Farewell Colin!

This week, The Buzz is saying goodbye to Colin Larsen, who has produced and hosted the show since it began in the Spring of 2021. 

Colin would like to profoundly thank ACT-IAC and the listeners for their support through these more than 150 episodes. 

Don't worry, The Buzz will continue! As always, stay tuned for more from ACT-IAC.

Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform to never miss an episode! For more from ACT-IAC, follow us on LinkedIn or visit http://www.actiac.org.

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Intro/Outro Music: See a Brighter Day/Gloria Tells
Courtesy of Epidemic Sound

(Episodes 1-159: Intro/Outro Music: Focal Point/Young Community
Courtesy of Epidemic Sound)

Transcript

COLIN: 1:11

You're listening to The Buzz with Actiac, where we explore the intersection of government and technology. This episode of the buzz is brought to you by on point at on point consulting. We're more than just a technology and consulting services company. We're a trusted partner for government leaders dedicated to safeguarding their systems, optimizing operations and delivering essential services as we guide agencies through their digital transformation journeys. Prioritizing continuity is paramount. Our focus remains on people, the individuals within the agencies, the communities they serve, and our own dedicated teams. We believe that by placing people at the forefront, we solidify our position as a premier trusted government partner and collaborator that is ready to face the most complex of challenges alongside government agencies. Learn more at onpointcorp. com. Hi listeners. This is Colin Larson. I'm going to keep the introduction short today. This is a bit of a different episode. This is actually going to be my last episode as host of the buzz. I'm going to be leaving, which we can talk more about a little bit later in the episode, but yeah, today, because this is a special episode, I'm joined, by my manager, Keisha Powell, from Act IAC. She's the one that, hired me. put me in front of the microphone, gave me all of the freedom to produce this show. So if you liked the show, you should thank her. If you did not like the show, you should also blame her. Keisha, welcome.

KISHA: 3:01

Thank you for that warm introduction, Colin. I think that you made this show what it is for Act I Act. If you enjoy it, he should get all of the kudos. I will take any blame if you haven't, but I'm sure that you have cause you have such a dedicated, listenership out there.

COLIN: 3:18

Yes. Thank you. Yeah, it takes a team to make anything happen. I know that you've been a very helpful guide and mentor throwing ideas around, steering me in the right direction. So, again, I would never say that I did all of this alone. So thank you again.

KISHA: 3:35

Absolutely. Absolutely.

COLIN: 3:38

So I wanted to start, you know, if we can go back in time, I kind of wanted to ask you why did Actiact decide they wanted a podcast?

KISHA: 3:46

So, We really wanted to, we have all of this amazing content that we put out and we put together for people. We wanted to have another medium to be able to share that. And honestly, when we originally thought about the podcast, we thought Wouldn't this be great to put out content that already exists and get people listening to things that are already out there. But when you came on, you really took it and ran with it and came up with concepts, ideas, and just all kinds of content that stood on its own. So the buzz is really Morphed into something different than what it was supposed to be or what we had envisioned it to be thanks to your help and so I think that We have gotten to a place where we are Even more in the thought leader area because of the podcast so that gives you a little bit of background of what we were thinking

COLIN: 4:46

Yeah, makes sense. We did still end up doing some of the You know taking other act I act content from our live EVENTS You and rebroadcasting that for Anyone who wanted to listen. So that was something that we did Absolutely. Keep doing with the show.

KISHA: 5:03

Yeah, absolutely. And we will continue to do that. The buzz is, is sticking around folks. Don't worry. Even though Colin is going to be leaving us, the buzz will be here to stay.

COLIN: 5:13

Yeah, that's a good point. Don't unsubscribe . The buzz will continue, perhaps with a new host and or in some form, not totally sure yet, but there, there will, there will be a buzz with ACT I ACT podcast.

KISHA: 5:28

Absolutely.

COLIN: 5:29

so as my manager, uh, what were some of your favorite miniseries or shows or things that we did?

KISHA: 5:37

I was thinking about that this morning, and I think one of my favorites was the AI episode that you did, and I think it was because if you hadn't told me that you used an AI voice Oh, Uh, as the intro, I would have probably had a heart attack, and if you haven't heard that episode, go back to it. I'm trying to remember the title of it, but basically Colin uses an AI voice that sounds just like him to do his introduction and they kind of do a back and forth. Uh, doing that. And I actually had some questions for you too, if we can shift gears a little bit. I, you know, I just told you kind of what my favorite episode was. What was your favorite episode to record and produce?

COLIN: 6:24

Before I answer that real quick, that episode you mentioned, uh, it's opening the artificial information floodgates with, Ravi Dhotan. That was, June of 2023. So my favorite episode. Oh man, this is a good one. I, maybe I'll do some, you know, some quick, like my top five, three or five list or whatever.

KISHA: 6:46

I mean, they're all your children, so it's hard to pick one.

