Coast Guard Video of the Year Contest

Cross-posted from the Coast Guard Compass

Everyday, Guardians are involved in amazing rescues, national security operations and drug interdictions. Whenever possible, Guardians capture those Coast Guard operations on video. The videos truly highlight the missions and stories of America’s Guardians. Sometimes you see them on the evening news, but often you don’t.

For the past several years, the Coast Guard has been recognizing the top videos of the year. We’ve narrowed it down to 11 finalists (a tribute to the Coast Guard’s 11 statutory missions), but we want your help in deciding which one is the “Coast Guard Video of the Year” for 2009.

The link above will take you to a first look video compilation of the 11 finalists for video of the year. Starting next Monday (December 21, 2009), the Compass blog will highlight one video per day together with audio from a member of the Coast Guard unit involved in the mission. You can then follow the link to the Coast Guard YouTube “Video of the Year 2009″ playlist to use the rating and comment feature to cast your vote.

Votes will be accepted until January 8, 2010. The units with the top three videos will receive a Flip video camera to enhance their ability to capture and share imagery of their operations.

For updates on the contest, you can watch comments in the YouTube playlist, stay tuned to the blog, check the Coast Guard Facebook fan page or follow the Twitter hashtag #uscgtopvideos.

UPDATE: Voting continues! Head over to the Coast Guard Compass to check out the second video for the contest. Go cast your vote!

A New Look, and a New Way to Communicate

Today, the department proudly unveiled an updated dhs.gov. We've been working on the "new look and feel" for sometime, and we're happy to finally share it with you. The new design and navigation reflects Secretary Napolitano's five major responsibilities, and makes it easier for users to find information. We relied on extensive user input and search analysis to help us in the redesign, and want your feedback. Check it out.

We're also launching the department's new official YouTube channel. President Obama continually emphasizes the need for more transparency and access, and YouTube is a social media tool that helps us do just that. We'll use it to highlight events, speeches, public service announcements and other related content. We'll continue to move forward with the use of web 2.0 tools, allowing the Department to communicate its message and broadcast content with a human face and voice to an audience eager for more transparency and access.

“Social media plays an increasingly large role as we engage with the public, especially in the event of an incident or disaster,” said DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. “These new tools help us communicate directly and facilitate immediate dialogue about the Department’s security efforts across the nation and around the world.”

Check out the new look at dhs.gov, and our new Youtube channel.