Mnet :: 8th Annual Blackboard Users Conference

WASHINGTON, DC -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 12/14/05 -- Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) announces Bb World 2006, the 8th annual Blackboard users conference, will be held in San Diego, February 28 - March 2, 2006. Best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell will deliver a keynote address at this year's event, and award-winning e-Learning program Ready2Net will broadcast the first program of its 2006 series live on the second day of the conference.

Blackboard, which is used by more than 2,200 universities, colleges, K-12 schools and corporate and government agencies worldwide, anticipates more than 1500 people from academic institutions and schools across the country and abroad will attend to share ideas, participate in presentations and exchange best practices related to technology in education. Bb World 2006 will center on Blackboard's mission to enable clients to educate, innovate, everywhere. More details and access to registration is available at http://www.blackboard.com/company/events/bbworld/.

"We have an exciting lineup of programs planned for this year's conference," said Michael Chasen, President and CEO of Blackboard. "Our annual users' conference is the most important event of the year for us at Blackboard and we expect this year's to be the best yet. We are honored that Mr. Gladwell and Ready2Net will be joining us for the event, which will also feature many other interesting and informative sessions for attendees."

In keeping with Blackboard's mission of fostering educational innovation through technology, the conference sessions, keynote, and Ready2Net broadcast are designed to underscore the importance of increasing student engagement and institutional performance.

Malcolm Gladwell, award-winning New Yorker Magazine columnist and author of two New York Times #1 best sellers will open the conference with a key note address on February 28, 2006. Mr. Gladwell is recognized for interpreting groundbreaking research in psychology, sociology and neurology and applying it to business. He has reached millions of people with this information in his best-selling books, "The Tipping Point" and "Blink."

On March 1, day two of Bb World, conference attendees can watch and participate in a live satellite broadcast of Ready2Net, the award-winning series on eLearning and information technology issues affecting higher education. The program, produced by California State University, Monterey Bay and The Campus Computing Project, is broadcast via satellite and over the Internet to more than 40,000 viewers at some 4,000 sites across the United States. It will be available for viewing live from the Bb World Conference.

"Blackboard's 2006 conference will be a great venue for a Ready2Net program," said Casey Green, a co-creator and the on-air host of the Ready2Net series and the founding director of The Campus Computing Project. "Our March 1 broadcast, 'The Future of eLearning,' focuses on a topic of great interest and importance to the conference attendees and to tens of thousands of educators across the United States and around the world."

In addition to an expanded program of client, partner, and Blackboard presentations offered at Bb World, the conference also provides unique networking opportunities with peers from around the globe, a comprehensive suite of training programs and the always anticipated client appreciation party.

About Blackboard Inc.

Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) is a leading provider of enterprise software applications and related services to the education industry. Founded in 1997, Blackboard enables educational innovations everywhere by connecting people and technology. With two product suites, the Blackboard Academic Suite(TM) and the Blackboard Commerce Suite(TM), Blackboard is used by millions of people at academic institutions around the globe, including colleges, universities, K-12 schools and other education providers, as well as textbook publishers and student-focused merchants that serve education providers and their students. Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe and Asia.

Blackboard

Educate. Innovate. Everywhere.

Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for Blackboard and other statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 7, 2005 with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of December 14, 2005. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to December 14, 2005.

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