Japan Ministry of Education Recognizes Tsukuba University and Hitachi KE Systems Ltd. with e-Learning Award for Cancer Education Program Powered by Mediasite

TOKYO, Dec. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sonic Foundry, Inc.(NASDAQ: SOFO), the trusted market leader for enterprise webcasting and lecture capture, today announced that Tsukuba University, Hitachi KE Systems Ltd. and the company's Japan distributor Mediasite K.K. are the recipients of the Japan e-Learning Award from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology for innovations in using webcasting solutions for cancer education.

Established in 2004 to explore new possibilities of e-learning and encourage development of e-learning applications, the e-Learning Awards are sponsored by four major ministries of Japanese government: Ministry of Education, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT); Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI); Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC); and Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW).

The award recognizes the All Japan e-Learning Cloud for Cancer Professional Education, operated by University of Tsukuba and participated by Chiba, Saitama Medical and many other universities. This collaboration, powered in part by the Mediasite webcasting platform, was honored with the MEXT prize for enabling a number of medical universities to record and share their professional lectures to educate doctors, nurses and other medical staff efficiently and to increase high-level cancer treatments in Japan. Students in the member universities can also select favorite lectures from different universities to watch and review online. In 2010, Mediasite webcast 1,700 lectures with almost 67,000 views by medical professionals across the country. Tsukuba University expects to expand the project to more than 33 medical universities in 2012.

"We are delighted to receive this award for our effort to support the member universities by integrating their existing video lecture content into the Mediasite webcasting and content management platform," said Hisatoshi Nakagawa, COO of Mediasite K.K. "Together we've lowered the threshold which might have hindered their engagement online, and we applaud Tsukuba University who actively leads the Mediasite team and advocated for this innovative system and approach to medical education."

Mediasite by Sonic Foundry is the trusted market leader for enterprise webcasting, hybrid events and lecture capture. Chosen by more than 900 colleges and universities, the award-winning Mediasite webcasting and content management system quickly and cost-effectively automates the capture, management, delivery and search of video presentations and accompanying graphics for live or on-demand viewing.

About University of Tsukuba
The University of Tsukuba is one of Japan's oldest universities and is ranked in the top 20 universities in Asia.  The University has approximately 17,000 students and 4,000 staff members, and is Japan's number one science city representing more than 50 percent of Japan's research funding.

About Mediasite K.K.
Mediasite K.K. is a strategic partner of Sonic Foundry and the sole distributor of Mediasite in Japan. As market leader with over 250 customers, including 100 from higher education, Mediasite K.K. expects this award to further demonstrate the value of rich media video webcasting to more organizations in Japan.

About Sonic Foundry®, Inc.
Sonic Foundry (NASDAQ: SOFO, www.sonicfoundry.com) is the trusted market leader for enterprise webcasting and lecture capture, providing video communication solutions for education, business and government. Powered by the patented Mediasite webcasting platform and Mediasite Events group, the company empowers people to transform the way they communicate online, using video webcasts to bridge time and distance, accelerate research and improve performance. Product and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of Sonic Foundry, Inc. or their respective owners.

Certain statements contained in this news release regarding matters that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. Because such forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, uncertainties pertaining to continued market acceptance for Sonic Foundry's products, its ability to succeed in capturing significant revenues from media services and/or systems, the effect of new competitors in its market, integration of acquired business and other risk factors identified from time to time in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Sonic Foundry, Inc.