Milwaukee Biz Blog

President Barack Obama showed up at Madison's Wright Middle School last week to talk about reforming education, but that topic may not have been top of mind for everyone who came to hear him.

It was the day after Democrats lost races for governor in Virginia and New Jersey, two states where Obama made personal appeals, and during a time in which Congress was stewing over health-care reform, troop levels in Afghanistan and legislation to extend unemployment benefits.

In case anyone was listening, however, the setting was as good a place as any to talk about what it will take to produce better educated citizens.

Wright Middle School is a 12-year old charter school within the Madison School District. It has about 240 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students, mostly black and Latino, with attendance rates that historically hover around 93 percent. It's been a public education success story because the students who attend all choose to be there – and their parents choose to be involved.

Obama wanted to speak at Wright Middle School to highlight the "Race to the Top" competition, which will invite states such as Wisconsin to compete for a share of $4.35 billion in federal education grants. Obama, who believes lagging achievements in education are a chronic problem in the United States, urged Wright students to aim higher, calling education "a prerequisite for success."

He's right, of course. Better educated people are more likely to find jobs, keep jobs, earn a good living and contribute to society as a whole. The real debate is how best to produce more of them.

"Race to the Top" dangles federal aid carrots to states that raise academic standards, improve teacher quality and expand the reach of charter schools. While $4.35 billion is a lot of money, it represents only a fraction of total K-12 education spending in the United States - about $667 billion in 2008-2009. It's even a fraction of federal-only spending on elementary and secondary education, a category that has grown sharply since former President Bush launched "No Child Left Behind" in 2001.

More money alone won't solve the problem. For "Race to the Top" to work, it must spur education innovation that spreads far beyond a charter school here and a new standard there. It must build upon best practices that can be broadly implemented, in Wisconsin and elsewhere.

Public-private efforts to enrich science, technology, engineering and math education provide ready examples of innovation. In Wisconsin, programs such as Project Lead the Way, Science Olympiad and FIRST Robotics have energized students and teachers alike - and are beginning to yield results.
Project Lead the Way is one instructive example. It prepares middle and high school students for careers in engineering and technology through courses that capture students' imagination. It's used in 2,300 schools nationwide, including 162 in Wisconsin, and is taught by existing public and private school teachers who are immersed in PTLW techniques. The track record is impressive: 73 percent of Project Lead the Way students enter engineering or tech programs, and 80 percent earn their degrees.

Another example of thinking differently about education involves student testing. Wisconsin has begun the process of phasing out its current system of testing student performance in grades three through eight and 10 in favor of a system that will more effectively guide teachers, parents and students - and help prepare those students for college and the workforce.

In the process, it should also help businesses in search for workers with 21st century skills, and Wisconsin taxpayers who have a stake in more effective use of local, state and federal dollars.
Other states have remade their testing systems already. Some, such as Oregon, have developed an Internet-based system, which dramatically shortens reporting time and allows for repeat tests for those who want to improve. Michigan requires the ACT test in its system, which lowers the statewide average score (a Wisconsin bragging right for decades) but serves to encourage more students to continue their education after high school. Nebraska built a statewide assessment system from classroom and district best practices. They're all designed to raise standards and performance.

Don't get me wrong: Wisconsin could use whatever share of the "Race to the Top" dollars it can get: It ranks a miserable 49th among the 50 states in per capita federal spending on K-12 education, according to one recent study. But let's make sure those dollars are put to work on innovation that can spread far beyond a school here or a classroom there.

Tom Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. He is the former associate editor of the Wisconsin State Journal.

In a recent entry in the Milwaukee Biz Blog, I wrote about how technology solutions can help businesses stay afloat in this new economy. While it's true that companies today evaluate every decision that affects the bottom line, some are also simultaneously concerned about how these decisions impact the environment.

Some companies don't realize that the same solutions can meet both objectives. In many cases, technology can cut costs while also reducing the overall impact on the environment.

Here are a few technology tips that can help you save money and the environment.

Avoid phantom energy
Leaving power cords for devices plugged in can consume energy and result in a higher energy bill. Unplug devices that you're not using to reduce "phantom" energy costs.

Save energy with virtualization
Consolidate your servers virtually to save energy. By reducing the number of physical servers in your office, more energy is saved and less money is spent on power and space.

Sleep at the end of the day
Choose sleep settings for your PC when not in use, allowing your PC to use less energy. Many PCs already have a default setting for sleep mode, but it doesn't hurt to be sure it is on.

Work remotely
Endorse remote working to reduce the effects of travel on the environment and reduce associated costs by as much as 30 percent. Live Meetings, video conferencing and instant messaging can make working remotely as easy as working in your office.

Use energy-efficient hardware
Choose a laptop over a desktop to consume less energy. Laptops consume less than 30 watts at full performance, compared to desktops that can use anywhere from 60-150 watts at full performance.

Build a recycling program
Establish a program to recycle old equipment. Tens-of-millions of functional computers are discarded each year by businesses, organizations and individuals. To find a recycler near you, go to http://green.msn.com/Tools/GreenDirectory/Recycle/Default.aspx.

Use less paper
Use programs like Office OneNote or SharePoint to reduce the amount of paper you use. SharePoint allows coworkers to share information and collaborate on documents without needless printing.

Calculate your savings - cost and energy
Use applications such as the Microsoft Desktop Energy Savings Calculator to conduct a full sustainability assessment to show your cost and energy savings.

Many companies are trying to find solutions to reduce operational costs that don't include employee cutbacks. With these tips, businesses can effectively use technology to reduce company costs and also shrink their carbon footprint.
 
Rob Busch is the Wisconsin enterprise sales manager for Microsoft and serves clients and partners in the company's Waukesha office. For more information, visit www.microsoft.com/environment.

Forget Saturday's football showdown between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Ignore the Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and Brett Favre's Minnesota Vikings.

The real cross-border game these days is all about biotechnology.

At least, that's the view from the newsroom of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, which recently published a two-part series headlined "A bio border battle" and "Badger state tech boom." The stories call attention to Wisconsin's emerging technology sector - and even declare Minnesota an "underdog" in terms of catching up.

While it's human nature to perceive grass on the other side of the fence as greener, the Star-Tribune series (and a related blog item headlined, provocatively, "Wisconsin kicks our butt") is emblematic of a growing awareness about Wisconsin's ability to transfer research into start-up companies. After years of building a more entrepreneur-friendly economy, Wisconsin is finally moving beyond Rodney Dangerfield status and gaining respect.

Other examples in recent weeks:

• Nineteen Wisconsin companies were selected by the MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum to make on-stage pitches to investors who will attend the group's annual conference, which will be held Nov. 11-12 in Madison. The next largest contingent of companies from any one state is eight from Ohio.
  Springboard Enterprises, a national group dedicated to connecting women-led businesses with private equity capital, held its "All Things Life Sciences" conference this week in Madison, attracting investors from across the United States.
• A recent gathering of tech-based organizations in Chicago examined Wisconsin's experience with a five-year-old investor tax credit law in hopes of persuading the Illinois Legislature to follow a similar approach.
• The Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, which annually gives start-up companies a chance to pitch their companies to investors, received more than 50 applications this year - including 10 from Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. This tech-based matchmaking event will be held in tandem with the MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum in November.
• The premier of Manitoba, who will soon become the next Canadian ambassador to the United States, will visit Wisconsin in Oct. 15 to sign a protocol agreement with the state that highlights opportunities for growing tech-based businesses.

The Star-Tribune series was sparked by the move of several Minnesota tech companies to Wisconsin, which, while hardly an exodus, highlighted the lure of Wisconsin's investor tax credits and a generally healthy system of launching homegrown early stage companies. Some members of the Minnesota Legislature are now hoping to emulate Wisconsin's tax credits law.

There's some irony in Minnesota looking to Wisconsin as an example - because for years, Wisconsin's tech community looked with envy upon Minnesota. It is a state that built a medical device industry around companies such as Medtronic, Guidant and St. Jude, and which continues to attract far more venture capital in any given year than Wisconsin. Most important, per capita incomes in Minnesota and Illinois still outpace Wisconsin by at least $4,000 per year.

But outsiders sense momentum in Wisconsin, and perceive the process of creating and nurturing start-up companies here is more cohesive. The Star-Tribune quoted Pete Bianco of Halleland Consulting, a Twin Cities firm with corporate experience in Wisconsin, as saying: "You just get this sense of forward motion. Wisconsin is doing something right. I would like to see Minnesota do the same."

