Webcasting at University of Toledo Schmidt School Helps Graduates Find Jobs

LAS VEGAS, June 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EduComm Booth #34-37 -- Graduates from The University of Toledo Edward H. Schmidt School of Professional Sales (ESSPS) within the College of Business Administration are finding jobs directly after graduation, thanks in part to a program that utilizes Mediasite by Sonic Foundry, Inc. (Nasdaq: SOFO), the recognized market leader for lecture capture, rich media webcasting and knowledge management.

"We do see a small number of our students choose to go directly to graduate school, but of those who decide to go into the workforce, 100 percent of them have jobs," said Deirdre Jones, interim assistant director and an instructor at ESSPS. "The fact that we use Mediasite for students to do practice interviews, role playing, peer critiques, information gathering, self assessments and faculty assessments helps our students stand out against other job candidates."

Mediasite was implemented in January at ESSPS as part of the business college's $15.4 million facility expansion project. With 14 Mediasite recorders in 10 state of the art classrooms and five action learning labs including a high-tech sales lab, the School rolled out lecture capture and an online recruiting platform in just three months. 

"The College of Business Administration is committed to using a blend of theory and practice in all of our undergraduate and MBA majors, and the Mediasite platform enables us to be more innovative in the way we serve our students and business community," said Dean Thomas Gutteridge. 

ESSPS students are able to share their online portfolios with recruiters, including role playing exercises, elevator pitches and classroom projects. Recruiters use the mediasited materials to evaluate potential job candidates, share company information with students and even ask questions.

"We want this to be a two way street. Recruiters from big companies already have five minute video pitches on their companies. We upload those videos into the Mediasite catalog, and we have a virtual 24/7 job fair for the students," Jones continued. "We want the students to have the ability to learn from the recruiter, and recruiters want to make confident hires. Anything we can do to help them understand the quality, style and culture of our students makes a difference."

"Mediasite has helped me in both recruiting and networking for a career. I use the role playing catalogs during interviews with recruiters so they can view my work first hand to see that I'm the best student for that sales position," said Jeff Tippy, sales and marketing major at ESSPS. "I can also log onto the recruiter modules to do background research on companies. Mediasite has helped me network my career." See more about how Tippy uses Mediasite here.

"For graduates starting their careers in these challenging economic times, differentiation from their peers is more important than ever. ESSPS is setting the standard for sharing their graduates' knowledge with targeted corporate employers, giving them exposure to more job opportunities, and as a result helping to create a stronger work force," said Rimas Buinevicius, chairman and CEO of Sonic Foundry.

Jones shares her Mediasite experience an on-demand webinar, Evaluating Lecture Capture Solutions - Understanding Your Total Cost of Ownership. Register to view it at http://sofo.com/07f4b

About ESSPS

Formed in 2000 and endowed in 2002 as the first professional sales major in the country from an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited college of business administration, the Edward H. Schmidt School of Professional Sales (ESSPS) at The University of Toledo's College of Business Administration is one of the top university sales programs in the world, with over 300 students, a world class curriculum, professional certifications, and multiple corporate, university (University Sales Center Alliance founding member) and international (Global Sales Science Institute founding member) elite partnerships. 

About Sonic Foundry®, Inc.

Sonic Foundry (NASDAQ: SOFO, www.sonicfoundry.com) is the global leader for rich media webcasting and knowledge management, providing enterprise communication solutions for 1,800 customers in education, business and government. Powered by Mediasite, the patented webcasting platform which automates the capture, management, delivery and search of lectures, online training and briefings, Sonic Foundry empowers people to transform the way they communicate. Through the Mediasite platform and its Events Services group, the company helps customers connect a dynamic, evolving world of shared knowledge and envisions a future where learners and workers around the globe use webcasting 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.