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We’re heading to New Orleans July 10-12 for BbWorld. And this year, the conference will be more than just an annual user’s conference.  While the event will include the same incredible opportunities to network with peers, share best practices and meet with experts from Blackboard and neighboring institutions, the conference has evolved into a true education technology gathering.  Not to mention some hot weather and spicy Creole. This year, we’ve expanded the program and are so excited to bring together outside leaders from across the global Higher Ed, K-12 and Professional Education community to share their perspective on key education topics, directions and trends.  The 2012 program is centered on a few key themes, which were introduced during the CFP process; here they are again:

March Madness 2012 is upon us! With 99% of the tournament teams using Blackboard, we decided to host our own Final Four Pool. No money involved just good, clean fun. The client with the closest entries for the final winner will win a non-transferable free pass to BbWorld 2012 in New Orleans, LA.

Whether you’re pulling for a Trojan or a Jayhawk, you must enter your final four bracket picks by 12PM EDT on March 22, 2012 – and hopefully we’ll see your team in the Final Four.

Click here to enter your picks and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more March Madness trivia! Please see the contest terms and conditions,  for more information.

We’re thrilled to reveal that Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President of UMBC, will deliver the BbWorld 2012 opening keynote on Tuesday, July 10. In 2008, Freeman was named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report, which in 2009, 2010, and 2011 ranked UMBC the #1 “Up and Coming” university in the nation.  In 2011, U.S. News also ranked UMBC 4th nationally for “Best Undergraduate Teaching” – tied with Yale.  In 2009, TIME magazine named him one of America’s 10 Best College Presidents. This past year, he received both the TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence and the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Academic Leadership Award, recognized by many as the nation’s highest awards among higher education leaders.  Also in 2011, he was named one of seven Top American Leaders by The Washington Post and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership. … yeah. We’re blown away by him too! Not familiar with Freeman’s work? don’t worry! You will be an expert by July with all the exclusive updates we have to share with you. Stay tuned! For all our opening keynote contest participants, if you guessed Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, you’re ONE Step closer to joining us at BbWorld 2012 for FREE! Our officials are in the process of collecting all eligible posts and we will be revealing the lucky winner this Wednesday, March 14th at NOON sharp!

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?