It's reassuring that people in Minnesota, Illinois and beyond are taking note of Wisconsin's tech-based economy, which has always boasted some of the world's best academic research and now has some impressive companies to match. But the end game in Wisconsin should not be about gaining a leg up on Minnesota, Illinois or any other neighbor. The real imperative is competing on a global stage.

The region that includes Chicago to the south and the Twin Cities to the west is the "I-Q Corridor," a place where ideas, innovation, intellectual property and investment combine to create interstate quality. It's a region that can compare itself with many others nationally - and which must compete with emerging economies in China, India and beyond.

It's productive and even flattering that some people in Minnesota and Illinois see Wisconsin's grass as being greener. But let's remember the real goal is a lawn big enough and green enough for everyone to play, work and prosper.

Tom Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.

When do your employees stop becoming representatives of your company and start becoming private citizens? When are they officially off the clock? When they walk out the door at the end of the work day, are they private citizens who are no longer held to the same standards of behavior? When they get home, are they no longer considered to be on the job?

The process of establishing the answers to those questions is becoming murkier by the moment in this emerging age of social media.

Case in point: Nick Barnett. While rehabilitating from a nasty knee injury and operation this year, the Green Bay Packers linebacker became a Twitter sensation, attracting more than 17,000 followers.
Most of his "Tweets" were innocuous references to the tedium of everyday life, such as what he was having for dinner or what he was watching on television. He ended many of them with the phrase LOL (laugh out loud).

Then came the second game of the season, a disappointing Packer loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Barnett did not have a good game. After he finally made a tackle late in the second half, he celebrated with some sort of childish Samurai sword dance.

His Twitter followers immediately mocked him. Shortly after the game, Barnett retaliated with the following Tweets:

• "Oh yea for everyone that had something to say after I celebrated for making a takle for lost KISS MY (expletive deleted) ..."
• "I was trying to get defense fired up... And so what if I missed the takle before am I suppose to stay in a funk about it!?? Get a life."

A few hours later, Barnett apologized for letting his emotions get the best of him. By the next morning, he announced that he will no longer Tweet this season. He wrote an extended Tweet (unedited): "Hey everyone.. I done somethinking and I have decided to stay off Twitter unroll next offseason.. I am a emotional person and sometimes With this Twitter thing I forget that everything is public.. Sometimes I feel I am talking to my freinds and just talk.. So I am going To pull myself away from that.. Thanks to all the people who supported me thru my rehab and tough times and for the haters well god loves u."

At what point did Nick Barnett stop becoming a Green Bay Packer and start becoming a private citizen with his own identity in the world? Should the Packers have held him accountable for how he treated … their customers?

What about your company? If your people go home, and they write something offensive on Twitter, or Facebook or LinkedIn, will they be held accountable by your company? Should they be?

I don't have all of the answers to those questions, even though BizTimes Media is on the cutting edge of this social media revolution. Thanks to reporters Alysha Schertz and Eric Decker and managing editor Andrew Weiland, we are way out in front of most media outlets.

Like many of you, we're not sure where this all goes, but we want to be along for the ride.

I have told our people that I do not have the time nor the inclination to police every single entry they post on social media sites. However, I also told them I will reserve the right to hold them accountable. So, they should write with the presumption that I may see their content.

In many ways, that's regretful. But the reality is that in a sense, none of us is ever really off the clock anymore. Because of advancements in technology, the line of distinction between our professional and personal lives has been blurred. We use our cell phones and laptops to make dental appointments for our children one moment and communicate with a business client or a co-worker the next.

So, I guess we all best be careful when we LOL.

Steve Jagler is executive editor of BizTimes Milwaukee.

We've been told on talk radio for years that Wisconsin is a terrible place to do business. You know the drill. Wisconsin is a tax hell hole. Wisconsin does nothing to encourage entrepreneurship or development of new businesses.

We often accept these notions as fact, shrug our shoulders, grumble a little bit and try to get about our jobs as best we can. And we wonder why we stay here.

