The Sounding Board was an intranet blog developed and launched[1] in February 2009 by staff from the State Department's Office of eDiplomacy.
The platform metrics soon generated 27,000 page views a month and serves as a global water cooler for a workforce spread around the planet.
[2] It has served as a platform for brain-storming ideas and crowd sourcing non-policy solutions.
[3] Employee response to the online forum varied from enthusiasm to concern for maintaining confidentiality and decorum.
Some contributors to the Sounding Board expressed worry that public airing of internal discussion might embarrass the Department of State; comments that were subsequently published in Washington Post reporter Al Kamen's column "In The Loop".