Avid Offers Real-World Experience to Next-Gen Pros at NAB and BEA; Student Blogs and Podcasts Provide Live Coverage from the Show Floor

Business Wire, April 24, 2006

LAS VEGAS -- Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced a number of new initiatives for students, educators, and institutions. The new programs include a student representative program, classroom sessions and panels at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and Broadcast Education Association (BEA) tradeshows, and special academic pricing for Avid's new and enhanced products introduced at the start of the NAB convention.

"The amount of raw talent that continues to bloom among students who've enrolled in film, broadcast journalism, and communications programs at schools across the country is tremendous," said Steve Chazin, director of education and new markets at Avid. "The programs we're launching at this year's NAB and BEA events demonstrate our ongoing commitment to provide industry access to aspiring professionals and to ensure they have access to the best creative tools in the industry. We're really excited to have students join us this year, where they'll come into contact with indie filmmakers, event videographers, large post facilities, and broadcast networks. Plus, they'll relay their experiences - and the energy of the show floor - to the rest of the world through blogs and podcasts from the Avid booth."

This year, Avid has selected 20 students from six leading media colleges - Emerson, USC, NYU, Columbia College, Howard University, and the University of Akron - to participate in its first-ever NAB Student Representative program. The students will experience NAB first-hand, assisting Avid staff at the company's booth and customer activities throughout the show. All students in the program will receive training on new Avid(R) products and interact with high-profile professionals from the film, television and broadcast industries.

In addition, each school represented in the program will have its own NAB blog, with students blogging daily from the show floor. They will also conduct video and podcast interviews with high-profile Avid customers and executives. To view the student blogs, visit: www.avid.com/community/blogs/index.asp.> "Attending NAB with Avid, learning the inner workings of a major industry event, mingling with industry pros, and taking in all of the exciting new technologies is an amazing opportunity for our students," said Fritz E. Gerald, post production supervisor and adjunct instructor at NYU's Kanbar Institute of Film & Television. "Both educators and students are very excited to see the broad range of new tools that Avid has introduced this year and look forward to working with these products in the near future."

Avid at BEA 2006

In addition to NAB, Avid is a platinum sponsor of the 2006 BEA convention, April 26-29 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The company will conduct three classroom training sessions, at no cost, on Editing with Avid Xpress(R) Pro, Editing in a News Environment with NewsCutter(R) XP, and Journalist Editing with iNews(R) Instinct(TM).

Avid is also participating in a number of BEA panel sessions including:

--"More Effective and Efficient Use of Resources through Affordable Collaborative Production Environments," on Thursday, April 27 from 1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. in room N232;

--"Investing to Increase Student Preparedness," on Friday, April 28 from 10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. in room N232;

--"Convergence and Technology Plenary: Leading the Convergence Shockwave," on Friday, April 28 from 9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. in room N243, and;

--"No Moving Parts: File Based Acquisition in HD Production," on Friday, April 28 from 1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. in room N232.

Lastly, Avid and BEA will co-sponsor an education reception from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 26 in room N250 of the Las Vegas Convention Center, where the company will provide up to 400 copies of its Avid Xpress Pro Academic software to attendees. Avid will also present student winners of the BEA Festival of Media Arts with copies of Avid Xpress Pro Academic software. Educators and students interested in registering should visit: www.avid.com/edureception. Space is limited.

Academic Product Pricing

In addition to rolling out a wide range of new products and enhancements to existing systems, Avid is also offering new academic pricing programs for students and educators using the company's postproduction, broadcast, and audio products. This includes academic pricing for the Media Composer(R) product family, which now includes a new software-only configuration for Mac and PC laptops or desktops (announced today in a separate press release: www.avid.com/company/releases/2006/060423_mediacomposer_avid.html). The new pricing program offers students and educators the ability to purchase a range of Avid's industry-leading audio, video and 3D products starting at only $295 USMSRP.

About Avid Technology, Inc.

Avid Technology, Inc. is the world leader in digital nonlinear media creation, management, and distribution solutions, enabling film, video, audio, animation, games, and broadcast professionals to work more efficiently, productively, and creatively. For more information about the company's Oscar(R), Grammy(R), and Emmy(R) award-winning products and services, please visit: www.avid.com.