Every now and then, however, we get a wakeup call from across state lines that lets us know that hey, maybe we aren't so bad off after all. In the latest case of sunshine, the call comes from across the national border.

The headline on a news story in a recent edition of the New Brunswick Business Journal proclaims, "Culture of investment thrives in Wisconsin."

What's this? How can that be? What in the world are these Canadians talking about?

The subhead on the news story gets even more jiggy: "Capital markets New Brunswick Securities Commission turns to U.S. state as a prime example of fostering investment growth."

What's this? How can that be?

The lead of the story entices further: "New Brunswick has found a model for promoting entrepreneurship in a U.S. state whose economy has traditionally relied on farming, mining and forestry. Wisconsin's love affair with startups and investors - which has transcended the business community and made its way to the state legislature - has had the New Brunswick Securities Commission and other interested parties playing copycat."

You don't say.

The story says Rick Hancox, executive director of the New Brunswick Securities Commission, recently returned from a trip to Wisconsin, his second in three years, to learn how Wisconsin's economy "has benefited from new investor and entrepreneur networks, research and development commercialization programs, aggressive tax reform and a governor's business plan competition."

Wisconsin? Really?

The story says, "Hancox got turned onto Wisconsin years ago when commission employees had begun scouring the globe for examples of jurisdictions fostering investment growth. After months of eyeing examples out of the United Kingdom and Australia, staff was continually pointed by experts to Wisconsin - a place where declining traditional sectors could not continue to be relied upon heavily to backstop the economy."

The story notes how State Sen. Ted Kanavas (R-Brookfield) drafted Act 255 to provide generous tax credits to investors pumping money into high-tech companies in pre-commercialization mode.

"Meanwhile the business community was lining up to take part and arms-length agencies were being formed to push Gov. Jim Doyle's 'Grow Wisconsin' initiative beyond government," the story sates.
Do tell. To read the entire story, visit http://nbbusinessjournal.canadaeast.com/journal/article/714051.

The New Brunswick story comes on the heels of the news that VitalMedix, a Minneapolis biotech startup company, is moving to Wisconsin within 90 days. VitalMedix lead investor Charlie Goff said Wisconsin's investment tax credits "had everything to do with" the move. The company is negotiating leases in Hudson and New Richmond.

VitalMedix is developing a drug that has the potential to allow humans to endure severe blood loss and deter organ damage during resuscitation. The drug could be tested on humans as early as next year.

According to The Associated Press account of the story, "Despite a huge budget deficit, Wisconsin this year doubled the cap on the amount of credits to $8 million, raised the cap on eligible angel investments to $4 million and tripled the total credits available each year to $37 million."
Who knew?

Steve Jagler is executive editor of BizTimes Milwaukee.

With more than 270 million subscribers, cell phones are a vital means of communications for the vast majority of Americans. The enormous growth in the use of cell phones means that maintaining competition in this industry is more important than ever.

Cell phones enable instantaneous communications for millions wherever they are located, whether at work, at home, away from home, in their car, or anywhere in between. Many Americans - over 20 percent - have now discarded traditional land line phones and depend entirely on cell phones. The ease, convenience, and universal nature of today's cell phone service would have been unimaginable just two decades ago.

For many years as this industry developed, it was a competition success story - with many rivals and vigorous price competition. In recent years, however, the picture has changed. Consolidation has left this industry highly concentrated. Four national carriers now control over 90 percent of the cell phone market. AT&T and Verizon combine to have a market share of  60 percent. Consumers' choices have become quite limited, and price wars seem to be a thing of the past. American consumers pay more for wireless phone service than most other developed nations - an average of $506 per year in 2007.

Nowhere is the changed market for cell phones more noticeable than in text message service. These short, instant messages delivered via cell phones have become enormously popular. In 2008, more than one trillion text messages were sent, more than triple the number just two years before. As their popularity has grown, so has the price charged on a per message basis.

From 2006 to 2008, the price of sending and receiving a text message among the four largest cell phone carriers increased by 100 percent - from 10 to 20 cents per message. The four companies increased their text messaging prices in two steps - first from 10 to 15 cents, and then from 15 to 20 cents - within months or weeks of each other. These lockstep price increases occurred despite the fact that the cost to the phone companies to carry text messages is minimal - estimated to be less than a penny per message - and has not increased.

