Mediasite Events Partners with Meeting Professionals International to Webcast World Education Congress 2012

ST. LOUIS, July 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- MPI World Education Congress -- Sonic Foundry, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFO), the trusted market leader for video management and academic, enterprise and event webcasting, today announced the company's Mediasite Events group will record all education sessions during the Meeting Professionals International World Education Congress 2012. The conference is taking place July 28 to 31 in St. Louis, MO.

Each year, thousands of meeting and event planners, hoteliers, technology professionals and other vital service providers attend WEC, this year themed "Creating the New Connectivity." One track of the conference will be live streamed on Monday, July 30, and all other tracks will be recorded and archived for on-demand playback on any computer or mobile device.

The first day of live streaming will kick off with a session releasing the results of groundbreaking research by the MPI Foundation on hybrid events.  "Meeting Pros are from Mars, Attendees are from Venus: Techniques for Creating a Remarkable Hybrid Event" will be streamed live from WEC at 9 a.m. CDT July 30. MPI, in partnership with Mediasite Events, recently completed the most comprehensive study ever conducted on hybrid meetings, and the presentation by researcher Samuel J. Smith will discuss best practices, along with the technology and formats needed, to engage live and remote audiences.

"Our partnership with Mediasite Events will create unprecedented access to WEC sessions for MPI members both at the World Education Congress and those unable to participate. During the event, the Mediasite webcasts will provide engaging content for our WEC Virtual Experience, allowing meeting and event planners not present in St. Louis to experience components of the event online, including the latest in industry education. Beyond WEC, these online presentations will continue to connect the MPI community," said Cindy D'Aoust, MPI COO and interim CEO.  

"It's an honor to partner with Meeting Professionals International to expand their hybrid and virtual meeting footprint, helping the largest convergence of meeting planners explore a hybrid event experience. Mediasite Events has been partnering with MPI chapters for years, and their innovative leadership was among the first to recognize the importance of taking the event to those who could not be present, while creating online archives of the valuable knowledge exchanged when we meet," said Gary Weis, chief executive officer of Sonic Foundry.

Mediasite Events is a leading provider of event webcasting for hybrid events and high-profile meetings. The group supplies technical webcasting services and expertise to organizations who seek to complement their conference or event with viewing over the web. Since its launch in January 2007, the Mediasite Events group has provided live and on-demand webcasting for clients ranging from Fortune 500 corporations and university associations to sporting events and charitable organizations.

About Meeting Professionals International
Meeting Professionals International is the meeting and event industry's largest and most vibrant global community. It serves its members by providing human connections to knowledge and ideas, relationships and marketplaces and has 21,000+ members globally.

About Sonic Foundry®, Inc.
Sonic Foundry (NASDAQ: SOFO) is the trusted market leader for enterprise webcasting solutions, providing video content management and distribution for education, business and government. Powered by the patented Mediasite webcasting platform and webcast services of Mediasite Events, the company empowers people to advance how they share knowledge online, using video webcasts to bridge time and distance, enhance learning outcomes and improve performance.

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.