The Department of Agriculture has done a lot in the last seven years and the agency is using the versatility of the Internet to tell its story through a year-long, interactive “chapter book” on Medium.
Each month, USDA will release a new long-form post showcasing the agency’s achievements through personal stories, photos, videos and more. The project organizers hope “USDA Results” will give citizens a better understanding of what the department does, while also serving as an example of how agencies can highlight the work federal employees do in communities across the nation.
Read: USDA Results — Chapter 1
“We wanted to create a body of work that is a record of the accomplishments of this department since [Secretary Tom Vilsack] began in his role in 2009,” said Matthew Herrick, USDA director of communications. “We wanted to demonstrate the results to the public … but to do it in a different way.”
The communications team wanted to do it in a new and engaging way and quickly discovered their content management system and website wouldn’t suffice. Rather than building something new in-house, the team opted to take advantage of a deal with blog site Medium that would allow them and others within the department to post rich multimedia content with ease.
“We looked at it and said, ‘Wow, this is really great,’” Rhee said. “It allows for simple development and really to express creativity without having to recode the platform. But one of the main benefits is reaching beyond USDA by tapping into the Medium community,” enabling people outside the agency to contribute, as well.
“It’s a celebration not only of the individuals that we’ve impacted and the investments that we’ve made but also a celebration of the work of our staff,” Herrick said, citing the more than 90,000 USDA employees working at bureaus in every state, as well as thousands of non-federal partners.
“I think what will really surprise folks is the breadth of our work and the breadth of our mission,” he added, and they’ll be able to consume it in a way that is “as dynamic as the individuals we wanted to represent.”
The first chapter, “Celebrating America’s Farmers and Ranchers: Supporting the Producers Who Ensure a Safe, Affordable, Nutritious American Food Supply,” is live now at Medium.com/USDA-Results.
“We’ve all chipped in — and we’ve had folks from other agencies chip in — to produce this and we all feel a sense of ownership and we’re very excited about where this is going,” Herrick said.