I convened a hearing on this issue at the Antitrust Subcommittee a few days ago to try get to the bottom of this. At the hearing, the phone companies defended these price increases by asserting that they have not been coordinated in any respect. They also pointed out that the majority of cell phone customers do not pay for text messages on a per message basis, but instead buy plans for "buckets" of text messages, typically starting at $5 for 200 messages. But is this simply a method to force consumers into expensive plans they would not have needed if the per message rate hadn't gone up? 

Nonetheless, these sharp price increases raise concerns. Are these price increases the result of a lack of competition in a highly concentrated market? Will consumers continue to see similar price increases for this and many other wireless services that they have come to increasingly depend on, such as internet connections and basic voice service? Do text message price increases represent a canary in the coal mine for the state of competition in the cell phone industry as a whole?

The concentrated nature of today's cell phone market should make us wary of other challenges to competition in this industry. It is imperative that we work to remove undue barriers to competition to ensure consumers the best rates and services.

U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl represents Wisconsin and is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Panel.

Despite the fact that the U.S. is Canada's largest trading partner and vice versa, northern border crossing conditions have sometimes been given short shrift. Today, in some places along the border, freight and travelers use outdated infrastructure in a post 9/11 world where security concerns have tended to slow cross-border movement.

Accordingly, suggestions have been raised on both sides of the border to improve passenger and trade flows between the two countries. The Seventh District's Great Lakes crossings, specifically the Detroit River crossings, are focal points of the growing debate on how best to improve the U.S.-Canada border.

U.S.–Canada border crossing policy
Over the last few years, the majority of U.S. border policies have focused more on Mexico and the flow of immigrants and illicit activity crossing the southern border into the U.S. The heightened attention on the Mexico border has been a concern both to Canadian officials and those whose economic interests depend on cross-border trade between our two countries. For example, automotive-intensive communities in Michigan and much of the surrounding region are especially keen to see border crossings made easier. Much of the fragile North American automotive industry continues to operate with highly inter-connected supply chains that traverse the border between the Midwest and Ontario.

Responding to these concerns, the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and the Canadian International Council held a forum recently on the challenges and opportunities to improve U.S.-Canada border policy and management.

Among the experts to speak at the Brookings forum, Christopher Sands of the Hudson Institute discussed his paper characterizing the U.S.-Canada border policies past and present and recommending a broad framework for improvement. Sands specializes in Canada, U.S.–Canada relations, and North American economic integration. He followed up his appearance at the forum with a meeting here at the Bank.

Sands divides the U.S.-Canada border into four separate traffic corridors. The Great Lakes Corridor sees the highest volume of automobile and truck traffic, most notably the crossings at Detroit–Windsor, Buffalo–Niagara, and Lake Champlain, which connects Montreal and New York City. All Great Lakes crossings see heavy volumes of what Sands calls "amateur" traffic, those who cross rarely, usually on vacation.

However, these Great Lakes crossings also provide infrastructure support for commercial goods and services to travel back and forth from both countries' manufacturing centers. The Michigan border crossings directly link the Great Lakes, where 28 percent of U.S. GDP is produced, and Ontario, where 41 percent of Canada's GDP is produced.

Sands' policy recommendations
Precision, decentralization, and consensus, Sands argues, should serve as the framework for future discussions on improving the border. Precision revolves around defining the specific problem and efficiently targeting and solving it. Decentralization refers to engaging local and regional stakeholders in the policy process while taking care not to stall the process by giving any party too much power. Canadian officials tend to agree more on border initiatives because most of the Canadian population lives near the border and is affected by border policy; they don't have the regional rivalries exhibited by the debates and issues seen in U.S. border cities and their inland counterparts. Consensus occurs when all levels of government agree on the future of the border and how it should be managed.

Michigan's aging infrastructure
Along the Michigan–Ontario border crossings, infrastructure issues have become pressing. Here, the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel connect Detroit and the industrial Midwest with Windsor, Ontario, and Highway 401, which heads northeast through the major cities of London, Toronto, and Montreal. Combined with the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron and the St. Clair rail tunnel just south of it, Michigan possesses some of the more important crossing points, making the state an important player in U.S.-Canada trade. As commercial and passenger traffic continue to cross the border in Detroit, added pressure has been put on infrastructure that is almost 70 years old and isn't equipped to handle current traffic volumes.
In recent years, federal, state, and local leaders in the U.S. have advocated for a new Detroit River border crossing approximately two miles south of the Ambassador Bridge that would be able to handle increased trade flows as well as implement post 9/11 security upgrades.

