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Google's New Washington Home
by Heather Greenfield
Google has a new brick-and-mortar site in Washington and it began giving sneak previews this week ahead of the company's party celebrating the new office Thursday.
Technology Daily's Andrew Noyes visited the office Monday and posted photographs at Tech Daily Dose. "The space, which is smaller and less ornate than the mother ship in Mountain View, Calif., is still a feast for the senses," he said. "Between the catered lunches, snacks, videogames, massage chair and music, I don't know how those people get any work done."
The new office, located at 1101 New York Ave., will house Google's growing Washington policy team. Google CEO Eric Schmidt will be in town for the opening celebration. About 20 people work for the company in Washington now, but there is plenty of room for growth -- the company has the entire second floor of the building.
Conference rooms have very Washingtonian names like "The Cabinet Room," "The Situation Room" and "The Secret, Undisclosed Location." The "Rose Garden" can accommodate up to 120 attendees for guest speakers or other presentations. "Camp David" is the videogame/relaxation room, with an Xbox system and a foosball table that has opposing sides labeled "Republicans" and "Democrats." A Nintendo Wii game console is on the way.
The "South Lawn Cafe" features a full kitchen, and a catered lunch is provided daily for Googlers and their guests. "The Mess" is a separate micro-kitchen with healthy and not-so-healthy snacks.
Alan Davidson, who heads Google's Washington office, told reporters the space is "part of the evolution of Google in D.C." No one from Capitol Hill has visited yet -- but the company expects staffers, lobbyists and other political types to see the space at the official reception Thursday.
IGrowth Pains At PFF
IGrowth Global is growing and luring more talent from the Progress and Freedom Foundation. Scott Wallsten is the latest to switch between the think tanks to become vice president for research and a senior fellow at iGG.
Wallsten had been the director of communications policy at PFF. "I'm excited about coming to iGG and helping to shape this new venture," he said. "There is a real need for an institution that produces rigorous, relevant policy research on IT and communications policy issues. IGG has the right focus and a very promising future."
Wallsten has served as a senior fellow at the AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, an economist at the World Bank, a scholar at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and a staff economist at the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers.
IGG already has former PFF President Tom Lenard as its president, and iGG was founded by Lenard's former PFF co-worker, Garland McCoy. "I am extremely happy that Scott is joining us," Lenard said. "Scott is doing important research on broadband and other IT policy issues. His expertise in both the domestic and international sphere makes him a perfect fit for iGG."
Security Procurement Deputy Is Promoted
Tom Essig is the new chief procurement officer at the Homeland Security Department, replacing Elaine Duke.
There should not be much of a learning curve as Essig had been deputy chief procurement officer since he joined the department in May 2006. He will assume additional management, administration and oversight of Homeland Security's acquisition, financial assistance, strategic sourcing and competitive sourcing programs, according to department officials.
Essig previously worked for the Navy, most recently at the office of the assistant secretary, and served as the director of the program analysis and business transformation division.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement that he looks forward to trusting Essig with "the utmost stewardship of taxpayer dollars."
Duke left the procurement position in October to become deputy undersecretary for management at Homeland Security. She replaced Paul Schneider, who became deputy secretary.
Online Political Expert Goes Solo
EPolitics is not just an award-winning political blog any longer; now it is a consulting business.
Colin Delany, who launched the blog a year-and-a-half ago to analyze online communications practices, is now consulting full time for advocacy groups, campaigns and corporations who need help spreading their messages online. Part of that includes developing strategy for the best use of specific tools like online social networks, e-mail lists, databases and blogs.
Delany left his day job as the online communications manager for the National Environmental Trust this month. "My plan is to help clients choose the most effective options available to them in the ever-expanding world of online communications, and then implement those technologies efficiently and with the highest chance of success," he said.
Delany has been doing some consulting for about eight years, as well as watching and commenting on what works at both techPresident and e.politics, his own blog that won the Golden Dot Award at the 2007 Online Politics conference for best national political blog.
Cable And Telecom Chatter Online
The National Cable and Telecommunications Association launched a blog called CableTechTalk at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week.
The debut included reports from the CES floor on lots of new tech gadgets, including photos that blogger Michael Turk admits don't quite do justice to a T-shirt with a flat screen TV on it.
Turk, who is vice president of industry grassroots, will be a main blog contributor, along with NCTA Online Content Director Paul Rodriguez. Turk is the former e-campaign strategist for the Republican Party and talks politics on his own blog, Kung Fu Quip.
He said on his blog that CableTechTalk will not be a one-sided device to broadcast NCTA opinions but a two-way conversation that includes people who disagree with NCTA so readers can "draw their own conclusion."
One area of controversy raised at CableTechTalk was cable prices, which were mentioned by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin during a discussion at CES.
Science Committee Wins Web Award
The House Science and Technology Committee has won a Golden Mouse Award for the second year in a row for its Web site.
The committee site received the Congressional Management Foundation's highest award for Web excellence in both 2006 and 2007. The foundation is a nonprofit that annually reviews all congressional Web sites and rates them on their five building blocks: audience, content, usability, interactivity and innovation.
After reviewing 68 sites, the foundation wrote that the depth of information on the Science Committee site was "exemplary." "With its consistent look and feel, and features such as a site map and sorting capabilities for most of its documents, the site goes above and beyond what is standard practice on Capitol Hill."
"Our site has grown to become a key tool for recording, maintaining and distributing committee information -- one that I hope all those interested in our committee have come to rely on," said Committee Chairman Bart Gordon, D-Tenn.
Quote Of The Week
"All of the people that believe in controlling intellectual property, the game's over. It was over seven or eight years ago. Soon your business will be over unless you understand it's moot."
-- Nettwerk Music Group CEO Terry McBride, speaking at CES in Las Vegas.
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