Guess when will the first Federal Snow Day off be?

By Christina Morrison · Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 · 6:00 pm

As I start this entry, I’m wrapping up a day where the Feds here in D.C. have the opportunity to go home 2 hours early and local schools were closed because of snow. Plus, with more snow in the forecast for tomorrow, Metro DC is poised to double the amount of snowfall this season in one day. Good thing Doug Hill is not forecasting for over a foot of snow.

Last year we had nearly an entire week of office closures for the federal government, and I would expect this year to be the same at some point soon. Thanks to the recent passing of teleworking legislature, many federal employees won’t have to brave unsafe conditions that they might have during last year’s winter storms.

Some might suggest that we’ve become weather wimps out here in D.C. But why take the risk of a long and potentially dangerous commute if we know we can still get our work done remotely? Wimps or not, the first full day of closure for federal employees can’t be that far away.

The government offices in D.C. and the northeast aren’t the only areas that need to worry about the possibility of wide-ranging closures. Anyone who lived through Deep Freeze 2011 in Atlanta understands that the state and local governments were unprepared for a quick turnaround during unexpected bad weather. Even if places like Atlanta did invest in snow plows and other equipment to prepare for round 2 of a deep freeze, there’s always something new around the corner.

A prime example – if you’ve read about the possible “California Mega storm” that geologists predict could be upon us within the next few decades, you’ll realize we can never truly be prepared for everything that nature has to offer.

Granted, massive floods in California might cause enough damage that teleworking would only alleviate a small amount of the potential problems faced. But, in the days after a crisis like that, essential government services will need to continue working one way or another, and the ability to work remotely will be crucial.

The bottom line is that the more services we can provide remotely in challenging weather conditions, the better off our government will be. In order to do this, we need to have teleworking technology and policies in place now so that we are fully prepared for the next big storm.

So, let’s make some predictions! When do you expect the first federal snow day will be? I’ll go with Thursday, January 27^th. What’s your perdiction?

For the past 15 years, Christina Morrison has created, led and managed successful government communications programs and teams for high-technology companies. She currently leads government marketing efforts for Hewlett-Packard's Personal Systems Group, driving core initiatives such as telework, social media and Green IT. As a Teleworker herself, Christina serves as an active telework champion for the public sector, advocating the secure use of personal technologies to safely enable telework initiatives. Christina actively participates in a variety of social media communities to offer insight into the technology trends and issues that impact government. Prior to her position at Hewlett-Packard, she served as Government Marketing Director at NCR Government Systems, and then moved to Teradata Corporation, where she was responsible for world wide marketing and public relations to federal, state and local governments. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Towson University. Christina is proud to be from New Jersey and currently lives in Northern Virginia, where she enjoys cooking, skiing and spending time with her husband and two boys.