Sonic Foundry today announces that it hosted a sold-out gathering at its 11th annual Unleash Mediasite User Conference, drawing leading industry analysts and hundreds of customers from around the world. The three-day user conference in Madison, Wis. and online via Mediasite is the biggest in the industry, offering 55 sessions that armed customers in healthcare, higher education and the enterprise with the knowledge and expertise to increase the impact and adoption of video in their organizations.
“Sonic Foundry’s Unleash conference is the best way to learn new product knowledge and best practices that help advance the video deployment at my university, without having to attend a huge show,” said Ian Wilkinson, Texas Tech University and Mediasite Community Advisor. “This is my fifth time attending, and I’m always impressed with how Sonic Foundry treats its customers and the level of thought and work that goes into each event. After each Unleash event, I feel more and more that Sonic Foundry and the Mediasite Community are among my biggest supporters.”
Sessions tackled best practices for video workflows, streamlining video delivery, lessons on boosting student and user generated content and industry trends such as supporting engagement and social aspects of video. One day of the show was dedicated to exclusive hands-on Mediasite workshops, allowing Sonic Foundry customers to dive deeper into product knowledge, learn about integration with other technologies, receive expert support and more.
Additionally, targeted one-on-one consulting sessions with technical experts and roundtable sessions with executives provided customers the opportunity to develop top-down relationships with Sonic Foundry employees, help them maximize the value of their video deployments and get their questions answered.
“Sonic Foundry’s Unleash is so valuable and worth the trip from the Netherlands,” said Jaco van der Worp, Learning and Development professional, Green Heart Hospital. “With 50+ sessions to learn from, the three-day show allows me to connect with others in the Mediasite community, learn from my peers and share my knowledge of the technology with others. I don’t think any other vendor in the industry is doing anything like this, and I appreciate that Sonic Foundry creates opportunities for its users to come together. I now feel like I am part of the Mediasite family.”
Unleash 2017 welcomed users from around the world including people from England, Japan, Australia, China, Norway and the Netherlands.
Enterprise Video Awards Recognize Mediasite Users for Video Success
The show also honored select customers at the 13th annual Enterprise Video Awards, a distinguished program that recognizes excellence in the practical and creative integration of Mediasite in business, education, health and government. This year’s winners were:
- High Profile Event Award: CompTIA
This nonprofit’s conference grew from 1,000 attendees to more than 30,000 by going creating an online component with Mediasite - Innovation Award: GGzE
The Netherlands mental health organization records patient therapy sessions – with permission – for doctors’ review - Learning Environment Award: Mount Mary University
An American Sign Language class is greatly improved by using Mediasite for homework assignments and exams - Mediasite in Action Award: Information Technology & Computing Services, East Carolina University
The university shut down in the wake of a hurricane, but classes continued with Mediasite - Outcomes Award: ABC for Health, Inc.
Rural Wisconsin families stay up to date on the changing healthcare landscape with free online webinars - Overall Awesomeness Award: Duquesne University
Students studying international relations practice crisis management by simulating real-world situations and live streaming mock press conferences to their peers - Training Outcomes Award: (co-winners) Green Heart Hospital and Noordhoff Health
Green Heart Hospital nurses access on the job instructional videos via QR codes thanks to Noordhoff Health and Mediasite - Video in Education Scholarship: Duquesne University
Watch the nomination videos at http://sofo.mediasite.com/Mediasite/Showcase/evas/Channel/eva2017.
Distinguished Industry Keynotes Headline the Conference
Wainhouse Research analysts Alan Greenberg and Steve Vonder Haar and Margot Douaihy of AV Technology Magazine presented keynotes.
“Sonic Foundry’s Unleash user conference is such a unique experience for all who attend. It really goes to show how much Sonic Foundry cares about its users, about the technology and about the streaming industry as a whole,” said Greenberg, Senior Analyst and Partner at Wainhouse. “I was especially impressed by some of the use cases reported by Sonic Foundry customers relating to micro learning and methods of combining user-generated content with publisher content.”
Read Greenberg’s recent blog post about Unleash here.
Watch “Tech Predictions for 2018 & Beyond,” co-presented by Greenberg and Vonder Haar and “From Rolling Carts to IP Ports – The Future of AV,” presented by Douaihy.