Awh! Oooh! Eeeeh! See? It doesn’t hurt too much! It’s easy to be featured on our “A Day in the Life” series…even our Communications Office can do it…as we feature Kurt Weiss! Here we go…

Meet Kurt Weiss, the Director of DIT Communications (not ringing any bells?), how about the guy that sends out the “Information Update” e-mails?  Some of you have teased him, calling him the department “spammer,” but in Kurt’s words…I try to keep our employees in the loop the best I can, knowing they don’t always have the time to read everything.”  Kurt is responsible for media relations and employee communications. He assists, accompanies and prepares Director Takai for Town Hall meetings and programs.  He also handles the department’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, responding to inquiries for public records and working with the Attorney General’s office on some requests. Kurt also has the role of Public Information Officer (PIO) for the department which includes writing news releases, working with the Governor’s Office to ensure the messages are on point with the administration, and conducting interviews with newspapers and television at their request.  Some of the more taxing times for Kurt’s PIO role occur when we have power outages, major virus infections on state computers, or interrupted or failed service for major client applications.

Kurt is also the Organizational Development Officer (ODO) for the department.  Each department has a designated ODO, responsible for implementing the Governor’s plan to instill the values of Integrity, Excellence, Teamwork, and Inclusion in the workplace.  In this role, Kurt is the Agency Administrator of the department’s MI 360 program.  “Part of my role as ODO is to help our department develop a culture,” Kurt says.  “We try to coordinate events that are fun and allow for teamwork and inclusion.”  Some of those events include the annual DIT golf outing, the department outing to the Lugnuts baseball game, the annual on-line holiday auction for charity, employee appreciation week, and many other events.   Kurt is also a trained DDI facilitator and he conducts training workshops as part of the department’s professional development effort.

Before joining DIT, Kurt worked for the Michigan State Police, where he managed various programs, including statewide safety belt grant projects, the department’s fleet of vehicles, the department’s purchasing card program, statewide public education for fire safety, and even the fitting of uniforms for our state troopers.

Kurt is a graduate of Michigan State University with a degree in Communications.  He enjoys playing golf and running, having just completed the recent 10-mile Bobby Crim road race in Flint.  In his free time Kurt volunteers as a Big Brother for the Big Brother/Big Sister program which helps children reach their potential through professionally supported one-to-one relationships. Kurt has been a Big Brother for the past six years to his Little Brother Richard. 

Take a good look now, as Kurt’s appearance may change.   Blonde hair may soon be replaced by gray; this energetic guy may soon be dragging himself into the office with bags under his eyes.   Kurt’s nights of golf will be replaced with rubber ducky baths, blocks, and bedtime stories.   Kurt and his wife Laura are expecting twins!   “We feel totally blessed,” Kurt says.  “I know my life is about to change.”

If you have an exciting cubicle neighbor and they are willing to be featured, nominate them to be the next "Day in the Life" candidate.  It really is painless!