Greenversations at a Glance

Blogging at EPA

Introduction

• Learn about the concept,

development and

implementation of the

Greenversations blog.

Agenda

• Content Development Process

• Process/Protocols for

Comments/Replies

• An Acceptable Way of Communicating

• Legal/Policy Issues to Consider

• Comment Policy

• Staff Time Required

• Server and Security Details

Overview

• Gain an understanding of how

all of the pieces of fit

together to make blogging

successful at EPA

Greenversations: Why?

• Put a human face on the big blank box

• Share personal stories of environmental

thinking (e.g., buying a car, gardening)

• Clue readers in re: breadth of EPA’s work− Emergency response− Research− Partnerships

• Speak in a new way

• Supplement, not replace, other channels

Content Development Process

• Get approval from the

Communications Director(s) (CD)

• CD’s submitted names of possible

bloggers

• A Blogging Guide was developed to

help train the bloggers and

define responsibilities

Who Does What?

• Office of Web Communications•Coordinating blog posts•Coordinating review through OGC•Proofread, format and upload the posts, and

•Moderate comments

• Supervisors•Commit staff time•Commit to obtaining approvals from management

• Bloggers•Complete training about blogging•Write a short introduction about themselves

•Submit blog posts with suggested links and images

•Review and Reply to comments posted on their blog post

Process/Protocols for Comments/Replies

• Since the blog posts are usually inspired by something related to the bloggers work, the author has first hand knowledge of the subject, and are encouraged to reply to the comments posted to their blog.

• This encourages an ongoing dialogue… in fact we have a blog post from last May that still receives comments, and has resulted in a follow-up blog post.

Song of the CoquiThursday, April 23rd, 2008

Resulted in two

follow-up posts:

one last May

resulting in 78

comments, and

another this past

January as an

update

A little more about ongoing dialogue…

Currently we have several regular features in the EPA blog:

− Three weekly features• Question of the Week (Monday)

− Gets the most comments: usually at least 50 and have been over 650 at times

− Advertised to 55,000 news release recipients

• Science Wednesday− Run by research/development office

• Bilingual Thursday− English/Spanish were in same post, now split− Managed by our Hispanic Liaison w/three writers

Bottled Water Follow-Up PostFollow-Up: Why Do You Drink Bottled or Tap Water?

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

About the Author: Dominic Bridgers was a summer intern in the Office of Public

Affairs.

I usually drink whatever is convenient for me. If I’m in the house I will fill the

glass up with tap water, but if I’m on the go I think bottled water is more

convenient.

I collected data from the July 7th Question of the Week, “Why do you drink bottled or

tap water?” The majority of the bloggers responded that they drink tap water

primarily because they have easy access to it, you think it’s healthier, it’s cheaper

than bottled water, and it tastes just as good as or better than bottled water.

However, some of you prefer bottled water over tap water because it is more

convenient, it tastes better and you think it’s healthier.

Thank you for taking your time in responding to “Why do you drink bottled or tap

water?”

An Acceptable Way of Communicating?

• Marcus Peacock, EPA’s former Deputy

Administrator wanted to do a blog

• He picked the name “Flow of the

River” and wrote a blog with links

• Submitted a photo of himself near a

river

• Invited guest bloggers to his blog

• Current Greenversations bloggers

vary from across the Agency

Legal/Policy Issues

• We did a lot of research…

• Keeping politics out keeps the blog

fresh and less dated.

• Blogging Guide meant everyone

“blogged by the same rules”

• Federal Agencies are often at a

disadvantage, and need to make sure

there is no implied endorsement

• POLICY− What kind of topics would we cover− You have to take comments and allow criticism or the blog becomes biased

• LEGAL− Avoid ongoing enforcement actions and regulations under development

− Disclaimer issues (bloggers personal views)

− Comment policy was based on other comment policies on already successful blogs

Comment Policy

• No vulgar language, personal attacks

of any kind, or offensive terms that

target specific ethnic or racial

groups

• No promotion of services or products

• Comments must be on-topic

• Do not make unsupported accusations.

• Reporter questions will not be

posted.

Staff Time Required

• The EPA Office of Public Affairs web team has recently doubled in size. The plan is to operate with overlapping teams. There is one staff member who has the lead in managing the blog

• All in all, about ½ FTE is used in the management of the Greenversations blog.

Is the Blog Hosted on an Independent Server?

• EPA has their own server

• Much of Marcus’s initial blog was hosted on Typepad.com

• We had to go outside of EPA because the Chief Information Officer’s shop didn’t have the capability in-house at that time to host a blog

• The CIO did a requirements analysis and chose WordPress as EPA’s blog software.

• The CIO set up a blog server. We used it knowing any security issues had already been addressed through the CIO’s office.

Summary• When trying to implement a blog, it is beneficial to talk to others about their experiences.

• Keep in mind the desired end product…who’s your audience, what are you trying to convey. For us, we wanted to put a face on EPA, convey the breadth of what we do, and create a conversation around the environment.

• Do the “legwork” upfront to avoid problems, establish your policies and guidelines and enforce them, and rob others blind. Use what’s already out there and working and tweak it to your liking.

EPA’s Greenversations at a Glance

• Content Development Process− Identify bloggers, develop blogging guide

• Process/Protocols for Comments/Replies− Bloggers monitor and reply to comments− Develop a comment policy

• Legal/Policy Issues to Consider− Keep it fresh by keeping politics “out of it”

− Implied endorsement− Avoid ongoing enforcement actions and regulations under development (OGC review)