The project manager reports that the biggest challenge was the fact that people just didn't think that they could "change the writing habits" of their employees. She said, "We really were trying to change the thought process of people before they actually started writing - To convince them that good writing was about clear thinking." But, with the passing of time, the VA reports they've pretty much succeeded on this one.

The Bureau of Land Management is proud of their plainly written regs including one especially well-written one on Mining Claims which makes use of Q&A format and pronouns through-out. I learned that when the new administration arrived, they questioned some of these Plain Language techniques, especially the Q&A format. When the PL lead was asked if he was going to rewrite it, he simply said, "No, that's how we write our regs." And so, they continue to do so.

They have also greatly improved their notices to the public, for example the Notice of Competitive Lease Sale.

Before: "Notice is hereby given that on May 5, the US Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Utah State Office, will offer for competitive sale, pursuant to 43 CFR Part 3120 and procedures herein, certain Federal lands in Utah for oil and gas leasing."

After: "We are pleased to announce that we will offer for competitive sale certain Federal Lands in the state of Utah for oil and gas leasing." Followed by Q&As to walk people thru the process.

Security & Exchange Commission – In the early 1990s, the SEC was a pioneer in Plain Language in the US Gov. and many of you are familiar with SEC's Plain Language Handbook. However, anyone who's been following corporate scandals this past year in the United States knows that the SEC has been busy in areas other than Plain Language. Nevertheless, Harvey Pitt did talk about Plain Language in his first appearance after being selected as head of the SEC. He said, "The SEC promotes Plain English in the filings of companies. It's something we also ought to practice." And when you visit their website (http://www.sec.gov/), you'll see that at SEC, despite distractions, they do still practice what they preach.