Even though it’s been awhile since I was a college student, I can’t help but feel like these are the last weeks before the end of the semester and final exams.
You remember the all-nighters, and the study groups and term papers that seemed to never make it to “perfect,” but eventually reached the point where you just couldn’t do any more with them. Was it just me or did you somehow vacillate between feeling nervous, confident, worried and excited all within a very short time span?
Over time I learned to accept those feelings as a good thing, since it generally meant I was taking things seriously and trying my hardest to put my best foot forward, so that I could look back after all was said and done knowing that I would have no regrets.
At the end of this “semester,” my “final exams” will come in the form of two Blackboard Managed Hosting presentations taking place at BbWorld ’08 in Las Vegas:
First, I’ll give a short presentation at the Blackboard booth in the exhibit hall that explores the ecological benefits of Blackboard Managed Hosting (you can view a recorded webinar as a preview). In my presentation I’ll outline how we’re able to deliver an important benefit: energy consumption, which has impact far beyond the level of an individual institution.
I compare the ideas in this presentation to one of those fascinating things that you discover while researching or studying hard for a final exam, the kind of thing that wasn’t your main research topic, or that maybe your professor told you wouldn’t be on the test, but you just can’t stop reading about. That’s how I feel about this topic and I’m excited to share this information with the broader Blackboard community.
(This presentation will take place on Wednesday, July 16, at 12:15 PM, and again on Thursday, July 17, at 1:00 PM.)
The second presentation, by Alex Kissal, director of Blackboard Managed Hosting, will take you inside one of Blackboard’s data centers in Virginia, to show you just what we mean when we say that our data centers are “Tier 4.”
Alex believes a picture really is worth a thousand words, and he’ll be showing 15–20 snapshots of the facility, which demonstrate how hosting your e-Learning environment with Blackboard really makes a big difference. Alex’s presentation, “Managed Hosting: Take Your Technology to the Next Level,” will occur on Thursday, July 17, 11:30 AM – 12:20 PM (in Murano 3303).
So, if you’re heading to BbWorld ’08, please check out these two presentations and you can read what others in the Blackboard community say about hosting in an Eduventures report. And, yes, of course you will have the opportunity to grade us!
