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Entry bubble Government May Owe You Money

By: Joanne | September 01, 2009 | Category: Money

I just read that my State Treasurer is holding onto 1.5 billion dollars in unclaimed money. That’s right – all the states are holding unclaimed money, and if they’ve got some for you, all you have to do is step up and claim it.

States end up with valuable things like abandoned bank accounts, forgotten stocks, uncashed checks, certificates of deposit, life insurance policies, safe deposit box contents, and recovered stolen property.

When I did a search I didn’t find any records that the state has money for me, but I did find a record that looks like there’s money waiting for my brother-in-law. Lucky him!

The federal government is also holding money for people. Pension funds, FHA mortgage refunds and federal tax refunds from the IRS are all piling up because the government doesn’t have your correct address. Searching for unclaimed property from the federal government is a little bit more difficult because you have to check with each agency individually, but USA.gov can help you determine if the government owes you money.

Times are tough, so don’t overlook this opportunity to collect money owed to you.

| View Comments [1] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: cash   government   joanne   money   pension   tax   unclaimed  

 

Entry bubble "Socializing" with Hispanics

By: Leilani | June 26, 2009 | Category: Spanish

I'm writing this post from "La Isla del encanto" Puerto Rico.  The reason I'm here is that I'm attending the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Conference (NAHJ) to promote GobiernoUSA.gov, the site I co-manage, and all other Spanish-language services that my organization offers.

Hispanics account for 15% of the population and 34 million people in the United States report speaking Spanish at home. So the need to provide government information in Spanish is real. Some people have asked me on my earlier posts why government is spending money translating information into other languages. There's not only the demand for this kind of information, but there's also an Executive Order  that requires federal agencies to provide critical information in other languages.

It has become more evident to me, especially these last few days, that Hispanics are not only getting connected online at a fast pace, but they are also actively participating on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It has been great to interact with CNN en español and the Washington Post, but I have to admit that one of the highlights of this trip was when six journalism students stopped by the GobiernoUSA.gov booth. After a brief tour of the site, I could tell they weren't completely sold. So that's when I showed them the GobiernoUSA.gov's Facebook page and their eyes quickly lit up. They were not only impressed, but they also thought we had the "coolest" information for them. Woo hoo!

So yes, we're on Facebook and Twitter but that doesn't mean that we will stop reaching out to the public through more traditional means. If those six students start now finding government information because they're already on Facebook and that's where they "hang out", then we will be accomplishing our mission of making government easy and accesible for people.

Why not try it for yourself? Go to our Facebook pages and become a fan:

You can also follow us on Twitter:

Let us know what you think and how we can make these pages better.

Lea la versión en español

| View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: facebook   government   hispanics   leilani   nahj   spanish   twitter  

 

Entry bubble Where to find us on the social Web

By: Jess | March 05, 2009 | Category: Fun

Man on computer

Back in October Joanne wrote about how the government was making inroads using social media tools to reach larger audiences. In four short months, USA.gov, GobiernoUSA.gov and Pueblo.gsa.gov, as well as many other government agencies, have made a lot of progress on the social media front.

If Twitter is your scene you can follow all three. GovGab also has a Twitter feed if you prefer getting updates on our recent posts that way. Feel free to reach out to us on Twitter as well. If you post a question to the Pueblo feed, I'm the person who will Tweet the information back to you. We also use our Twitter feeds to share all kinds of interesting government information like recall alerts or the latest on what President Obama is up to.

We also offer e-mail alerts, RSS feeds and widgets if you want to centralize all the information we provide in one place on your computer. I encourage you to check us out on which ever social media platform you prefer. If you're not currently using any form of social media, why not pick one and give it a try? It's a great chance to learn valuable information in a new a way.

If you have questions on how to get started with social media or where to find us, feel free to leave me a comment and I'll try my best to help you out.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [5] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: facebook   government   government_2.0   jess   pueblo.gsa.gov   rss_feeds   social_media   twitter   usa.gov   web_2.0  

 

Entry bubble Government and Social Media

By: Joanne | October 28, 2008 | Category: General

connectLast week the Social Media Club of Washington kindly invited me to join a panel presentation on social media in government. It was a great opportunity for me to talk to the group about how USA.gov is exploring social media to connect with the public and to deliver government information and services in this powerful new way.

I’ve heard a lot of positive feedback about the government using social media, and when I was with the Social Media Club it was really energizing to see the level of interest the social media community has in government using social media tools.

That’s why we’re stepping up to the next level. Government agencies are using social media tools like blogs, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter to reach out and give you information. USA.gov is working on a strategy to use social media tools to better engage in conversation with the public and to deliver information and services the way you want to get it. Do you like to get your information from the printed page, hold that publication in your hands? Do you like to talk to us on the phone? Or are you into blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and the like?

Help us form our strategy by telling us what you like – fill out this quick (about 5 minute) survey.

| View Comments [12] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: blog   club   facebook   government   joanne   media   social   twitter  

 

Entry bubble Your Wish is My Blog Topic

By: Joanne | May 13, 2008 | Category: General

hand holding a sign that says, sock it to meIt’s a special day—mark your calendar. What’s so special about it? Today the federal government isn’t telling you what to do and how to do it, but instead is asking what interests you and what you’d like us to do.

Take a moment to pinch yourself so you can be sure you’re not dreaming. I’ll wait.

Here’s the thing. We’ve got this blog and a team of bloggers, and we want our work to benefit you. Give us your ideas of how you’d like us to use this blog to provide you with information, services or a place to express your opinions—we’re ready to experiment.

We’re really impressed with how the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has used their blog to engage their readers. The Transportation Security Administration is the agency that’s in charge of airport security, among other things. The public has been really vocal on the TSA blog, and TSA is getting ideas and feedback about airport security operations that they’ve been able to use to make changes and improve service.

I can’t promise that we can implement your every suggestion. There’s nothing I can do about having to remove your shoes at the airport—believe me, I wish there was! I can promise that we read all of your ideas and use them to guide us in our blogging. We can also share your ideas with other federal government bloggers and web managers.

| View Comments [26] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: 2.0   blog   conversation   government   innovation   joanne   topics   web  

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