Can I just say how proud I am to be a government wonk??

Greetings government tribe - Vince here from your Qualtrics government team. Those of you who I've had the pleasure of meeting have probably heard me identify myself as a proud career bureaucrat. It's true, I'm obsessed - in addition to focusing on government for my graduate degree, I've spent the last decade+ in various government roles around the country at the state and local level. Today, I'm proud to be at Qualtrics to amplify the awesome work that y'all do on the daily, and find myself continually amazed at just how innovative our governments can be. I am really really really excited for the launch of this group - mostly because I (and the rest of our government team) get to connect with all of you much more often! Y'all are the ones doing the work, and the more that we have the opportunity to engage and learn from you, the better!

Since the onset of the pandemic, I've been trying really hard to stay resilient and focused on doing everything I can to help our governments adapt to the changing tide. It's hard work - not only are all of us re-examining how exactly we deliver services in a world of social distancing and online-everything, but we're also figuring out how to adjust all of our working schedules to keep everybody safe and secure. It's a tall order for us government vets - I remember having to write a formal memo (that had to be approved by 2 layers of leadership!!) in order to work remotely (temporarily!!!) for a few days.  

I can't imagine what it's like for all of you now as you work to create new remote working policies in addition to accommodating people who want to be on-site. We know that across the country, governments are standing up all sorts of in-person vaccine policies to make the workplace safe for those who want to (or have to) be onsite to deliver services. We've seen the formation of some best practices as the best and brightest bureaucrats (I use that term lovingly) come up with more solutions. The amount of innovation and design thinking here is astounding! I have been so impressed by all the creative solutions that y'all have been standing up to make this all work.

And I know y'all aren't done with testing and iterating - I know there's so much more coming. On the days where I feel beat down, confused, or completely overwhelmed, I know that all I have to do is look towards all of you to get a burst of resilience and hope.

Our team is so excited to be able to connect with you more frequently. We are all excited to launch this group, and we hope you get as much value from it as the joy we get in learning your stories.

Keep the energy flowing - if nothing else, for my sake!

- Vince