Web conferencing takes your online meeting capabilities beyond those of the average customer meeting or training.  With the ability to show and share presentations and applications on your desktop, you’ll be able to demonstrate the value of your product quickly and easily.

Enterprise Instant Messaging is a collaboration solution designed to promote team building through real-time communication.  Our instant messaging system includes advanced features such as audio and video chatting, screen sharing, a robust whiteboard, as well as the ability to see the presence status of your team, allowing everyone in your team to collaborate seamlessly.

Integrations:   Blackboard Collaborate can seamlessly integrate with the Blackboard Learn for Sales Platform.  This allows your company to combine and leverage the training and selling tools that are most effective for improving your sales impact.

If you want to learn more about the ways your sales team can leverage Blackboard Collaborate, visit our website or leave us a message in the comments section below!

Launched last August, Blackboard Learn™ for Sales is a cloud-based learning management solution that embeds social learning directly into the Salesforce CRM platform.  This allows sales managers and corporate trainers to enroll in and complete required training courses and tailor training programs across their enterprise. Learn for Sales ensures that professional development resources are all easily available within the familiar Salesforce environment, thereby addressing evolving business priorities and measuring successes against team performances and defined business goals.

Simply put, educated and informed employees are more likely to be successful and meet and exceed their sales targets. Training delivered by Blackboard Learn for Sales improves employee knowledge, influences positive behaviors, and drives new sales.  Since Blackboard Learn for Sales is the only training solution that is integrated within Salesforce, it allows sales teams to best access the training and development tools they need – when and where they need them.

The IES&BD award ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 17, and winners in four categories will be announced at the event. Stay tuned for the final results by following us on Twitter at @BlackboardProEd!

The IES&BD provides education, recognition, research, insights, and strategies for enabling Sales & Business Development leadership, development, and excellence.  The keystone program of the IES&BD is the annual IES&BD Awards, which recognizes achievement in corporate and organization sales initiatives, such as training, team building, sales/marketing integration, and customer relationship development. To learn more about the Institute for Excellence in Sales & Business Development, visit their website here.

Eric, affectionately known to many as @NMHS_Principal, is a K-12 administrator who has adopted social media and web 2.0 technologies to engage students, improve communications with stakeholders, and help educators grow professionally. He is passionate about establishing and fostering learning environments that are student-centered, collaborative, flexible, and prepare all learners to succeed in the 21^st Century. We are thrilled that Eric is able to join us this summer; check out this video message he shared about his upcoming presentation.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWhHoXxsi8E

You can read more from Eric on his personal blog, A Principal’s Reflection, and in his frequent contributions on Huffington Post.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be highlighting other pieces of the BbWorld program that are relevant to the social learning conversation. In the meantime, if you have questions or comments, please share them below or tweet us, @Blackboard, and remember to include the #BbW12 hashtag.

We know that many of you have booked your flights and are already thinking about how you’ll capture the sights and sounds of this year’s BbWorld. So this year, if you’re planning to blog, we want to make it a little bit more enticing: register here to be an official BbWorld Blogger and let us reward all your hard work!

As an official BbWorld Blogger, your peers will recognize you as a thought-leader, sharing a personal perspective and reflecting on all aspects of the event. You’ll get reserved seating in all keynote presentations, a blogger badge that you can add to your personal blog TODAY, and a BbWorld Blogger t-shirt (rock your t-shirt at the Client Appreciation Party). We’ll also feature some of the posts on Blackboard Blogs during the week of the show, July 9-13. More details will be shared in June; keep an eye on your email.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE…

For three exceptional bloggers, we’re giving away three FREE passes to BbWorld. Starting today through Friday, May 4, you can enter to be a BbWorld VIP Blogger. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Write and post to your personal blog an entry titled, “Why I want to be a VIP BbWorld blogger.” Tell us who you are and why you want to go to BbWorld – we’ll be judging on originality of submission and enthusiasm.
2. Tweet your post to @Blackboard using the #BbW12 hashtag. And email andrea.meier@blackboard.com to guarantee entry.
3. Complete the BbWorld Blog form and make sure you select ‘Yes’ to enter the contest.

What do the VIP Bloggers receive?

