Products & Services

The next four months are going to fly by. How do I know?  Because the planning for the second annual Blackboard Collaborate™ Connections Summit is in full-swing, and as we continue to dot a myriad of i’s and cross countless t’s, our entire team cannot wait to see so many of you in New Orleans in mid-July. The reasons to attend are numerous.  We’ll unveil the latest enhancements to our Blackboard Collaborate™ platform.  Our fearless leader Maurice Heiblum will share the considerable progress our division has made now that we’ve had a full year under our belt as a combined company.  You’ll have full access to all of BbWorld 2012—yes, even its famous parties and keynotes.  You can roll-up your sleeves and get your hands dirty with the current version of Blackboard Collaborate.  And perhaps most importantly, you can attend nearly 50 sessions by Blackboard Collaborate customers from around the globe. And it’s always the customer-led sessions that are the showstoppers. This year’s Connections Summit agenda covers a variety of topics ranging from best practices and effective instructional design, to decreasing costs and adoption and implementation.  And perhaps most importantly, several tracks will specifically focus on upgrading from Elluminate or Wimba to Blackboard Collaborate. For many of our customers, 2012 is the year in which they’ll upgrade from one of our legacy products to our shiny new toy, and we want them to have the smoothest transition possible.  Therefore, in New Orleans, customers can attend an upgrade panel presentation featuring customers at Northern Illinois University, the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, and the Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences, all of whom have already been enjoying the new platform for months.  There will even be a presentation by the team at the University of Missouri system about its upgrade experience as well. Further, we’ll again have a walk-in feedback room in which our Product Management and Support teams can answer all your upgrade and technical questions, and I’ll likely hold a meeting for anyone who wants to learn more about our cohort upgrade programs. As we say, collaboration is music to our ears, so we feel that New Orleans is the best place for you to learn from the Collaborate team and your peers about the future of the Blackboard Collaborate™ platform.  Block off your calendars now, and I’ll see you in The Big Easy in July!