ON24 Announces Business Travel Comedy Contest Winner

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – September 27, 2012 – ON24, Inc., the leader in webcasting and virtual events, today announced that Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, former venture capitalist, is the winner of the “Your Time, Your Life, Go Virtual” comedy contest sponsored by ON24. The contest showcased five of America’s funniest comedians talking about ON24’s newest research into the problems with business travel. The research, which was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of ON24, featured results including:

• 91% of Americans believe too much time away from home due to work has consequences, including 75% citing increased stress and a surprising 70% who say it can result in a failed marriage or relationship.
• 85% of Americans believe that work infringes on the personal time of American workers.
• 33% of Americans said they would not be willing to do anything for one additional year of life. Of those who said they would, 16% admitted they would be willing to give up a pet.
• Nearly all Americans (94%) believe “bad behaviors” occur among people travelling away from home to attend conventions and trade shows, with 71% believing people drink too much alcohol.

In addition to Dhaya, the “Your Time, Your Life, Go Virtual” comedy contest also featured comedians Samson Koletkar, Ben Kolina, Joe Nguyen and Gary Anderson, each of them competing for a grand prize of $10,000. Although voting is now closed, the videos can still be seen at https://comedycontest.on24.com/.

When asked about the difference between being a venture capitalist and a comedian, Dhaya said, “One of them invests time and money doing something that changes people’s lives, and the other is a venture capitalist.”

The winning video included a send-up of her hilarious trip out of Houston, complete with a screaming baby, 3-alarm chili and a missing air sickness bag. Dhaya has sold out shows in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Prior to her comedy career, Dhaya traveled as both a venture capitalist and management consultant.

“We’ve seen an overwhelming response to this contest, demonstrating that business travel horror stories like these strike a chord with a lot of people,” said ON24 Chief Marketing Officer Denise Persson. “The contest has been a fun way to call attention to the work/life balance many of us work hard to keep in check every day. At ON24 we’re committed to providing virtual solutions that cut the time people have to stay away from their loved ones so they can make the most out of their lives. While virtual communications will never completely replace face-to-face meetings, they are an invaluable option for companies seeking to reduce costs and employees seeking greater convenience and control over how they spend their time and live their lives.”

About ON24, Inc.

ON24, the virtual communications platform for the global enterprise, provides interactive, impactful cloud-based solutions that drive outstanding results. ON24 offers a broad and innovative product portfolio, including webcasting, virtual events and virtual environments, accessible from any device and supported by robust reporting and analytics. Applications for the ON24 platform include demand generation, partner enablement, training, product launches, company town hall meetings and user conferences. More than 700 organizations, including IBM, CA Technologies, Merck, Unilever, JPMorgan Chase, Deloitte, Credit Suisse, Amazon and New York Life, rely on ON24. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices throughout the world. For more information, visit https://www.ON24.com.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of ON24 from May 16-18, 2012, among 2,159 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample, and, therefore, no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Tricia Heinrich or Tom Carpenter.