FCW Insider: Catching up on items from Murray's birthday to DOT telework to a Rising Star rising

As my boss rightly pointed out to me this morning, I haven't posted anything for several days, which is unusual for me. So... apologies. I was in Tuscon for a long weekend for a wedding, and then I've been at the 47th annual IRMCO the past few days. Yes -- 47th. How is THAT possible? IRMCO is another one of these conferences that has an inexplicable name. (Quiz: ? What does that stand for?) For the record, according to the invaluable , IRMCO stands for . So it is another one of those conferences where it ends up being redundant to say "IRMCO conference," given that park of the title is... well, conference. And when have you heard the term "interagency resources management"?IRMCO was being held at the , which is located in Cambridge, Md. right on the . Unfortunately, the hotel was having Internet issues. It was on and off. (That is part of the reason you didn't get blog postings from out there.) You've not seen anything until you see an IT conference where there is no Internet connection. (Of course, IPIC suffered a , so... these things happen.)I'll post about IRMCO later, but... a number of non-IRMCO catch-up items.* Telework day for DOT... The Transportation Department's new digs are located in the neighborhood of the new Washington Nationals stadium. Well, today,Nats Stadium is Pope-central. The Pope, here on his U.S. visit, is celebrating mass at the stadium. So getting to work at DOT HQ was going to be a nightmare. So DOT officials were very smart -- they used it as an opportunity to test out their continuity of operations plans. So just about all DOT HQ personal are teleworking today. One DOT official told me that they have even asked personnel to send an e-mail at about the same time -- once at a specific time in the morning, and one at a specific time in the afternoon. They want to really put the system to the test. They are expecting to have some glitches -- this is a test, after all. They up-staffed the DOT help desk, given that you have a whole slew of people who have never worked from home, never used theVPN, etc. It is a innovative way of taking something that was going to be a real hassle and using it as an opportunity. Nice job! * Deidre Murray's new digs: We told you that  after a long tenure. On Monday, she started at Qwest Communications, a big get for Diana Gowen, but Gowen has always been excellent at recognizing talent. (FYI -- Happy birthday to Deirdre. It is her birthday today. And, in case you didn't know, was also .)* Watching the Rising Stars rise: We were thrilled to hear that , a member of the , is becoming a fed. Benett has been a manager at and his enlightened bosses have allowed him to spend time with the , both with the as running programs. Benett is going to be joining the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office working on program management issues. I have used Benett as my example of a Rising Star in two instances now -- at the 2007 Rising Star awards lunch, and at the 2008 Fed 100 awards gala. He is a passionate person who is dedicated to public service. Congratulations Jonathan.* Rising Star nominations are open... Speaking of Rising Star, nominations are open. If you know a young person who deserves recognition, the form is online and fairly easy. You can find it at . More on this in the days to come, but... let us know who is deserving. * On the Carey baby watch... Any word from the Careys? Robert Carrey, CIO of the Department of Navy and, as we noted earlier, , is slated to have the family's third kid... well, just about any day now. (I just checked and, as of mid-day Thursday... no baby yet.) Carey's wife was at the Fed 100 gala -- , by the way -- and said that she was feeling great. So... we're awaiting word. (See all of .) We wish them well.