TransitRiderOC on Twitter, plus an audio interview with OCTA's Ted Nguyen

Ted Nguyen, manager of OCTA Public Communications, is an avid Twitter, Facebook, blogger, and all-around social media user. He's using the power of the Internet to spread the word about OCTA's transit detours, events, and hearings, and it's catching a lot of attention on the Internet as a good example of how government can reach out to people — the catchphrase I often hear is government transparency.

In fact, TransitRiderOC now has a Twitter feed. I'm not quite sure what to post yet besides announcements of my posts, but if you've got any suggestions, please let me know! You can follow my "tweets," or my posts to my Twitter account, at http://www.twitter.com/TransitRiderOC . All my posts are listed on the right-hand side of TransitRiderOC's front page.

Ted and his partner-in-crime, Kristin, found me at the OCTA Store yesterday guiltily buying lapel pins and hats. Ted interviewed me and might post an embarrassing video of the whole thing soon on OCTA's blog, Mile-by-Mile. We discussed the service cuts, and how both of us use the Internet to communicate.

Their store actually is a pretty good bargain: pins and toy buses cost just a few dollars — even though Spokker isn't going to buy any of it. One of their employees said she loved giving toys to her child. She also mentioned a cute story: a thuggish-looking teen swaggered into the store once, and wanted to buy an OCTA sweater, because he grew up riding OCTA. Très chic.

It was a pleasure meeting you both, Kristin and Ted! Here's Ted's audio podcast (5 min long), or you can view the original page: