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I've been asked by a few people if, and why, I'm going to the BbWorld 07 conference in Boston this July. Aside from the fact that I've wound up presenting a couple of sessions, I definitely wanted to go this year.

First, a historical perspective - I've had the opportunity to go to every annual BbWorld conference, starting with the very first "Train the trainer" event at American University in DC, in December of 1998... so I've seen the event evolve over the years. At first, it was a very intimate gathering where I got to meet some really amazing people - many with Blackboard, and more importantly (sorry, Bb folks) other Blackboard clients. Despite the way that things have grown over the years, that's one of the great things about the event - there is still a strong effort to focus on the clients. I'm looking forward to seeing many old friends from other institutions and, as usual, learning lots from them.

This will be the first merged users conference between the WebCT and Bb sides of the house. I'm very interested in how it goes and what we can learn. Both as a community and about how well the "new" Blackboard is merging things... software yes, but more importantly these two very strong communities. The BbWorld 07 conference will be an opportunity to see how well Bb has taken on the challenge of listening to both sides of the house and taking the strengths of both constituencies forward. Whether it goes well or not in Boston, Blackboard should have many lessons to learn and adjustments to make.

As far as the keynotes, I'm kind of dense when it comes to economics - Steven Levitt's presentation could be awesome or fly completely over my head. As a long-time supporter of Apple technology (and a fan of technology start-ups), though, I'm looking forward to seeing Guy Kawasaki's presentation. In general, I really like the idea of using speakers who may be able to encourage educators to think differently about their business and its challenges. There are generally a broad-enough range of sessions to get whatever you need out of it, and this year there are 2 days of pre-sessions... so that could be cool. BbWorld has also had a significant vendor presence over the last few years, and I always get a lot of value from the show floor.

On the social side, Blackboard has always been a bit of the corporate equivalent to a "party school" and they definitely know how to mix people up in a good way. Between the parties and the hallway conversations, there should be plenty of time to meet new people and learn about what they're doing at their institutions. I hope that Blackboard takes cues from other conferences and works hard to expose and cater to clients who are writing about and taking photos of the conference.