Last week's National Association of Government Communicators conference in Bethesda was as thought-provoking as I'm sure was intended but I may be off track on the thoughts I was meant to produce. For good or for ill, I noticed three things going on in D.C. last week among our colleagues.

How We Talk to Each Other is Changing
or "My PowerPoint has More Tchotchkes Than Yours"

Lowell Briggs argued that students are writing in text-speak ("U R", not "you are") and expressed disdain at such grammatical heretics. Not everyone agreed. Penelope Trunk, the author of The Brazen Careerist explains in her blog that these grammatical slippages are to be accepted and even contends they are no longer are an indication of poor writing. If we have adopted our writing style to fit contemporary technologies like texting, it was also clear we've remade our presentation styles as well.

Each PowerPoint I watched contained more photographic images, clever artwork and punchlines than a Demetri Martin routine. It was made clear that as we chastised students for their lack of focus, we also prepared presentations for crowds we assumed would be similarly inattentive. It doesn't mean I didn't laugh (or copy some of David Olive's great diagrams to show colleagues). What it means is, overall our ability to process detail and desire for fast, fun, multisensory nuggets is on the rise. I <3 conferences too, does slide after slide of cheap humor ultimately sacrifice? I came for discussions and ideas ... and got laughs. In this hyper-alert world of sound bites, multitasking and 140-character realities, must we first be entertained in order to learn?

The Social Media Train is Crowded
or "Smoosh Together — The Goal is to Be Pick Pocketed!"

Full-disclosure here: I got the chance to write this piece based on someone seeing my hash tagged Twitter comments during the conference. Twitter is designed to allow others to pick-pocket your ideas and spread them, or, in this case, push them into other platforms.

Social media is definitely the new pink and NAGC saturated the schedule with discussion of the trend. What I noticed at the conference, however, is our discussion has refined. At last year's seminar a typical question was "Twitter—Is that with two T's or one?" This year, however, saw richer dialog about social media legalities, recordkeeping and more. Detailed case studies presented by Brad Blake, Director of New Media and Online Strategy for the Massachusetts Office of the Governor, and Glen Thomas, Supervisor of Communications and PR for Memphis Gas, Light and Water, helped us recognize just what government communication on the social media bandwagon can create.

We still have a long way to go. I returned to my hotel room at the close of the conference to find an inbox full of new links in all my outlets: LinkedIn, Twitter, GovLoop and more. People captured the idea and rode it all the way to the airport. Capturing others' ideas is encouraged-the opportunity that we must now take hold of is active and continued participation in the medium. Linking only puts you there. Engaging regularly takes us where we never knew we could be headed.

We Must Acknowledge Our History...Carefully
or "Don't Get a Kink in Your Neck From Looking Back"

One of the most engaging luncheon lectures was from Eric Draper, former White House photographer during the George W. Bush administration. His frill-free presentation of awe at his job opportunity and his stunning photographs helped show us just how important documenting history is. Draper noted many firsts in his photography, including shifts in technology (from film to digital), shifts in safety (pre-9/11 vs. post-9/11 meetings) and even the shifts in leadership (accidentally trying to leave with the Clintons and getting some first photographs with the Obamas).

Lowell Briggs' presentation rested in the past by relying heavily on the now-passe idea of "convergence" (a word James Fallows avoids in this month's Atlantic Monthly article on Google's recapturing of old news processes). Briggs insisted students were forced to learn shortened news reporting that lacks depth, because new media, according to him, facilitates this at the expense of investigative, "old-school" reporting. Fallows, however, explains that what is happening is "because of huge, historic technological forces rather than because of short-sightedness or backwards thinking."

Briggs missed a chance to stir a broader and more critical conversation based on other university models (not just his own), national campaigns and conferences that involve students, and even Google's mini-mission to save the news industry.

After a very successful idea-exchanging and experientially grounded conference, my NAGC takeaway this year was that with spicier PowerPoints and solid research, I can move our division and its rich history into the "Gov Loop." 

Dr. Julie Ferris is Public Relations Supervisor for the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.