COLIN: 6:50

I think, not too long after I started, I did a mini series, about federal procurement. I got to interview Leslie Field. Uh, I got to interview Jim Nagel, who, wrote basically a history of government contracting Soraya Correa, who had retired at that point. Just a lot of really knowledgeable experts in federal procurement. And this is a topic that I had no experience with, no understanding of. Before I came to act IAC, but it's so important because it, you know, how the government buys things. First off, the government buys so much stuff, how it does that matters. So much in every single branch of government and every federal agency, just how they're able to accomplish their mission is really dependent on. How they acquire products and services from the private sector. Um, and it's, it can get really complicated and really wonky. And then the weeds, we tried not to get too much into that in the shows themselves, but you know, just understanding how this system works. It's all levels of government too. It's not just federal state and local. They also have to go through these processes. Um, so I, there was just, there was so much I learned in that series. The other episodes that I really, that stick out to me, I did a couple where I interviewed some folks from Estonia, on their digital government. So this was in July and August of 2022, we had two episodes. There was Carmen Rall, and Tavi Kotka who are, Tavi Kotka was a former CIO of Estonia, the first, CIO. And just the, you know, this is a very small Baltic country. If you haven't heard of it, it's right next to Russia, which actually is important for the way they operate their digital government, because they have backups in a different country to in case of invasion. Um, but they have just, you know, really set the standard for how to deliver digital services, in a way that's so seamless and it's. It's simple, but it's also like, obviously there was a ton of work that was put into it after they gained independence from the Soviet union. So I would just, I would go listen to those episodes cause there's so many lessons and, you know, unfortunately I think Tavi Kodka at one point said in the interview that there's, the U S is never gonna get there unless we have a national ID system. Like that's the key to having. Centralized seamless, not even centralized, just really efficient digital services. I don't think that's anything that's going to happen anytime soon in the U S but, that's kind of like the, that was my big takeaway at least. And then I'd say, you know, I got, I got an opportunity just because of the Biden administration's priorities with the infrastructure bill and the inflation reduction act is there was a lot of, you know, money directed towards. Infrastructure and, climate spending. And, those are two things that I personally got really interested in. And I was able to interview, I don't know, there's a good amount of climate episodes out there. There's a good amount of infrastructure episodes out there. And it kind of, that ended up nudging me in the direction I'm going now with my, hopefully my, my next, the next step in my career. I learned, a lot during those episodes that I think will help me, for the rest of my life and what I'm hoping to do next.

KISHA: 10:22

Unless you want to talk about two more of your top five, why don't you tell us what you're going to do next? Since you, it's a good segue.

COLIN: 10:31

Yeah. So I'm gonna, I'm going to graduate school to get my master's in city planning. Planning is a pretty big field, I guess, for anyone who's unfamiliar. It's, How cities and towns work, how they build housing, how they build streets and transit networks and bike lanes and, how they grow more or less resilient to extreme weather. There's aspects of building renewable energy sites that go into planning. There's, there's all of this. So, um, because there's so much crossover between the private sector. And local government and state government and even federal government. You know, I, I have to, I have to say, I wouldn't be taking this next step. I don't think I would have gotten into graduate school without all of the experience and knowledge that I absorbed from Act IAC. I'm also, you know, I think I feel very inspired by a lot of the people that I've met at Act IAC and the federal employees and, you know, Focus on public service and that's something that I also hope to, take with me as I, as I move, as I move on.

KISHA: 11:38

Well, we wish you all of the luck and I know that you will. Achieve your degree and that you will make an impact in all of the areas that you decide to enter into because you are just that awesome. Are there any final words that you want to give folks before you sign off today? Is there anything that you want to, that you want as a takeaway for people?

COLIN: 12:05

Um, yeah, I just, I guess, you know, anyone listening who, or who has listened. Um, I just want to thank you so much for tuning in. Um, this in a lot of ways, this was a kind of an experiment both for me and for Act IAC. And yeah, I'm just, I'm really proud of the body of work that we've produced here at Act IAC. It was over 150 episodes of the buzz. Which is kind of, yeah, it's kind of mind boggling to me that I would do this, but it's, you know, it's been over three years since I started hosting the show. I am personally. Very excited to see where the buzz goes next. I know you're all still figuring that out, but I would, you know, personally, I'd love to see a new host take over and make it their own and, you know, take it and run with it and maybe do something completely different. So, yeah, thanks everyone for listening. Keisha, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. Thank you. Act IAC, shout out Dave Wintergren, our president, the entire act IAC team, and, uh, you know, maybe. If you're, if you're in the federal space, um, you maybe someday in the future, you'll see me at some point, I don't know, in some federal agency, uh, doing planning issues. Uh, so thank, thank you so much for listening. And this is Colin Larson signing off for the last time.

KISHA: 13:31

Well, thank you, Colin. This is bittersweet, but we thank you for all that you've given to Act IAC and to the buzz, and we wish you well for all of your future endeavors.

COLIN: 13:44

That's all for this week on the buzz with Act IAC. Be sure to follow us on your podcast platform of choice to never miss an episode. To stay informed on all things Act IAC, follow us on LinkedIn and sign up for our daily newsflash at actiac. org. Act IAC is a non profit, non partisan organization dedicated to advancing government through the effective and innovative application of technology. You can support the Buzz and other Act IAC programming by becoming an Act IAC member. Members get exclusive access to communities of interest, professional development programs, in person events, and more. Membership is open to all for profit and non profit organizations that share the ActIAC vision and is free for all government employees. Learn more at actiac. org slash join. You can also make a tax deductible donation at any time by visiting actiac. org slash donate. Thanks for listening.