Last night, Washington’s first “Govup” saw dozens of government workers come together near Dupont Circle. In the brief video below, Marie Davie, Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Assisted Acquisition Services the General Services Agency praises Steve Ressler, the founder of Govloop, for his work in creating a platform to empower government workers to network and collaborate online.

“If you’ve got a great idea, and you want to change the world, try it, do it, take that risk” said Mary Davie. “We are a tribe. We’ve got linchpins. We’ve got people that are passionate and really want to make a difference. Thank you for letting us do that.” You can visit Govloop for pictures of the DC Govup.

Govloop and the next generation of government workers earned some coverage in the Washington Post earlier this month. The social network now has over 30,000 members and continues to grow. That’s only likely to continue, given demographic trends highlighted in the article:

Almost one in three of the 142,690 federal workers hired last year was 29 or younger, while more than one in four were between 30 and 39, a demographic that’s reshaping the bureaucracy — and creating tension and opportunity along the way. In 10 years, about 400,000 of the 2 million federal workers will be younger than 35, government personnel experts say.

The pro-government attitude of the millennial generation is also critical to consider in that context, particularly with respect to interest in improving the efficiency of delivering government services.

Wikis and Open Government at the GSA

For a more formal look at Davie’s work at the GSA with acquisition and wikis, read about the Better Buy Project and watch her presentation at the Gov 2.0 Expo below. As with so many areas, often real change is quiet, incremental and collaborative.