Making a Splash: Swimming with the Big Fish in the Las Vegas Desert – BbWORLD 2013

Blackboard World Developers Conference and Exhibition 2013 is a week-long event that brings together thousands of thought leaders, educational architects, IT specialists and top-tier vendors all under one roof. As a Premier Partner with Blackboard, BbWORLD was an excellent opportunity to showcase Blue by Explorance and how it achieves deep integration with Blackboard Learn™, automates feedback processes, and is flexible and robust enough to handle course evaluation and survey projects of any size.

BbWORLD is a big deal. It is the Blackboard premier event of the year and our biggest show to date. When preparing for a show of this magnitude, you begin to realize all of the moving parts that are involved in rolling out such an event. We had the opportunity this year to make a splash, enlisting help  from  materials and design specialists from The Expo Group, the patience and logistical wizardry from MRA Services, a strong business relationship with Blackboard and enthusiastic attendees.

As a premier partner for the event, we were under the watchful eye of Sara Loges, Katie Graves, and Kate Drossos our Blackboard contacts who ensured things went smoothly. Our involvement in such an auspicious event meant that our exposure would be maximized by Blackboard’s presence in the higher education market and presented an excellent opportunity to showcase not only our product, but our knowledge and understanding of the needs of today’s educators. With over a decade of insights, our partnership with Blackboard was validation that we were an authority on course evaluations and surveys for colleges and universities both small and large.

The most exhilarating part of BbWORLD 2013 was speaking to the variety of stakeholders, decision makers and facilitators, hearing them speak about the challenges they were facing and knowing that our software solution could be the missing piece they were looking for. With a presentation area incorporated into our booth, those same people had an opportunity to see Blue in action and really get a feel for its customization and flexibility. Understanding how our solution is the critical step in improving education exemplified the intrinsic importance of receiving feedback, something that was oddly satisfying about hearing from others and getting feedback of our own about how we can improve our best in-class product offering.

With all the glamour that is Las Vegas, Blackboard treated its partners in a similar manner with exclusive receptions, great food and an exhilarating atmosphere. Business was good, producing exceptional leads in an action packed conference. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year.