Adding to the campaign, the Canadian Minister of Transport, Infrastructure, and Communities has publicly stated that Canada's No. 1 infrastructure priority is the new Detroit River crossing. Currently, construction on the new bridge complex is scheduled to begin sometime next year, with the opening set for 2013. But first, Detroit and the state of Michigan have short- and long-term issues they must address. The land needed for the new bridge has not yet been purchased by the Michigan Department of Transportation; and critics argue that a new crossing isn't needed due to slowly decreasing traffic flows. Competing claims for attention have arisen as the Detroit city government and Lansing legislators attempt to agree on expansion and administration plans for Cobo Hall, the region's premier trade and convention hall, as well as how to contend with education budget deficits and recovery options for a poorly performing state economy.

Independent plans for a competing cross-border bridge in Detroit have further complicated the outlook.
Midwestern states along the northern border have keen economic interests in a national border that is secure, yet speedy. Because these interests are somewhat more diffuse throughout most of the remaining states, Midwestern residents would do well to take part in border-improving policy discussions.

Bill Testa is the vice president and the director of regional programs in the economic research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. This essay was reprinted with permission from the author.

This isn’t a “Social Media for Idiots” post or one that is designed to make fun of clueless bosses. There’s already enough material to cover both of these topics quite well.
When preparing to talk about a social media strategy for your organization, think about things from your boss’s perspective. What outcomes would make her (and you) look like a rock star? Focus on addressing those. It will take some effort to create a case for your specific organization, but it will pay off.
As a reference point, keep this equation in mind:
Little Money + Low Boss Time Commitment + High Return on Investment = Good Place to Start.
Here are several strategic points to consider when building your case:
• Focus on the strategic reasons WHY to use social media instead of the tactical HOW to use it. It’s easy to get sucked into HOW to use Twitter, for example, but that isn’t really going to help your strategic argument. You can always schedule another time to give a HOW tutorial.
• Research the demographics and user trends of the social media channels you intend to recommend. Show her user demographics that will appeal to your company’s needs.
• Take time to figure out who is talking about your company or product in the social media space and where, when and why the conversations are happening. If you can demonstrate the conversation is happening without you, it strengthens your plea to get involved.
• If NO ONE appears to be talking about you, but they’re talking about your competitors, the same argument applies. It’s also possible that your industry or product doesn’t yet have an active community online, possibly because it doesn’t yet have a host or a home. You can be the first to give it to them. Game on.
• Show how your competitors are using it successfully or otherwise. That’ll increase the importance of discussion very quickly. Build an arsenal of examples of well-done Facebook pages, Twitter personas, and brands in your space that are leading the way. Just make sure you’ve thought about what you might do to differentiate from and/or improve upon what’s there.
• Make sure you translate the outcomes to the business objectives of most interest to your department and your organization as a whole. Demonstrate the anticipated tangible business outcomes your boss can expect from a successful effort - and how you’ll report on them. Show the correlation between the effort/cost associated with engaging in building a social media presence and community with your brand or product in a meaningful and measurable way: number of new business leads, increased Web traffic, measurable uptick in brand awareness in target demographic, improved search engine rankings, trackability of click-throughs, etc.
• Remember to discuss the timeline to the payoff. It helps if your boss knows how long she’ll have to wait before she can claim responsibility for your brilliance.
With careful planning and thoughtful research, you can convince even the staunchest doubters to give social media a try. In these days of tight budgets and lean staff, it would be a lost opportunity to NOT take a closer look at how social media could benefit your business.

Sara Meaney is a partner with Milwaukee-based Comet Branding.

