Sonic Foundry Seeking Nominations for Seventh Annual Rich Media Impact Awards

MADISON, Wis., Dec. 7, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Sonic Foundry, Inc.(Nasdaq: SOFO), the recognized market leader for rich media webcasting, lecture capture and knowledge management, today announced its official call for nominations for the seventh annual Rich Media Impact Awards (RMIA), an honor that recognizes excellence in the practical and creative integration of Mediasite in business, education, health and government.

For the first time, all RMIA finalists in attendance at UNLEASH 2011 will have the chance to win a Mediasite ML or RL Recorder during a drawing at the event. Also, Sonic Foundry will continue to award Student Impact Scholarships, wherein two student finalists will be named, along with the universities they attend. The student runner-up will receive a $1500 scholarship. The winner will receive a $2500 scholarship and that student's university will also receive a Mediasite RL Recorder.

Between now and March 11, 2011, individuals can visit www.sonicfoundry.com/nominate to submit nominations for their award-worthy projects. Finalists will be notified on March 14, and winners will be announced at special ceremonies webcast live throughout UNLEASH 2011, the Mediasite User Conference, taking place May 17 and 18.

The Rich Media Impact Awards, introduced in 2005, have strengthened the Mediasite user community by inspiring innovation and honoring more than 100 programs from around the world. Past winners can be viewed here and include Autodesk, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Energy Center of Wisconsin and Ontario Hospital Association.

"Winning the 2010 Rich Media Impact Award in the 'Return on Investment' category was a great honour for the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA). It demonstrates that webcasting is an integral channel for providing educational programs and vital communications to our members who are spread across the province. This award continues to motivate us to use our webcasts and online learning modules to expand access to education; eliminate distance and time barriers; reduce travel costs; and capitalize on the convenience of technology," said Todd Hutchings, Director of Distance Learning, Ontario Hospital Association.

"This year we are more eager than ever to uncover the vast experience and innovation our customers are applying in their rich media programs," said Rob Lipps, executive vice president of Sonic Foundry. "Each year the awards gain momentum and prestige, making it the ultimate platform for experts in rich media to be celebrated. Our customers are the foundation of our business, and their work inspires us to consistently drive the Mediasite technology forward."

Sonic Foundry is inviting nominations for individuals or groups who have done inspiring work in any of the following categories:

• Enterprise Award: recognizes a company who improved its business outcomes through rich media communication.
• Excellence in Education Award: recognizes a higher education institution that enhanced learning and outreach through rich media.
• Facility Design Award: recognizes a professional AV design or consulting firm that created innovative rich media rooms and facilities.
• Global Reach Award: recognizes any successful initiative that connected the international community through rich media.
• Government Award: recognizes a local, state or federal government initiative that implemented rich media for training and outreach.
• Healthcare Award: recognizes an organization that implemented rich media to benefit health and wellness.
• Prolific Use Award: recognizes an organization that has dramatically scaled its rich media program to achieve a broad deployment across its enterprise or record number of presentations, views or audiences.
• Rapid ROI Award: recognizes an organization that used rich media to quickly achieve a measurable ROI in its training, communications or outreach initiatives.
• Scholastic Achievement Award: recognizes a school district or other organization serving the K-12 educational community that harnessed the power of rich media to improve communication, learning and outreach. 
• Student Impact Award: recognizes an individual student, as well as his/her college or university, whose educational experience has been enhanced through rich media.

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 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 Event 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.