Students Run Mock Meeting with OpenMeeting Software in Wausau

The Next Generation of Local Government Leaders in Training

Last month, high school students visited the City of Wausau council chamber in Wisconsin to run a mock council meeting with the OpenMeeting legislative meeting management system. They had local government leaders at the City of Wausau, including Mayor Katie Rosenberg and Clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde, guide them in running a modern legislative meeting. This provided students with hands-on learning of electronic voting and discussion management systems in modern legislative meetings.

As technology evolves, so do legislative meetings. Many local governments across the country are modernizing their meetings with legislative meeting software and technology, resulting in more transparency and a better meeting experience for everyone involved. For example, decades-old verbal roll call voting is being replaced with electronic voting through a tablet app to streamline the voting process, and the vote tally results are displayed on a monitor in the meeting room. These students utilized these modern tools to run their mock meeting.

Modern Meeting Management in Wausau

The City of Wausau adopted the OpenMeeting electronic voting and discussion management system in 2022. Their city council and staff set an excellent example for local governments across the country and have done an outstanding job utilizing the OpenMeeting system to benefit their community. The City of Wausau also received a prestigious OpenMeeting Excellence Award in recognition of their achievements.

Wausau residents can easily follow their city council meetings thanks to a voting display that clearly displays roll call, discussion, and the vote tally. The Wausau City Council also posts their monthly meetings online to increase accessibility and encourage civic engagement. This opportunity for high school students to run a mock meeting in their council chambers is another great way they are promoting engagement in their community.