As noted in the last blog post, Can AI Help Fix a Water Main Break?, Artificial Intelligence or AI may eventually be a really useful tool for those of us working in the public works field. In this post, I’m exploring its use as a tool to generate images. This is helpful because many of…
Category: Social Media
Learning New Skills at Civic Design Camp – Chicago 2015
At today's Civic Design Camp not only did I pick up a few choice bits of advice and skills to add to my civic toolbox, but I also was able to meet and network with some great people including Josh Kalov who I first met at CityCamp in Chicago back in 2010. Introduction and…
Running Toilets Get Their Own 5K Race!
The EPA has been promoting Fix-a-Leak Week (March 16-22, 2015) for the past seven years. But like many issues in public works, sometimes it is difficult to drive awareness and attract people's attention to the message. Even with great social media resources and a topic that left ignored could mean a loss of money, it's still not easy…
WATERCON2014
This year I am fortunate to again have the opportunity to attend WATERCON in Springfield, Ill.It's amazing how every year the conference offers so many great sessions, and the exhibitors always have such interesting displays and information. In addition to attending sessions and talking with vendors, I'll be posting as much as I can on several…
Infographic of the Month – February 2014 (Snapchat!)
Over the last month or so I've gotten several inquiries from people who were wondering about Snapchat – a newer social media tool most often used as an app on a mobile device. The idea behind Snapchat is for you to send an image with or without a message to either all of your followers or a…
Infographic of the month – January 2014
This month's infographic is focused entirely on social media. I wanted to share it with you because it struck me as a simple yet interesting and informative display of the evolution of communication. I also liked how it gives a timeline of when each technology was launched. Courtesy of: Prohibition
Winter Weather Safety – Resources for Braving the Storm of 2014
Central and eastern sections of the U.S. have experienced snowfall and in some areas record cold over the last day or so. In a few locations, the temperatures have been so low that it has become dangerous to even be outside. However many government workers who provide essential services like police, fire, and snow removal still…
Infographic of the Month – December
This month we have an infographic showing the rising need and salaries for IT professionals. IT services support a lot of what we do in government, and if we want to ramp up and innovate delivery of our services, IT professionals will play a key role in supporting our efforts. For those thinking about IT…
Employers, Schools, Social Media, and You – An Update
It has been about a year and a half since this blog first discussed (link here) how some employers and public schools were forcing employees and students to allow unrestricted access to their private social media accounts. We also pointed out the risks associated with those actions. At the time, there had not yet been a…
Infographic of the Month – May 2013
Yesterday a colleague at work and I were discussing the feasibility of creating infographics to use as exhibits at public meetings for projects. We didn't necessarily think they should be used in place of what is already done, but instead used to enhance understanding of the project. But we could not think of any examples…