Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc. is the world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. It has nearly 10 million customers in more than 750,000 companies who are purchasing AutoCAD and 100 plus other design products.

While best known among architects, engineers and construction workers, it is also used in the manufacturing and media and entertainment industries. In the last 15 years, every nominee for an Academy Award in the visual effects category has been an Autodesk customer.

With nearly 7,000 employees around the world, it became challenging for Autodesk to communicate with everyone. In the past, strategic communications manager Dan Ahern’s division worked with a vendor and paid upwards of $10,000 for live webcasts once a quarter. That equated to $40,000 a year for four presentations.

“We had limited resources and we were only getting four presentations a year for a $40,000 price tag. Now with Mediasite we can record dozens of presentations throughout the year and the costs are much more affordable,” Ahern said.

With Mediasite the company now records dozens of presentations throughout the year, and saves about $20,000 per year in travel expenses. 

“We can record a presentation and you get the sense and almost the feeling of being there, and when we incorporate that with Q and A time and live phone calls, it does come as close as you can get to feeling as though you’re there in person,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll see a growing presence of Sonic Foundry and webcasting and these kinds of solutions for employees across the company as we go forward.”