GovLoop Expands

Last month I reported that GovLoop, the unofficial "Facebook to the Feds," was acquired by GovDelivery, partly so founder Steve Ressler could devote all his time to nurturing and expanding his pet project. Yesterday Steve sent me some news: He's made the first addition to the GovLoop team and it's someone who should be familiar to the Gov 2.0 crowd. Andrew Krzmarzick, formerly senior project coordinator at the USDA Graduate School.

In his position at USDA, Krzmarzick became highly visible online as a member of the emerging government 2.0 community, which should serve him well in his new role as director of community engagement at GovLoop. He will be charged with encouraging outreach, partnership and engagement to help the community grow and expand.

"I am excited to officially be on the GovLoop team," Krzmarzick said. "I've watched with admiration over the past 15 months as the community has grown and the members have connected with one another to share information and ideas generously. I see its potential as a place where people in and around government can turn in real time to get linked with the people and information they need to perform their jobs more effectively."

Krzmarzick has a bit of an unusual backstory; according to Steve he was studying to be a priest in seminary at one point before turning to the nonprofit sector and ultimately joining the federal government.

Ressler told me the move should free him from some of his community managing duties so he is more able to pursue his vision of expanding GovLoop and its offerings. Krzmarzick will handle much of the day-to-day operations of the site, help users with questions and manage partnerships with various associations and other organizations.

The two first met on GovLoop, where they bonded over their shared interest in expanding government social networks.

Steve also let me know GovLoop recently passed the 20,000-member milestone. I'm also happy to announce that as of yesterday I'm one of those new members and look forward to learning more about the community in the coming weeks.