Another "Super Bowl" in Arizona?
Did you watch this year's Super Bowl? The New York Giants vs. the undefeated New England Patriots in Arizona: what a game and what an amazing ending -- a dramatic come from behind victory in the final minute of the biggest game (and sporting event) of the year. What more could you ask for? It was truly one of the most riveting spectacles I have witnessed in the past 30 years.
You have to love big events like that. They bring people together from all across the country and even across the world. And that one game is a special opportunity to share “water cooler” conversation with people you may not get to talk with very often around the office, campus, school . . . “Hey, did you see that game last night! Wow!”
Well, the Super Bowl got me thinking . . . What other big events are there this year that will garner as much attention – sure, there’s the NASCAR championship series, maybe March Madness, the World Series . . . Ah, but before all of those events, there is another big event in Arizona, in just two weeks, that’s sure to receive a huge amount of attention from the hundreds of people in attendance and, when those participants return to their respective campuses across the country, will influence millions of people in schools, colleges and universities nationwide: yep, BbWorld Commerce ’08!
BbWorld Commerce – a grand stage and special occasion for all campus card and security professionals to mix, mingle and share best practices that will influence the way universities and schools use technology in innovative ways on their campuses in the future. Sure, there’s no real “battle in the trenches” because we’re all on the same team. But the conference gives us a chance to make our “game plan” for the bigger and better things to come for the campus commerce community.
And guess what? We’ll even be filming parts of the event: BlackboardTV (or "BbTV") will be onsite interviewing attendees and capturing moments around the conference. We’ll be making history in the desert: the start of our own Commerce Super Bowl -- let's call it "The Grand Daddy of Them All.”
Who knows, in the next couple of years, maybe we’ll be picked up by the Networks.
I hope to see you at the conference this year. Come find me with the BbTV crew or at one of the socializing events. When you head back to your campus after the event, you’ll have plenty of water cooler conversations with your colleagues about all the good times you had.
See you in AZ.