-        FREE registration to BbWorld 2012 (Does not include T&E)

-        Access to your peers from around the globe for unbelievable networking and collaboration opportunities.

-        Before BbWorld, we’ll profile you on the Blackboard Blog

-        Backstage access to keynote speakers and Bb leaders

-        Plus a few other surprise we’ve got in the works.

-        Click to download official contest rules.

Did we mention it’s in New Orleans?

Blackboard Learn™ for Career Colleges is aimed at addressing these needs in a way that is engaging and at pace with the busy lifestyles of adult learners.  We recently developed four videos that highlight some of the key ways Blackboard Learn enables these adult learners to reach their highest potential:

• Engage students: By leveraging web 2.0 technologies, Blackboard Learn creates streamlined learning portals for easy and intuitive navigation to course information, while also providing the opportunity to connect with other students for social learning experiences.
• Provide openness and choice: Blackboard Learn allows for a tailored learning platform that easily integrates with your institution’s partners, including publishers and other content providers.  This allows course developers to create engaging educational content in an environment that is secure, flexible, and open.
• Demonstrate successful outcomes: It is more important than ever that professional colleges and universities provide robust and accurate measures of student success.  Blackboard Learn can aid in that effort, as it provides efficient and accurate tools for measuring student achievement, including detailed rubrics and other data-driven assessments.
• Drive student success: Blackboard Learn gives instructors the ability to drive student success through consistent and timely feedback.  Built-in tools help instructors identify at-risk students so they can receive individualized attention, helping students overcome challenges and stay motivated to succeed.

Watch all four videos in full by visiting this page, and learn more about the various ways your professional college or university can leverage Blackboard Learn to foster student success.

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:

Social Learning

• Learning from interaction and collaboration with peers through both formal and informal educational spheres

Digital Content

• How advancements in digital content are changing the way students and faculty engage with and share educational information and activities.

Analytics in Action

• The power of data-driven decision making across the institution.

Technology Adoption

• Best practices for improving user success to maximize the value of your technology investment.

Mobility

• How to meet the growing expectation that student have for access and engagement through mobile devices.

We regularly find ourselves in conversations with you and fellow experts exploring social learning approaches, digital content resources, best practices for technology, and the speed at which mobile is being adopted on campus to create a new student experience. We feel certain that these themes will resonate.

So we’re bringing the conversation from the edu-sphere to NOLA, in client-led sessions, Blackboard-led sessions, keynotes and more. Most importantly, as part of these themes, we are excited to announce a new addition to the program called “Feature Theme Sessions.” These sessions will be presented by an impressive list of thought leaders from around the education community. Beginning on Tuesday, April 10, we’ll announce the first Feature Theme Session presenter and even share a special video message from him. Make sure to check back and hope you can join us in the Big Easy!

Thank you to the nearly 100 attendees for making our second Military Education & Training Blackboard User Group (METBUG) conference such a great success!  For those of you who were not able to join us, here is a short recap of what you missed!

Opportunities in Online Training

METBUG’s opening speaker was Col. Jeff Waechter of the Joint Forces Staff College, who spoke on his institution’s progress on creating a continuous learning environment for the joint warfighter.  Colonel Waechter emphasized the role that education plays in today’s military environment, which must face widespread and fast-paced challenges in the face of fiscal constraints.  He argued that online and distance education presents interactive and engaging learning opportunities for the military, and predicted that digital learning tools would play an expanded role in the future of Joint Forces education.

Next Generation SCORM & Social Learning

Later in the day, we heard presentations on topics ranging from mobile applications that can be leveraged for military learning to Blackboard-specific training strategies.  The keynote speaker, Advanced Distributed Learning’s Aaron Silvers, also gave a thought-provoking presentation on Project Tin Can and the next generation of SCROM.  Silvers emphasized that better media interaction and more accurate learner assessment will be key features of tomorrow’s e-learning software.  He also discussed the important role that informal learning and social networks can play in military training, and argued that future e-learning technologies should help foster this type of collaborative learning.

Maximizing Blackboard for Military

With Blackboard empowering thousands of military professionals around the world to foster learning, share information, and work collaboratively, we are proud to gather peers together to share experiences and best practices.   Attendees have already navigated the policies and procedures for implementing online learning and now want to maximize courseware, management, and cost savings.  Of course, aside from ensuring that METBUG attendees are making the most of the full capabilities of the Blackboard platform, there was plenty of time for socializing and networking after the full day of presentations!

