State Tech Magazine Recognition

So, I am getting ready for bed and I notice I have a twitter mention on my smartphone. Bill Greeves had tweeted and posted on FaceBook that my blog was recognized in the StateTech Magazine inaugural list of the the 50 must-read blogs for state and local IT. Bill noted that he, I and Bill Schrier were on the list.

First of all, to be mentioned in the same sentence and context with Bill & Bill is an honor. They are VERY talented bloggers and published authors. I'm just winging it. Literally.

StateTech Magazine has been really good to me over the years. They provided great coverage when MuniGov held the first ever IT conference in the virtual world Second Life. They have been advocates for innovation at the local level, always recognizing contributions by the level of government closest to the citizen.   They published an article of mine on IT governance and technology investment management in the Winter 2012 edition.

Recognition of this type is useful. By that I mean that it can serve as inspiration for others to seek outlets for their professional energy that extend beyond their 9 to 5 existence. I know lots of IT pros that have contributions simmering just below the surface, waiting for a way to get out. I can see them saying "heck, if he can do it, I can too!".

Recognition of this type is satisfying. Not because it is more eyeballs, or kudos.  It is satisfying because it means that people appreciate stuff that matters to me! Even my vegetarian chili recipe, which I had forgotten about. Where technology and government and citizens meet: I think it is cool people find that important.

Recognition of this type is important. Publishing via social media (if you can even call it publishing) is becoming the defacto standard for conveying ideas, concepts and perspectives that people find important. There are millions of people writing blogs now, and having publications like StateTech do the heavy lifting of sorting through them to find the best to follow for a specific business-vertical (in this case State & Local IT) increases accessibility.

So thanks for reading, and thanks to StateTech for recognizing me.