On August 29th, MeriTalk announced the results of the Uncle Sam at Your Service: The 2011 Federal Customer Experience Study, underwritten by RightNow. To conduct the study, MeriTalk surveyed 1,000 Americans to identify current customer perceptions and set a benchmark for Federal service improvement.

The associated webcast addressed how the Federal government interacts with Americans from a customer service perspective and offered advice from consumers on what agencies can do to improve. Once available, download the archived webcast to learn more about Federal customer needs and how Executive Order 13571, released in April 2011, changes the way government agencies are expected to conduct government service. Panelists discussed the findings of the study, innovative ideas on how agencies can improve their customer service, and best practices that agencies can use in order to meet President Obama's executive order and provide greater value to the American people.

Featured speakers included:

• Steve O'Keeffe, Founder, MeriTalk (moderator)

Steve O'Keeffe

Steve O'Keeffe is the founder of MeriTalk – www.meritalk.com – the government IT network. MeriTalk is an online community that hosts professional networking, thought leadership, and focused events to drive the government IT dialogue. A 20-year veteran of the government IT community, O'Keeffe has worked in government and industry and has contributed to The Washington Post and The Economist. Today, he regularly sparks dialogue on his blog, My Cup of IT. O'Keeffe is a fixture as an expert witness on Capitol Hill, testifying on government IT and workforce issues in both House and Senate hearings. In addition to MeriTalk, he founded Telework Exchange, GovMark Council, and O'Keeffe & Company. O'Keeffe is a member of the USO-Metro and Public Manager boards.

• Martha Dorris, Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, U.S. General Services Administration

Martha Dorris

Martha Dorris is the Deputy Associate Administrator (DAA) in the U.S. General Services Administration's, Office of Citizen Services (OCS) and Innovative Technologies. With more than 30 years of experience in the information technology arena within government and industry, she has led the Office of Citizen Services to be a place of innovation, citizen services while delivering real results. Currently, Dorris is leading the creation of products and services that will enable the Federal government to be open, transparent and participatory.




As the DAA for the Office of Citizen Services, Dorris has created an integrated delivery of government information to citizens, businesses and government in English and Spanish via the Internet, phone, or in print. Internet delivery is provided through USA.gov, GobiernoUSA.gov, and other consumer web sites as well as many social media channels, telephone at 1-800-FED INFO or through the Pueblo publications center. Dorris was responsible for supporting version 1 of the Recovery.gov web site that provides citizens with the ability to track where their money is being spent as a result of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009. Dorris creates products and services that enable other Federal agencies to improve their service to the public. She has been instrumental in providing leadership in implementing web 2.0 technologies in the Federal government. In 2009, OCS engaged with the public over 240 million times.




Dorris has been active in the IT community for decades. She has been recognized for her hard work, dedication, and leadership in numerous ways. She was a Fed 100 award winner in 2004, 2006, and 2008. She has been active with the International Council for Information Technology in Government Administration (ICA) for over 10 years and was named a Distinguished Service Award winner in 2005. In addition, OCS was recognized in 2007 with the President's Quality Award for Management Excellence. She was the President of the American Council for Technology (ACT) from June 2007 to June 2009. Martha was also recognized by AFFIRM with the 2008 Service to the Citizen Award and was recently named the Civilian Agency IT Executive of the Year by Government Computer News for 2009.

• Melissa Hardt, Director, Industry and Public Sector Marketing, RightNow

Melissa Hardt

Melissa has over 13 years experience in marketing and sales for large technology companies focused on both the Public and Private Sector. As Director, Public Sector Marketing for RightNow Technologies, she is responsible for managing all marketing activities that drive awareness, generate demand and expand key relationships for RightNow solutions across Federal Civilian Government, Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, Higher Education, Non Profit organizations and State & Local Government. Specific activities include strategic messaging, social community management, content and demonstration development, solution positioning, market research and strategy, event planning and execution and customer and partner communications.




Prior to joining RightNow, Melissa worked for Oracle Corporation and SAP in various sales and marketing roles.




Melissa holds a BBA in Marketing from The College of William and Mary. She is a member of RightNow Technologies Public Sector Leadership Team, the Federal Marketing Executive Board, AFCEA International where she is the Co-Chair for Marketing, EDUCAUSE, ACT-IAC, NASCIO and Women in Technology. Melissa grew up in Fairfax, VA and currently lives in Northern Virginia where she enjoys running marathons and spending time with her husband and two sons.

Click here to download the full study

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