2002 NLPES-Fall Training Conference Notes
Using the Web and Email to Get the Message Out
Moderator: Joel Alter, Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor
Speaker: Randy Roberts, Office of the Auditor General, Arizona
Mr. Roberts described the OAG's website, noted that it has been up since January 1998, and that the Office's IT Division has constantly tweaked the site to improve its functionality. The website has been organized how the OAG thinks its users would look for something, so each division is organized to meet its users' needs.
Mr. Roberts then discussed the various products produced by the various divisions and how they could be accessed from the website. He said that the website is designed to let people know about the types of reports developed by his office and he demonstrated the various ways that a consumer can find various reports on the website; for example, reports can be found by agency, year published, school district, type of entity, and with search engines.
He next discussed how a website made it easier for people to contact the Office. The website gives traditional methods for contacting the OAG, but it also give people enough information to find the right person to contact. For example, if you wanted to talk to the individual responsible for the last audit of the Department of Corrections, the website can help you determine which manager to contact.
Mr. Roberts then discussed how the OAG uses email to get its message out. He outlined how the Office uses distribution lists to get the appropriate information to Legislators, legislative staff, stakeholders and the media and compared this process to how the Office accomplished this process prior to email. One point he noted was how using the web and email reduced the Office's printing costs. For example, in the past the office sent a Legislator a bound copy of a performance audit, but now the Office sends the Legislator an electronic copy of the executive summary with a link to the full report. Finally, Mr. Roberts discussed how the OAG uses email to solicit feedback about their products from their stakeholders. He briefly described how stakeholders are contacted via email and provided with a link that takes them to an online survey that is only accessible through the link.
Speaker: Craig Kinton, Texas State Auditor's Office
Mr. Kinton noted two features Texas designed into their website to help the consumer: the ability to get to just about anything on the site within three clicks of the mouse, and a search feature on every page. He added that the website allows his office to reach a much larger audience with less staff. During fiscal year 2002, SAO's website averaged 854 hits per day from around the globe. He asked the audience to imagine what it would take to answer that many telephone calls.
He discussed the various on-line services offered by SAO, including:
- Downloading SAO reports
- Registering for external education services
- Reporting fraud, waste, and abuse
- Applying to work for SAO
- State employee exit surveys
Speaker: Kent Hutchinson, Florida OPPAGA
Mr. Hutchinson opined that email is highly interactive and described how OPPAGA uses email to release e-alerts prior to releasing a report. He also mentioned that OPPAGA issues a monthly report that summarizes upcoming reports and provides contact names. He discussed Florida's release schedule, mentioning that OPPAGA's reports become public when the auditee receives their summary of the report for their response. Finally, he described the Florida Weekly Monitor, an OPPAGA publication that tells people about OPPAGA's different reports and what OPPAGA's people are currently looking at.
Mr. Hutchinson then gave a brief tour of OPPAGA's website. He opined that an agency must think, "user," when designing its website. He reminded the audience that new technology can get ahead of users, so it's important to test your site to determine if different browsers can open the site's pages.
Another innovation that Mr. Hutchinson mentioned was OPPAGA providing their reports on CD-ROMs. He mentioned that this is saving his agency money because they're printing fewer paper reports. One advantage to providing reports on CD-ROM is the ability to provide links to additional data. Mr. Hutchinson then said that he could foresee a time when reports could be issued in an interactive format.
Moderator: Joel Alter, Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor
Mr. Alter gave a brief tour of his office's website. His office has elected to provide additional data and appendices on its website that is not part of the printed report. Additionally, Mr. Alter's office is putting its legislative PowerPoint presentations on the website, along with memos and letters associated with a report.
 2002
Fall Training Conference Notes
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