Brainshark Announces 2012 Sharkie Award Winners

WALTHAM, Mass., April 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Brainshark, Inc., the leader in online and mobile video presentations, today announced the winners of its fourth annual Sharkie Awards. These awards honor individuals and organizations that have demonstrated excellence in their use of Brainshark to deliver engaging and effective business communications to audiences in a diverse array of industries.

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Brainshark received more than 200 entries for consideration in this year's competition. Four new categories were added, including "Agency Created" (presentations outsourced to a third party), "Short Presentation" (presentations under 60 seconds), "Cause-Related Presentation" (presentations created by or for a non-profit organization) and "Voiceless Audio" (music-only presentations). Entry presentations were evaluated based on clarity, conciseness and quality, along with their use of key Brainshark capabilities – including video clips, animations, audio, attachments, survey and test questions and more.

Winning presentations can be viewed at www.brainshark.com/gallery. The 2012 winners, listed by category, are as follows:

Gold Winner – Presentation of the Year
Also: Mobile Presentation
Franklin Templeton Investments
"Global – The New Core®"

Silver Winner – Presentation of the Year
Also: Marketing
CIGNA
"Individual & Family Plans"

Bronze Winner – Presentation of the Year
Also: Training – External
Silhouette Optical
"Aesthetic Training 5 – Consultation"

Training – Internal
Staples
"Staples iPad 2"

Corporate Communications/HR Internal
MetLife
"Senior Marketing Consultant"

Corporate Communications/HR External
Water Research Foundation
"Exciting Changes"

Agency Created
OptumHealth
"HSA Bank Site Experience"

Short Presentation
NCN, A MultiPlan Company
"Happy Holidays from MultiPlan"

Voiceless Audio
Pacific Life
"Pacific Index Choice Introduction"

Foreign Language Presentation
HP
"HP Networking"

Cause-Related Presentation
CG Marketing, Inc.
"Ethan's Story"

Creative Expression
LeadFabric
"A Day in the Office 2011"

myBrainshark Learning Provider
Webinar Resources
"Webinar Wednesdays"

myFirst Presentation
NASBA
"CPE"

"We're honored to receive this recognition from Brainshark," said Shaunda Toomasson, senior product marketing manager, Advisor Marketing, Franklin Templeton Investments. "As a truly global investment manager, it's essential for us to deliver our messages in a format that is both clear and compelling and also available to our customers in any location and on any device, including mobile phones. Using Brainshark's mobile capabilities, we can quickly and easily share our stories and perspectives with our clients in an engaging and digestible manner."

To be considered for the program, organizations and individuals were asked to submit links to Brainshark presentations they created in 2011. This year's grand prize for the "Presentation of the Year" is valued at $2,000 and can be redeemed for items such as a personal trip, team outing or company iPads. Silver and bronze winners will receive prizes valued at $1,000 and $500, respectively.

"We commend this year's Sharkie Award winners for creatively leveraging multimedia throughout their important business communications," said Brainshark CEO Joe Gustafson. "Brainshark helps companies deliver their corporate messages in an easy and compelling way, expanding the reach and results of their communications – anytime, anywhere and on any device – and this year's winners have done an excellent job of doing just that."

About Brainshark, Inc.
Brainshark provides the leading cloud-based software for creating, sharing and tracking online and mobile video presentations. With Brainshark, businesspeople can easily transform static content such as PowerPoint® documents into voice-enriched video presentations that can be accessed anytime, on-demand. Customers can also obtain extensive viewing details, enabling them to measure the effectiveness of their content and follow up accordingly. Thousands of companies – including a third of the Fortune 100 – rely on Brainshark to increase the impact and reduce the cost of their sales, marketing, training and HR communications. For more information, visit www.brainshark.com.

SOURCE Brainshark, Inc.