Words like ‘Tweet,’ ‘Tweetup,’ ‘Tweeps,’ ‘Twiterati,’ ‘Twhirl,’ ‘Twitterberry,’ and most recently ‘Twibe,’ and ‘Twintern’ have been surfacing more and more frequently in business vocabulary.
The popularity of the online social media site Twitter is growing rapidly and whether you and your company have jumped on board or not, there are conversations taking place in the ‘Twitterworld’ every minute of the day, and people might be talking (good or bad) about your company on Twitter. It is a conversation you might want to join.
Haven’t had time to set up a Twitter account? Don’t know who to follow or what to even do once you are on there?
For this year’s BizTech Expo event at the Wisconsin Exposition Center at State Fair Park in West Allis, BizTimes Milwaukee has teamed up with Milwaukee-based Comet Branding to offer you help with Twitter.
Stop by the BizTimes Media Booth (#131) on Wednesday, April 29 from 2-5 p.m. and on Thursday, April 30 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon for help setting up your Twitter account at the “Comet Branding Twitter Lounge.” Al Krueger, founder, right brain of Comet Branding, and Sara Meaney, Comet Branding partner, left brain; will help sign you up for an account, establish your ‘Twitter handle,’ take a picture for your profile, provide you with some ‘Twitter Tips,’ give you a list of the top people to ‘follow’ in the Milwaukee community, and even send out your first ‘Tweet,’ right from the Expo.
Sound confusing? Al and Sara can help you decipher some of the quirky Twitter jargon you hear so much about, and do it without needing a ‘Twictionary.’
Al will also air his weekly Comet Branding Internet Radio Show, which routinely features discussions on hot topics, people and issues related to business and the realm of branding, PR and social media, live from the BizTech Expo on Wednesday morning.

Already on Twitter?
Help BizTimes and Comet Branding Twitterfy the Expo! ‘Tweet,’ using #BizTech, about what you are expecting to get out of attending, who and what you hope to see, what you want from our exhibitors, and how we can help you get the most out of your BizTech experience.
Find other people attending and meet up at the first official BizTimes Media ‘Tweetup’ at the BizTech After Hours event on Wednesday, April 29 from 5-7 p.m. Take advantage of the BizTimes ‘Tweetup’ discount by entering the code TWEET during your registration.
BizTimes is leaping into the realm of social media, just like other companies in our neighborhood. As we dabble in the art of Twitter, we’d like to share those experiences with you. We encourage those attending the Expo to ‘Tweet’ about what you are seeing, share your likes and dislikes about the event. Give us your feedback and opinions, and at the same time help make this year’s #BizTech expo Twitterific!

Alysha Schertz is a reporter for BizTimes Milwaukee.

As the mayor of Wisconsin's largest port city on the Great Lakes, I understand the importance of protecting this great resource from invasive species and other environmental hazards. But a new proposed permit by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regarding ballast water from ocean-going ships is so far over the top, it may likely sink Wisconsin's shipping sector, and drag down manufacturing and farming with it.

If approved in its current form, it would put Wisconsin at a competitive disadvantage with our neighboring states, causing our ports to lose international shipping business and our state to lose jobs.
How far over the top is the proposal?

It would establish standards for the state that are 100 times more stringent than internationally recognized standards that other Great Lakes states have seen fit to adopt. 

To add to this isolation, Wisconsin's permit would take effect in 2012, four years earlier than our neighbors. The truth is that researchers are struggling to come up with the technology to meet the standards that our neighbors have adopted. No such onboard ballast water cleaning technology exists right now and likely won’t exist within the next three years. The Wisconsin DNR's proposal for standards 100-times even greater may never be technologically feasible. Apparently this reality is not being considered as the DNR drafts it proposal.

The negative economic impact of these excessive standards is also not being considered. If this permit goes into affect, ocean-going vessels will be forced to avoid Wisconsin's three major ports - Superior, Milwaukee and Green Bay - and do their business elsewhere, such as Duluth or Chicago. Our cities and communities would lose revenue, our port terminals would close and workers would be out of jobs in an already struggling economy.

The ripple affect to Wisconsin manufacturers and farmers will be increased costs to get their goods to the international marketplace, as they are forced to use truck or rail to reach alternate ports. Their ability to compete in very competitive markets, such as grain, will suffer.

Because meeting these proposed standards are unachievable, the proposed permit will do little to help protect our lakes, but is certain to harm our state's economy. 

Dave Ross is the mayor of the City of Superior.