User:Quinn99/Sandbox

GovLoop is an online social network for people in and around government. The community, which is hosted by Ning.com, was originally aimed at federal, state and local government employees in the United States, but has since grown to include students, government contractors, employees of governments outside the United States and individuals interested in government service. GovLoop hosts personal profile pages, discussion groups and forums, blogs, photographs, videos, slide presentations, a wiki and two weekly podcasts. In May 2010, GovLoop membership exceeded 30,000.

GovLoop was founded in May 2008 by Stephen A. Ressler, then an information specialist with the United States Department of Homeland Security. In September 2009 the community was acquired by GovDelivery, a government communications firm in St. Paul, Minnesota, whereupon Ressler left government employment; he is now the CEO of GovLoop. The community employs a community manager, Andrew Krzmarzick, and relies on volunteer community leaders to assist newcomers and monitor contributed content. In May 2010, GovLoop hosted more than 700 discussion groups and more than 5,400 blog posts on topics ranging from federal acquisition policies to implementing new government transparency requirements to "Gov Gourmet," a group dedicated to cooking.