Using WisLine Web
From her office in Madison, Erica Kauten, director of the UW-Extension Small
Business Development Center (SBDC) can lead a statewide meeting on growing and
developing Wisconsin's entrepreneurial climate. A daunting task, you might think, until
you consider the method she uses. She manages the entire statewide meeting through
the webconferencing system WisLine Web, connecting people across the state to
consult with local governments and citizens interested in stimulating economic
development. In effect, she is bringing her statewide network down home to the
people of Wisconsin.

Counting on traditional marketing and outreach education practices no longer suffices
in these days where information and technology intertwine at the speed of light. "If we
don't share information with people effectively, then we start duplicating services,"
Kauten notes. "The challenge in public service today is to always let people know
what we are doing."

UW-Extension's SBDC provides no-cost, confidential counseling to help clients manage
and run their businesses more profitably and provides entrepreneurial training for startups.
Located in 13 service centers on UW campuses and two specialty centers - the
Wisconsin Innovation Center at UW-Whitewater and the Center for Innovation and
Development at UW-Stout - the SBDC network provides key education, research,
and development tailored to meet the needs of the state's businesses. This past fall, the
SBDC, in partnership with the state Department of Commerce, launched the Business
AnswerLine and Business Help Line for instant access to business startup questions
and permitting and licensing information. Kauten is planning on using WisLine Web to
help market the new service as well as other services the SBDC network can offer to
local communities.

Two Birds - One Stone
"Instead of marketing with pencil and paper, we're counting on people to be curious
about using WisLine Web technology," Kauten said. Her assessment is also based on
a prior WisLine Web national meeting she hosted in which 80 people signed up to talk
about the effect of state deficits throughout the nation. She notes the technology is
especially good for updates, needs assessments, and marketing. This spring, she will
combine marketing efforts and needs assessments on WisLine Web. She will promote
the SBDC call center solution (called the Business AnswerLine) and other services to
local communities.

"By keeping (participants) engaged, you really can create a dynamic atmosphere,"
Kauten said. She notes that although there is less interpersonal dialogue with WisLine
Web, a skilled person facilitating the meetings will make the difference hardly noticeable.
Taking opinion polls, using slides, and having concurrent "talking sessions" are just a few
of the ways Kauten uses to charge up her WisLine Web meetings. Conducting straw
polls throughout the meetings, where results can be tabulated anonymously, has a
distinct advantage over opinion-polling in regular meetings, she added. "Normally, the
most vocal or loudest people carry the day," she noted, "usually taking the entire day.
With WisLine Web that isn't the case. Using WisLine Web is really good public
policy," Kauten said.