This summer I am taking some time off from my regular forms of labor. I defended my Ph.D. about a month ago, submitted my final paperwork about two weeks ago, and now I am finally free from all that is related to academia…kind of. I still have a few papers to write and some wonderful […]
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New Report: Testing Online Deliberative Forums with Members of Congress
This week, I am (finally!) publishing a public report that highlights some of the important findings from my dissertation experiment. Writing this report was very challenging. I knew from the very beginning of this project that I wanted to be as transparent as possible. It’s important for academics to spend more time sharing their work […]
On “Modernizing” Tech in Congress For Optimization
The bipartisan Select Committee on Modernization has been renewed for the 117th session of Congress for another round of reform discussions. This is great news! The select committee has already come up with over 90 reccomendations to make Congress work better, and I can’t wait to see what they do next session. That being said, […]
Being in D.C. During the Capitol Riot
In December, I left my warm sunny apartment in California to travel home to Maryland and quarantine with my family for the holiday season. It was great, but after a few weeks stuck at home, I was getting a little antsy. It was difficult to write at home and I thought a few days in […]
Conducting Research With Congress
I wrote up my thoughts after a discussion with Kathy Goldschmidt at CMF about my experience conducting research with Congress. Our goal is to expand on this information with other academics to help the Congressional Management Foundation make recommendations to the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. Researching with the U.S. Congress – Sam’s […]
The Member Online All-Star Competition
This past month, the House majority leader Steny Hoyer announced the Member Online All-Star competition. The goal of this competition is for Members of Congress to gain as many followers on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube) as possible in the span of three weeks. See the action here. Social media is very useful […]
An Open Letter to Members of Congress: It’s Time for Constituent Communication to Change
In a few days, the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress will be having a hearing to discuss constituent communication on the Hill. I will not be attending, but if I was invited to testify at the hearing, this what I would say: For the past few years, I have dedicated my Ph.D. research […]
In Support of Academic Cold-Emails
This is something that I often feel like I’ve often felt people don’t do enough in academic: cold emailing. Ah, yes. Emailing people you don’t know and asking them for help. *GASP*. The Horror… Too many people feel nervous about rejection or feel too uncomfortable asking strangers for help. But in my experience, cold emailing […]
I’ve been Tweeted!
This past December, I published my work on understanding staff perceptions of constituent communication. That work was shortened into a post on the Leg Branch Capacity Working group website, and re-tweeted by my funders, the Democracy Fund. I’ve never been tweeted before ( I don’t even use a Twitter) but it feels great to see […]
A Quote On Technology
“When a company has a buggy release, the company is experimenting and learning. When the government has a buggy release, it is a sign of incompetence.” – Stephanie Rickler Schulte From United States Digital Service: How “Obama’s Startup” Harnesses Disruption and Productive Failure to Reboot Government