Sonic Foundry Hosts Annual Shareholders Meeting

MADISON, Wis. - March 6, 2009 - Sonic Foundry, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFO), the recognized market leader for rich media webcasting and knowledge management, held its annual shareholders meeting yesterday at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
During the meeting, Chairman and CEO Rimas Buinevicius discussed the company's 2008 accomplishments and outlined initiatives for 2009. Key highlights include:

• Largest combined sale in company history: The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia has ordered nearly $2 million of Mediasite lecture capture technology to enable recording from 150 smart classrooms.
• Record growth in online learning: Buinevicius presented multiple datapoints to illustrate the significant growth in online learning, including research from the Sloan Consortium "Staying the Course" report which recorded a 143 percent increase from 2002 to 2007 in the percentage of students who had taken at least one online course.
• Positive financial trends: Sonic Foundry achieved pro forma positive results for the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2008 through its increased focus on higher education and corporate event webcasting coupled with a $4 million reduction in annual operating expenses. The company forecasted revenue growth of 15-20 percent, with steady gross margins, flat operating expenses and full year pro forma results for fiscal 2009.
• Ongoing industry recognition: In addition to awards from Streaming Media and Elearning! Magazine, the company received the highest ranking from Wainhouse Research in their "Distance Education and e-Learning Landscape" report for the depth of the company's blend of products and ability to execute.
• New social responsibility initiatives: Based on global economic and travel trends and the federal stimulus package, the company introduced key themes for 2009: increased demand for blended and distance learning to both educate the modern student and retrain the workforce, coupled with a move toward more cost-effective and environmentally friendly technology for greener meetings, conferences and training events.