Changing Directions A Bit

As the title indicates, I am shifting my research direction to move back more towards my passions and something that is very important to me. But first I want to say thank you to all of my current readers and subscribers. I apologize that I haven’t kept up with my part of posting as often as I should be, but as I learned blogging is not always the priority it should have been.  I will strive to take that lesson to heart as I move forward.

How will things be changing? Beginning next week you will see a shift in the topics covered on this blog. First, I will still be researching and writing about social media and government because I think one of the key aspects to any solution for the large number of problems we face is citizen action and engagement, and that vision of engagement has its best chance to be realized through social media.

Second, I am also going to start digging back into the whole government market from an technology vendors perspective. Prior to my time at Forrester, I served in the Office of the Secretary at the Department of the Interior and worked for a government systems integrator (aka Beltway Bandit). When I first joined Forrester, it was to focus on government though this changed with the sift to roles. The reason I am returning this to my quiver is this market is a mess. Too many vendors have serious misconceptions about the government market, how government works, how government buys, and what government is buying. On the opposite side, the heavy influx of vendors looking for stimulus dollars have overwhelmed most government buyers. I spoke with a former colleague of mine last week who said he now spends more time fielding calls from vendors looking for appointments to sell him something instead of doing his actual job. So it sounds like both sides need a little help in sorting out this mess.

But the largest change you will is is that I am going to be spending a lot more time looking at clean technologies, sustainability issues, energy issues, corporate responsibility, and social change. I promise this won’t be another blog about how to live more green, though I do think that is important (you can find more about that as I resurrect A Green Dad). Instead, I will be looking at these issues from a business perspective, both at the tactical level and the strategic level. I have always been interested in natural resources, sustainability, green technologies, etc. Enough so that I spent tens of thousands of dollars getting two-plus graduate degrees in the areas of natural resources management and environmental policy. But I set aside my passions to “make a living,” a mistake that most of us are all to familiar with.  I am going to correct that mistake and add something valuable to the rising chorus of voices around clean technologies and sustainability.

Over the next couple of months you will notice some of changes to this blog. A new layout is coming, some new links, some guest posts, some interesting interviews, and a lot of new content. Should be a lot of fun!

Looking at government, technology, social media, sustainability, renewable energy, and cleantech should make for some interesting research and reading. I know not everything will appeal to everybody, and that is okay. But I do hope that you will come along with me on my professional journey.