Announcements

Netbriefings Delivers Webcasts From Middle East

US Trade Representative Informs Delegates Across the Globe

St. Paul, Minnesota - December 11, 2001 - Netbriefings, a full-service webcast technology provider that specializes in secure and large-audience Internet broadcasts, announced the successful broadcasts of events from the 4th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), held Nov. 8-13th. In an effort to provide unprecedented access to officials attending the meetings in Doha, Qatar, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) looked to Netbriefings for a technical solution to provide streaming live events with video, audio, slides and audience participation to viewers across different time zones and around the world.

Due to the time difference (8 hours on the East coast, 11 on the West), USTR determined that archiving the conference for on-demand viewing, along with broadcasting the streaming live event, would be the only way to reach the thousands of desired and required participants. Netbriefings services allowed viewers to access information during their waking hours and at their convenience, as opposed to viewing the conference when it began - 4:00 A.M., Washington, D.C. time.

A fully interactive public archive of the events can be seen at www.netbriefings.com/event/ustr/Archives/PressConference or accessed through USTR's website at www.ustr.gov.

This proved to be highly valuable for USTR and viewers of the press conferences in more ways than one - many received feedback from world dignitaries and news of China and Taiwan's entry into the WTO, and other events, before major networks and newspapers were able to deliver the news.

Netbriefings VP of Sales & Marketing, Krisan Partridge, said, "The opportunity to Webcast a high profile event, such as The World Trade Organization, was very exciting for Netbriefings. It is a real feather in our hat! USTR needed to broadcast to viewers over multiple time zones, our Webcasting solution is the only one able to meet their needs and create a successful event. At Netbriefings, our strategy is to provide the highest quality of service possible, not only in terms of product, but also through end-user and customer support."

To keep confidentiality and save on costs throughout the conferences, USTR chose to produce the Webcast, on location from Doha, using Netbriefings' video capture card and streaming-media encoder software, two of the options supported by the new release of their Event Management System (EMS) software. USTR was able to use the video capture card to connect to their own video equipment and captures the signals. They then used the streaming-media encoder software to encode the signals and transmit back to Netbriefings' Control Center for post-production and immediate Webcasting to their viewers. Those tools, along with the EMS software, gave USTR the power to set up, view, configure, modify, and automatically administer the Webcast. Netbriefings EMS software also enabled viewer participation and a question and answer forum for those viewing the USTR broadcast. Using these capabilities, USTR, along with Netbriefings support, was able to produce their own live and archived Webcasting events.

About USTR & WTO
The United States Trade Representative is America's chief trade negotiator and the principal trade policy advisor to the President. In this role, the USTR provides trade policy leadership and negotiating expertise for the U.S. within the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO, established in 1995, is the only international organization dealing with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. The WTO has the authority to administer and police new and existing free trade agreements, to oversee world trade practices, and to settle trade disputes among member states. For more information on USTR and the WTO, visit their website at www.ustr.gov and www.wto.org.

About Netbriefings
Netbriefings provides catered, professional-quality webcast services with robust audio/video streaming designed specifically for large audiences, as well as Flash solutions for smaller, rich media presentations. Netbriefings solutions provide cost-effective alternatives to traditional corporate communication methods, allowing its clients to conduct successful broadcast-style streaming-media webcasts with ease. Netbriefings also offers secure broadcasting, on-demand access of archived content, and repurposing of content into CDs, DVDs, podcasts and other formats. (www.netbriefings.com) (www.ProclaimYourself.com)

Contact Info

Jeanneane Kloss
651-225-1532 x151 office
jkloss@netbriefings.com