Clay: RFP-EZ is a tool that will let you buy simple IT projects, like websites, really easily, as long as the total price is under $150,000.

CO: That’s impossible.

Clay: What’s impossible?

CO: You can’t make websites for less than $150,000.

Clay: Sure you can. You can actually make websites for less than $100.

CO: Well I don’t know about that. Do you have a list of companies that will make websites for less than $150,000.

Clay: Yes. All of them, except for the ones you are presently talking to.

CO: That’s crazy.

Clay Johnson, trying to explain RFP-EZ to a government contracting officer.

May 9, 2013 at 5:39pm

Measured Voice Blog: Why the Priceonomics Blog is So Good »

measuredvoice:

My experience with their blog reaffirmed one of our main teachings about content marketing: people fall in love with the writing first, then they fall in love with whoever wrote it. After following a few links to Priceonomics posts from Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, I thought to myself “These guys are good.” I dug deeper and learned about the company behind these great articles.

Priceonomics does great work.

May 2, 2013 at 9:54am

Source: measuredvoice

usagov:

When is the government going to release information about extra terrestrials?

Asked by Joshua on Facebook.

According to NASA, no branch of the United States government is currently involved with or responsible for investigations into the possibility of intelligent alien life on other planets.NASA has been investigating the possibility that the planet Mars was once the home to very simple life, such as microbes. The SETI project, which searches for evidence of transmissions from intelligent life in outer space, was a part of NASA until 1993 but is now private.

Learn about previous government efforts to search for extraterrestrial life and UFOs.

Counting down to We the People petition to get the government back to work on finding aliens…

April 3, 2013 at 9:45am

work

Source: usagov

Measured Voice is Open for Business »

From the Measured Voice blog:

[…]we’ve spent the past 12 months rebuilding Measured Voice from the ground up. We talked with our customers a lot. We talked with people who we want to be our customers. We got really accelerated by participating the first ever Code for America Accelerator. We’ve worked with a wonderful group of beta testers from around the world.

We’ve built a tool that we’re proud of. It’s fast. It’s secure. It’s easy to use. It makes social media writers better at their job. It helps organizations find their voice. Today, it’s open to everyone.

You can sign up for a 30-day free trial of Measured Voice right now, no credit card required.

Could not be prouder of what we’ve built!

January 23, 2013 at 3:30pm

Source: measuredvoice

Measured Voice Blog: Post of the Year 2012 »

measuredvoice:

…the FBI Press Office – perhaps one of the most heavily scrutinized communication operations in government – knows that Twitter is probably the best place to quash a rumor spreading via social media. Kudos to the FBI for using its voice confidently and with purpose.

It’s nice to be able to recognize people who do their jobs well.

December 28, 2012 at 11:02am

work
writing

Source: measuredvoice

measuredvoice:

Jerry Seinfeld shows us how he writes a joke, even though he believes no one will be interested in it. A few things stood out to me:

He’s been working on the Pop Tart joke for two years, although most jokes take a few days.

He feels funny sharing his writing process because comedy writing is usually secretive.

He focuses on “funny words”.

He doesn’t like having a cursor blink at him when he writes. He feels like it’s asking him “So? Whaddya got?” Instead, he writes everything on yellow pads of paper with a clear-barreled blue Bic pen. He wrote every episode of Seinfeld that way, in long hand.

The clear takeaway here: writing is a craft. It takes time. It requires the right tools. It requires focus. It requires having an ear for tone. As we’ve said before, hard writing makes easy reading.

It’s also a reminder that – for some people – Measured Voice competes with yellow pads of paper and Bic pens.

December 28, 2012 at 10:46am

work
writing

Source: measuredvoice

By choosing our words more deliberately, we help others understand who we are, and we better define the world we want to create.

My thoughts on the Measured Voice Blog about Jack Dorsey’s recent post about why we shouldn’t call people who use software products “users”.

October 17, 2012 at 4:11pm

Source: jacks

Dark Big Sur

I’d envisioned a night in Big Sur, somewhere near a view of the ocean, alone in a comically large tent. I’d fry a whole fish on my massive cast iron skillet. I’d wake up and make a cup of coffee in my little french press. I’d read. I might go for a run in the morning before I went home.

Of course none of that happened. I don’t know how to fry a whole fish. I spent the night alone in a creepy and comically large cabin in Gorda Springs. I wasted my daylight driving and eating dinner and all the first-come first-serve campsites were full by the time I found them.