Full Biography Information for some of our presenters:

Michael Chasen, CEO, Blackboard, Inc.
As chief executive officer for Blackboard Inc., Michael Chasen has provided the leadership to take Blackboard from a start-up company with just one product to a publicly held company offering five software applications bundled in two suites. His expertise managing fast growth Internet software companies coupled with a passion to enhance education through technology has been critical to Blackboard's success.

Prior to Blackboard's Initial Public Offering in June 2004, Mr. Chasen helped raise $103 million dollars in private financing to enable continued growth for Blackboard.

During his eight year tenure (since the company's founding), he has provided both strategic and tactical direction for every department in the company.

Now that Blackboard has nearly 500 employees, Mr. Chasen spends his time developing and implementing Blackboard's vision and business strategy.

He and co-founder Matthew Pittinsky can be credited with making Blackboard a leading provider of e-Learning software and services, currently used by more than 2,200 schools across the country and abroad.

Ernst & Young named Mr. Chasen and Matthew Pittinsky, Chairman of Blackboard Inc., "Entrepreneurs of the Year for Emerging Companies in Washington, D.C." The Kilby Awards Foundation also honored Mr. Chasen and Mr. Pittinsky as "young innovators" for having recognized and delivered on the demand for a high-quality, easy-to-use, and cost-effective online educational software platform.

Mr. Chasen holds an MBA from Georgetown University and an undergraduate degree in computer science from American University. He brings a solid mixture of business development and Internet engineering skills to Blackboard, and has extensive experience in educational consulting.

Before founding Blackboard, Mr. Chasen served as a member of the Higher Education Practice at KPMG Consulting, the world's largest professional services firm serving colleges and universities. He worked closely with several universities and colleges to implement wide-ranging software systems and also managed high-profile online development projects within the U.S. Department of Education.

Recently named one of DC's most-admired bosses by Washington Techway Magazine, and one of the area's rising stars by Washington Business Forward, Mr. Chasen has been featured in print, broadcast, and online media, including CNNfn, Fox News, Sam Donaldson's ABC.com, Internet.com, EXBETV.com, the Associated Press, PC Magazine, WUSA-TV (CBS), Wired.com, Beyond Computers, Technology & Learning, and The Washington Post. Mr. Chasen resides in Chevy Chase, MD with his wife and one-year old daughter. In his free time, he enjoys reading, boating and spending time with his family.

Karen Gage, Vice President, Blackboard Beyond Initiative, Blackboard Inc.
Karen Gage, joins the Blackboard executive team as vice president of the Blackboard Beyond Initiative, a key initiative by the company to focus on the next phase of e-Learning. As director of this effort, Ms. Gage oversees a dedicated team in launching a series of Web properties that connect the institutions, faculty, and students who use Blackboard worldwide across education segments and disciplines.

Ms. Gage comes to Blackboard with over ten years of experience working in the high technology sector. Most recently she served as senior vice president of marketing at WebCT, where she was in charge of product marketing, public relations, marketing communications, events, user community relations, and the company's Web presence. Ms. Gage has joined Blackboard as part of the company’s integration with WebCT following the February 2006 merge of the two companies.

Prior to her role at WebCT, Ms. Gage served as director of product marketing at the Inso Corporation, a global provider of content management software solutions. Before that she was a high-tech equity analyst at Alex. Brown & Sons.

Ms. Gage received her bachelor's degree in Economics from Duke University and her MBA from Columbia Business School.

Roger Hanley, Director of Academic Strategies, Elluminate Inc.
As Director of Academic Strategies, Roger is responsible for speaking at national and international conferences and working with academic and not-for-profit agencies to promote and support synchronous, real-time collaboration within the academic landscape and the virtual classroom modalities.

Roger's career in public education spans twenty years, during which he conceived of, initiated and began operating the Rocky View Virtual School (www.rvvs.com). The Rocky View Virtual School, providing full time education for students in Grades 7 - 12, was the first virtual school to start using a complete and scheduled synchronous instructional model. During his time with RVVS, Roger was engaged in consulting with other public boards of education in the establishment of their programs, including Hay River, NWT and Port Coquitlam in B.C.

Roger's experience in starting Canada's premier virtual school led to a number of speaking engagements, including various teachers' conventions and education / technology specialist councils. Roger went on to become the Business Area Manager of Virtual High Schools at Apex Learning, a leader in the eLearning industry.

Roger holds a B.A. from McMaster University and a B.Ed. from the University of Toronto.