Overall, METBUG 2012 was a highly informative meeting those across the military and intelligence training industry, especially those who leverage Blackboard solutions within their institutions.  To learn more about Blackboard’s military partnerships, visit our website and be sure to participate in future METBUG events!

Your professional college or university is already taking advantage of the latest technologies to create online classes and services for your students.  But how can you increase student engagement and persistence, and impact student success, all while taking your online learning programs to the next level? We’ll address these and other questions in a half hour Twitterchat on Thursday, April 19^th from 3:30 – 4:00pm EDT.

Our chat will be led by Kevin Kuzma, the Online Editor of Career College Central Magazine.  Follow Kevin on Twitter at @CareerCollegeCT or read his biography here.

Here are the rest of the details for our Twitterchat:

Who: Professional college and university deans of admissions, technology officers, and other administrators who are invested in online learning.

What: A Twitterchat is a real-time dialogue via Twitter at a designated time.  People are encouraged to participate, but “lurking” is okay, too.

Where: From your office or wherever you are connected to the Internet!  You can access Twitter from your desk or mobile device.

When: Thursday, April 19^th from 3:30 – 4:00pm EDT.

Why: Considering the growing trend towards online learning, it is crucial that your professional or career college implements the best strategies possible to connect with students and deliver engaging learning content online.

How: Put the hashtag #4profitchat into http://tweetchat.com/ and away you go!

Throughout Public Parts, Jarvis argues that today’s age of openness will help business to find new opportunities while better interacting with customers.  This heighted level of engagement is made possible by new modes of communication that couldn’t exist without technology and individual openness:

“The truly public company will operate in the open because publicness affords businesses a new way to work, to collaborate with customers, to reset relationships, to build trust, and to find new efficiencies—producing better products, making fewer mistakes, spending less on marketing, building better brands together.”

These are themes we have highlighted before when discussing the social enterprise and how developments in social media is impacting business.  I undoubtedly agree with Jarvis that openness presents incredible opportunities for businesses that leverage social networks for better customer service and to maintain professional relationships.  So long as companies maintain professionalism and respect their clients’ privacy on these channels, there is a wealth of opportunity in utilizing them.

If you want to learn more about Jeff Jarvis and Public Parts, watch this video or visit his blog, Buzz Machine.  I’ll be interested to hear what thoughts you have on this engaging and timely book!

With this in mind, I thought it would be useful to discuss best practices for sales teams that implement tablets. I recently came across this article and video that gives practical advice for leveraging a tablet during sales calls and trade shows:

#1: Organize your apps for easy access: Many devices allow you to easily categorize your mobile applications.  This will give you easier access to your most important apps when you are in the middle of a sales pitch.

#2: Create a clean professional home screen: Organizing your applications can also help create a clean, streamlined home screen.  A professional-looking screen will be less distracting for customers, helping them to focus on you and your products. You can even group business apps together and move other apps off of the home screen, which will help de-clutter your tablet while directing attention to the apps you need most.

#3: Practice multi-apping:  Just as you prepare yourself for a sale, you should also prep your tablet before a trade show or meeting.  Take a few minutes to make sure your tablet is well-organized, then open the apps or web pages you plan on using for that specific meeting so they are ready to go when you need them.

In addition to these helpful tips, there are specific mobile applications that can also improve the way you conduct sales.  One of my personal favorites is EverNote, which syncs wirelessly with all of your devices so you can have seamless access to information recorded during sales calls.  Some more business-specific apps include Brainshark, which allows you to play multimedia presentations on your mobile device, and Milebug, which tracks miles driven for business trips or sales calls.  Of course, you can also take sales training to the next level with a Blackboard Mobile™ application for your company.

When used properly, tablets can be a great addition to your sales force.  They can add a sleek and modern look to your sales pitch, put powerful applications (literally) at your fingertips, and help keep you connected to your team even when you’re on the go.  Check out our Blackboard Mobile page to learn more about the ways Blackboard can help your company leveraging tablets for sales, and leave us a comment about the ways your sales team has already gone mobile.