience seemed to think that games are a great way to cultivate your audience and engage your community. I had not previously considered the community aspect of games, but this is certainly something I will have to explore.

Clarissa Peterson talks about Content Strategy for Responsive Websites

Clarissa Peterson spoke to the January meeting of Web Content Mavens about building responsive websites. A responsive website is one that automatically adjusts the display to suit the device of the user, whether it be a common cell phone, or a giant screen desktop. Obviously this poses many challenges for web designers.

She opened her presentation by observing that "websites for mobile mostly suck". She further observed that "mobile web strategy is the same as web strategy, but without ignoring mobile," and that responsive web design is where we are going."

The Boston Globe one of the first responsive web sites, it easily adjusts the display to suit the user's device.

Adaptive technique is how you adapt content arrangement to display on different screen sizes.

Peterson observed that there are a lot of really bad responsive websites, going on to say that, "it's not like we nailed web design before we tried responsive design."

Peterson suggested that designers keep in mind the context in which people are viewing information and discard the idea that people only use mobile for activities on the run. She went on to point out that there is no mobile web, there is only one web, which we view in different ways.

Not all cell phones are smart phones, Peterson pointed out that you have to accommodate those users. (As someone who has an old fashioned cell phone, this was a welcome observation. My hosting company, Hostway, in most ways an excellent hosting service, has a webmail system that is virtually unusable with my cell phone.) Peterson said that 17% cell phone users browse the web on their phones, so it is an error to assume that people are using their computers. Indeed, the demarcations between cell phone/tablet/laptop are becoming increasingly blurred.

Peterson observed that the beauty of the web is openness, you want to be available to everyone. Therefore you need content parity, users of cell phones must be able to access your website's content, just as a computer user would be able to view it. She said Consumer Reports is an example of a website that fails to make all of its content available to cell phone users, specifically the recall information is not available to cell phone users.

At this point there were several questions about 508 requirements. Peterson repeated her view that web designers must make their sites available to all, without regard to device or the special needs of the user.

When asked about clients who do not wish to pay for responsive sites, Peterson urged designers to educate their clients about the necessity of responsive design. Audience members agreed that static sites would just have to be completely rebuilt as responsive sites two years down the road.

Continuing to emphasize the need to design for all users, Peterson reminded her audience that iPhones do not read flash, and therefore it was necessary to give iPhone users a non-flash alternative to view content.

Peterson offered examples of good responsive websites:
World Wildlife Fund
Emeril's New Orleans - rare example of good restaurant responsive site
William and Mary University
Department Homeland Security

The Rock Creek Group was gracious enough to offer a site for the meeting plus refreshments. Web Content Mavens is a group of web designers. If your company is seeking a way to reach out to this community, sponsoring a meeting or offering hospitality would be an economical way to do so.

Why PR workers keep doing those annoying things

Roy Greenslade writes about PR tactics that are annoying and counterproductive. Why do we keep doing these things?

And then there are emails telling me that X is flying into London - someone I've never heard of from a company I've never heard of - and offering me an exclusive opportunity to interview him or her. Does this ever work?

I have done this, and yes, it does work occasionally. Even though you may never have heard of my client, your readers would be interested. This is because my client has a product or service that your readers are interested in, even though they have not heard of my client. I know this because I have read enough of your work to be conversant with the interests of your audience. This is precisely the process that transforms nobodies into somebodies and, frankly, why I was hired.

I still make telephone calls, because I rarely place a story without telephone work. The day I can place a story without a telephone call is the day I stop making calls. Email is far more time efficient.

As for the rest of it, offering an exclusive when it isn't really an exclusive is appalling PR malpractice, and I am very sorry to hear that people are doing this. When I offer exclusives, I usually put a time limit on it, as in, "This is an exclusive, let me know by close of business by tomorrow if you want it." Obviously if a reporter is not interested in the story I will start sending it around. As for jargon and buzzwords, we all struggle with them, which is why IABC created this very amusing video:

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas

Blog around the Potomac

Shamun Mahmud writes about Security Requirements in Government Cloud Computing and alerts us to the creation of the Cloud Standards Customer Council, and the Cloud Security Alliance.

Van Ristau writes about Ransomware.

Kendall Clark describes the latest work on Stardog (an RDF database), now with SPARQL 1.1.

Jay Selway talks about the complexity of simplicity, including an important principle of mine, "No jargon or compu-speak.

Richard Greco reminds of the risks of unsecured smart phones. Infographic: 20 Years of Technology Innovation

Ronan Wisdom talks about using RFID for healthcare compliance.

David Sprott advises us not to treat business audiences as dummies when we explain Service Oriented Architecture (or anything else for that matter).

Lastly the brilliantly named Flack Ops talks about the curious case of the memo sent out by the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists, and the best take yet on the recent Presidential election.

New to me tech blogs

InteleNews, the blog of Intelenex

Perusing Pirooz's World

Avectra Blog

The AKG Blog

MicroPact BPM blog

The Interfolio Blog

Innocative-e Blogs

meetdux.com, project management for sharepoint + sharepoint for project management

Society of Women Engineers Region G Blog

ICF Ironworks Blogs

Best name ever for a PR blog

Flack Ops