A message to government communicators in Washington, D.C.

Hello delegates to the Social Media for Government Conference in Alexandria, Virginia! Springtime in the Washington, D.C. area must be nice, if this lovely picture posted in an earlier Ambassablog posting about your conference is any indication. But, hey, here in sunny San Diego we're not complaining either:
We've arranged for this special posting just for you, from one of the original employee bloggers at the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. I'm Mary, an executive assistant in the Administration Division. I've been posting on the Ambassablog since its start in January, 2008. It's great to be able to share a message about our employee blog with government communicators from around the country.

It’s been a really fun experience to be a first-time employee blogger for the Goodwill Ambassablog. First of all, it’s been really great to have an outlet for the enthusiasm I have for working here at San Diego International Airport. I appreciate getting to express the pride I feel, such as when I got to use this blog tell my peers how I thought they came together as an amazing team in the aftermath of the San Diego firestorms last October.

The Goodwill Ambassablog also helps me keep my contacts in the community informed in a really fun and interesting way. Instead of me trying to remember factoids or describe a picture or a recall an exact Website link, all I have to do is direct them to http://www.ambassablog.com/. It’s so easy for our blog's viewers to have great content available in an interactive way right at their fingertips.

A special moment for me happened recently when my relatives came over on Easter. As each one entered my home, they gave me kudos and comments about how much they’re enjoying reading our employee blog. And it’s not just my postings they’re interested in, but the whole site, with its attention-grabbing visuals and varied content.

I would definitely recommend employee blogging to other companies, both for its internal community-building benefits and for what it does for external audiences, as well. If some of you already have employee blogs at your organizations -- or when you decide to get one started -- we'd love to see it! You can place a link to it by adding a comment to this posting. We might even feature it in our Brother Blogs section.

I feel like our employee blog is still young, but we’ve seen so many great things come out of it already. And I think it has the potential to keep growing into much, much more! Have a great time at your conference!