{"173101":{"#nid":"173101","#data":{"type":"news","title":"INTA Alumna Blends Technology with Policy at the U.S. State Department","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the spring of 2009,\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EKristin Lundberg\u2019s\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;team at the U.S. State Department was tasked with a project that had no precedent: organize a live, interactive webcast of a speech by the Secretary of State.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESecretary Hillary Rodham Clinton was scheduled to be in Brussels, Belgium and address a group of European students. American officials at embassies and consulates across Europe were offered the opportunity to organize viewing parties with local youth leaders who would watch the Secretary speak, ask questions, and comment - online in real time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cInviting people to comment online while she was speaking was something very new to people in the State Department,\u201d said Lundberg. \u201cThe idea that we\u2019d have a chat going during her speech was really unconventional at the time.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELundberg, who earned a joint degree in\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EInternational Affairs and Modern Languages\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;(IAML), is well-acquainted with taking on a challenge. Her current post as a foreign affairs officer at the State Department required 14 interviews over the course of two days for one of only a few hundred fellowship slots coveted by nearly 700 finalists. \u0026nbsp;She had roughly a 5% chance of getting the job at State, but succeeded.\u0026nbsp;She\u2019s also pretty proud of passing Georgia Tech\u2019s required undergraduate math classes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut during that spring three years ago, Lundberg could only sit tight and cross her fingers that the server didn\u2019t crash.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen I think about our setup, it was the most dinky setup you had ever seen,\u201d she recalled. \u201cWe had no budget and we were still building our office.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDespite the obstacles, the webcast went off without a hitch. Her team managed to assuage the worries of staffers who felt online commenting would distract from the talk, and Secretary Clinton\u2019s voice was perfectly audible in embassies miles away from Brussels.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI think people are very nervous about technology,\u201d said Lundberg. \u201cTechnology is not perfect. You are taking a risk, but the payoff is worth it.\u201d More people are reached, and more voices are heard.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELundberg appreciates how trivial the technological concerns of just a few years ago seem today. But that first webcast was significant for her career and for the promotion of digital public diplomacy by the State Department.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEvents like that one really paved the way for the future of our office,\u201d she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe works in CO.NX (pronounced \u201cconnex\u201d), an office within the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) at the U.S. State Department. IIP is the State Department\u2019s public diplomacy (PD) communications bureau, leading it\u0027s support for U.S. Embassy PD efforts and engagement with overseas audiences. In a government built on acronyms, CO.NX doesn\u2019t actually stand for anything. It\u2019s a play on the verb \u201cconnect.\u201d CO.NX makes State\u0027s panel discussions, expert web chats, student alumni discussions, and guest speaker events virtually accessible, free of charge to anyone in the world with an Internet connection.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter serving as a senior producer for several years, Lundberg is now the lead training coordinator and visits embassies worldwide training them to do what CO.NX does domestically. The custom-designed training is two-part: first, it provides the technical tools and knowledge to enable embassies and consulates to set up their own online broadcasts, and second, it enables understanding of how to effectively convey messages through the medium.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELundberg says her job is \u201cto blend technology with policy.\u201d It\u2019s something she learned during her time at Georgia Tech, and she credits it as a significant contributing factor in her landing the Presidential Management Fellowship at the State Department after graduate school in 2008. She was competing for a fellowship along with graduates from Harvard, Yale, Tufts, and others.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe main thing I knew that was different for me was my Georgia Tech background,\u201d said Lundberg.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo she played to her advantage.\u0026nbsp;During interviews she made it clear that she had the required mix of technology and liberal arts training for the job. As an undergraduate she organized speakers and managed workshops for The Sam Nunn Bank of America Policy Forum. She said that she \u201cgrumbled like everyone else\u201d about the IAC requirements to take calculus, computer science, and management courses, but she discovered during group projects in graduate school that she was the only one trained in Excel macros.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELundberg told interviewers, \u201cI haven\u2019t just written papers or done research. I have actually implemented my knowledge. I\u2019ve taken policy and turned it into action.\u201d She added, \u201cI\u2019m not afraid of technology. I\u2019ll help you learn. \u0026nbsp;And I know international affairs.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat mix of skills got her in the door.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt can be very challenging for employers to find candidates that understand not only the technical side of things, but can also communicate well, both orally and in writing. You really have to have both skill sets if you want to be competitive in today\u2019s market and Ivan Allen College certainly emphasizes this throughout the coursework,\u201d she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELundberg sees digital skills and familiarity with technology as a training requirement for future government officials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cNothing beats face-to-face. That\u2019s the cornerstone of what we do,\u201d said Lundberg. \u201cBut considering our resources we have to do more with less all the time.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThinking back to that first webcast in Brussels, Lundberg knows you can do quite a lot with a little. To her, the small challenges that may come with uniting technology with policy are always worth the payoff of connecting the world.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the spring of 2009,\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EKristin Lundberg\u2019s\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;team at the U.S. State Department was tasked with a project that had no precedent: organize a live, interactive webcast of a speech by the Secretary of State.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27663","created_gmt":"2012-11-26 12:59:07","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:14","author":"Rebecca Rolfe","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-11-26T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-11-26T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"173091":{"id":"173091","type":"image","title":"Kristin Lundberg","body":null,"created":"1449179012","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:43:32","changed":"1475894814","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:54","alt":"Kristin Lundberg","file":{"fid":"195966","name":"kristinlundberg500x333.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kristinlundberg500x333.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kristinlundberg500x333.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":102539,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/kristinlundberg500x333.jpg?itok=AbIqQ6CP"}}},"media_ids":["173091"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/conx.state.gov\/","title":"CO.NX"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SXT4H1B1rcY%20","title":"Lundberg interviewed at the U.S. Center at COP 15 in Copenhagen, 2009"}],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"}],"keywords":[{"id":"51311","name":"U.S. State Department"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERebecca Keane\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-1720\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}