To stream or not to stream? State Bar discusses going online

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Live streaming of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Board of Governors meetings would increase visibility of bar leadership, but some question if anyone would log on to listen.

On Friday, the board referred the request by Madison attorney Steve Levine to webcast live audio of the meetings. The committee wants more evaluation of cost and need.

“When I left this morning, nobody in my office said, ‘I wish I could listen to you today at the meeting,'” Board of Governors member and Milwaukee resident Nate Cade said.

Board of Governors member Sam Benedict said there is no data justify the need for live streaming and it isn’t a cost the bar can afford in tight budgetary times.

Live video streaming of Board of Governors’ meetings and Executive Committee meetings would cost $40,400 per year, according to the bar.

But Levine said he would be content with simply live audio streaming, which he said could be done for as little as a one-time cost of $1,000.

“From a board standpoint,” he said, “there isn’t a more efficient and cheap public relations initiative.”

The bar did not immediately have cost estimates on live audio streaming, but that is something that should be discussed in the future, board member Ray Dall’Osto said.

He said he favored the idea of webcasting, but wanted more concrete financial estimates, especially with the bar facing a budget deficit of a nearly $200,000.

“Let’s not add an open-ended cost,” Dall’Osto said, “when we’re facing a big budget crunch.”