WASHINGTON–Blackboard Inc., a leading provider of enterprise technology for the education industry, announces BbWorld® Commerce ‘08, a specialized users conference for Blackboard Commerce Suite clients. During the four-day conference, March 9th – 12th in Phoenix, Ariz., more than 300 campus card and security professionals will gather to share insights and best practices on payment and security management on campus, off campus and online.

This year’s conference theme is “Coming Together,” and will feature more than 35 client-led sessions, pre-conference workshops and partner-led demos.

“Last year our clients said overwhelmingly that they enjoyed unparalleled opportunities to interact with each other and Blackboard staff,” said Russ Carlson, President of Blackboard Commerce. “We guarantee this year’s conference will encourage similar networking and the sharing of best practices in addition to providing campus leaders the opportunity to hear about the latest Blackboard developments in payment and security management.”

One of the featured services at this year’s conference is Blackboard Connect-EDTM, a mass notification system specifically focused on the needs of educational institutions. In the wake of school and campus incidents, natural disasters and other safety concerns, the ability for institutions to efficiently and effectively communicate with their entire campus has become increasingly important. Blackboard Connect-ED users are able to quickly and easily record and send time-sensitive notifications using either a computer or telephone to thousands of people on a variety of technical devices in minutes.

In addition, Dr. Mark Milliron, President and CEO at Catalyze Learning International and Dr. Adrian Sannier, Chief Information Officer at Arizona State University will deliver separate keynote addresses. Milliron will discuss the ongoing changes and challenges that every campus will face in the coming years, while Sannier will discuss technological innovations that are influencing campus management systems.

The Blackboard Commerce Suite includes three enterprise software applications that support cashless transactions on-campus, off-campus and online, linked to university ID cards. Hundreds of institutions rely on the Blackboard Transaction System™, the center of the Blackboard Commerce Suite, to securely process millions of transactions involving payments, data transfer, physical access control and activity authentication, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.