PBS THE BUSINESS CHANNEL TO PIONEER NEXT GENERATION WEB-BASED BUSINESS TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
-- Webcast of James Champy's live management development seminar "Keep Power by Giving It Up" on April 7 to benefit from the performance of Intel®'s Pentium® III Processor --
ALEXANDRIA, VA and SAN JOSE, CA , February 17, 1999 -- PBS The Business Channel (www.pbstbc.com) today unveiled a ground breaking pilot project, in development since November, that marries the speed of Intel's new Pentium® III processor with the richness of The Business Channel's performance improvement business training content. The result is an unprecedented level of interactivity in the desktop delivery of Web-based business training and professional education.
The development project will culminate in a "next generation" Webcast of PBS The Business Channel's live leadership training program, "Keeping Power by Giving It Up," at 2 p.m. ET on April 7. Renowned management expert James Champy, author of the best-selling book "Reengineering the Corporation" and chairman of consulting for Perot Systems, will host the two-hour live learning event, currently delivered to organizations throughout the U.S. via DBS satellite, only on PBS The Business Channel.
The Business Channel's April 7 Webcast will showcase the new Pentium III processor's ability to stream highly-interactive, full-screen, full-motion video, both live and on-demand over the Internet at speeds of up to 500 kbps. State-of-the-art online learning tools will include polling throughout the Webcast, using technology developed by interactive tools provider Netpodium Inc. (www.netpodium.com).
Also included in the live Webcast will be:
- interactive self-assessments with immediate feedback;
- the ability for each participant to create a personalized learning journal;
- online messaging with teaching assistants; and
- synchronized key point text and high end graphics to reinforce learning.
An archived version will be available "on demand" following the Webcast.
"This unprecedented project provides a sneak preview of the next generation products we'll be rolling out to multicast-enabled organizations shortly," said Jinny Goldstein, President and CEO of PBS The Business Channel.
"Boosting the intellectual capital of an organization's workforce is one of the most important business applications for the new Pentium III processor," said Sally Fundakowski, Director of Shopping/Business Market Development, Intel Corporation. "With the Champy project, The Business Channel is taking full advantage of the Pentium III processor to create a more effective and engaging learning experience for business professionals."
Headquartered in Alexandria, Va., The Business Channel was launched in 1989 as a service of PBS, and since then, has pioneered telecommunications-based training for businesses and other organizations. The Business Channel L.L.C. became a limited liability company in 1996, and is currently a global provider of learning solutions for performance improvement and management development. PBS, headquartered in Alexandria, Va., is a private, nonprofit corporation operated by the nation's 350 public television stations. For more information, visit The Business Channel's web site, www.pbstbc.com, or call toll-free, 1.888.822.8229.
