But how? By participating in our Opening Keynote Giveaway! This year, instead of just announcing our opening keynote speaker as we’ve done in years past, we decided to spice it up a bit! Starting today, all week long, we will leak one new clue about this individual. And each day, we want you to guess who you think it might be. If your guess is correct, you could be joining us in New Orleans this summer for our annual user conference and biggest event of the year! All you need to do is:

1. Like us on Facebook
2. Tweet us your guess and include the hashtag #BbW12
3. Post your guess in the comments below!

It’s that simple! You may guess up to five times, once per day. The prizewinner will be randomly drawn from all eligible entries (those that have correctly guessed the keynote speaker) received by 11:59 p.m. EDT on March 9, 2012 and the winner will be announced on Wednesday, March 14, 2012. Clue 1: Some would say this individual is a Top American Leader – and they’ve got an award to prove it! Clue 2: Have you ever had a conversation with President Obama? Our opening keynote speaker has! Clue 3: Let’s just say…our keynote knows what the inside of a jail looks like! Clue 4: What do our opening keynote speaker and this picture have in common? Ready for your FINAL clue?

It’s American Education Week – a time to raise public awareness of the importance of education and to highlight the great work teachers across the nation are doing in the classroom every day. And what better way for us to do this than to, once again, recognize the outstanding work done by Kristin Kipp, an online English teacher for the Jefferson County 21st Century Virtual Academy in Colorado and the SREB 2011 National Online K-12 Teacher of Year! We had the opportunity to sit down with Kristin to hear her secrets for success in online teaching and learning, and to discuss the most effective ways to engage online students.