Craig Connects: Newmark on Customer Service in Government, Building Better .gov Websites
Craig Newmark knows customer service.
Newmark, founder of Craigslist and featured FedTalks 2011 speaker, joined FedScoop Radio to discuss his work with the federal government, notably with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration.
His goal in working with federal government leaders is assisting on projects that deal directly with the public, he said. In his case, it’s helping military families with the Joint Forces initiative, assisting the VA with its vendor innovation programs to better serve service members and helping SSA with online authentication to just name a few.
“Sometimes I just act as a cheerleader, when VA does something well and no one else is getting the work out,” Newmark said. “The VA and VA Medical Centers are using Facebook to do a lot of outreach and no one is giving them credit for that. They are doing a lot of great open source work and no one gives them credit for that.
Craig also discussed his new philanthropic venture, craigconnects.org, that helps connect public service organizations. He says he is in the process of revamping the site with the goal of finding new ways for people to help one another out.
