Blackboard has announced that Building Blackboard Together (BbT, or BbWorld for those of us who have been around long enough to still call it that) will head to San Francisco in 2027. The venue has not been officially confirmed, but based on what has been shared so far, my money is on the San Francisco Marriott Marquis (but a reminder that I have been wrong before). It’s my guess based on the room rate listed on the conference site and Blackboard’s long habit of booking Marriott properties. This hotel would put attendees in the SoMa neighborhood, a short walk from Union Square, Yerba Buena Gardens, and the Moscone Center area.
Building Blackboard Together 2027 ● San Francisco
Sights Near the Marriott Marquis
Four spots within a 10 minute walk of the hotel, close enough to see during a lunch break or before the evening events.
- HSan Francisco Marriott Marquis
- 1Yerba Buena Gardens
- 2Cable Car Turnaround
- 3SFMOMA
- 4Union Square
- Powell St. BART Station
Explore the four destinationsClick to show addresses, walking times, and detailsClick to hide the destinations
Yerba Buena Gardens
About a 4 minute walk
Practically the hotel’s front yard. Lawns, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial waterfall, and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. A good spot for a coffee between sessions.
750 Howard StSan Francisco, CA 94103
Powell Street Cable Car Turnaround
About a 4 minute walk
Watch operators spin the cars by hand, then ride the Powell-Hyde or Powell-Mason line up and over the hills to Fisherman’s Wharf. Expect a line at midday.
Powell St & Market StSan Francisco, CA 94102
SFMOMA
About a 6 minute walk
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, with seven floors of galleries and the living wall on the third-floor terrace. Plan at least two hours.
151 Third StSan Francisco, CA 94103
Union Square
About a 7 minute walk
The city’s shopping hub, ringed by department stores and flagship shops. The plaza is a good meeting point for group dinners.
333 Post StSan Francisco, CA 94108
Walking times are approximate and assume the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, 780 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94103. The conference venue has not been officially announced.
I have thoughts. Some good, one expensive.
This is genuinely new territory for the conference.
Blackboard has never held its conference in Northern California. The last time we gathered on the California coast was in San Diego back in 2006, which means a large share of today’s attendees have never experienced a Blackboard conference on the West Coast at all. For our colleagues in the Northeast and Midwest, this is a very different part of the country, and I think that change of scenery is healthy for an event that has spent many recent years rotating through the same handful of convention cities.
From the archives Blackboard Conference History – 2000 to 2027 Click to see every conference, host city, and milestoneClick to collapse
Building Blackboard Together started as a user community gathering in 2000, became the Blackboard Users Conference, then BbWorld, then Anthology Together after the merger, and returned to its original name in 2026. San Francisco in 2027 marks only the second time the conference has landed in California.
The early years 2000 to 2005
- 2000Building Blackboard TogetherWashington, D.C. · Marriott Wardman ParkEarly user community gathering.
- 2001Blackboard Users ConferenceWashington, D.C. · Marriott Wardman ParkRapid expansion of the higher education LMS base.
- 2002Blackboard Users ConferencePhoenix, AZHeld in Phoenix following the AT&T CampusWide Access Solutions acquisition.
- 2003Blackboard Users ConferenceBaltimore, MDInaugural Blackboard Developers Conference (DevCon).
- 2004Blackboard Users ConferencePhoenix, AZCoincided with Blackboard’s Initial Public Offering (IPO).
- 2005Blackboard Users ConferenceBaltimore, MDIntroduction of Exemplary Course & Greenhouse grant program announcements.
BbWorld 2006 to 2021
- 2006BbWorld ’06 CaliforniaSan Diego, CAFirst year officially branded BbWorld; celebrated the WebCT merger.
- 2007BbWorld ’07Boston, MAJoint gathering of Blackboard and WebCT/Powerlinks developer bases.
- 2008BbWorld ’08Las Vegas, NV · The Venetian / Sands ExpoShift to large convention facility formats.
- 2009BbWorld ’09Washington, D.C.Convened shortly after the ANGEL Learning acquisition.
- 2010BbWorld ’10Orlando, FL · Orange County Convention Center areaFocus on mobile learning integration and Learn 9.1 adoption.
- 2011BbWorld ’11Las Vegas, NV · The Venetian / Sands ExpoProvidence Equity acquisition era.
- 2012BbWorld ’12New Orleans, LA · Ernest N. Morial Convention CenterFocus on cloud services and analytics.
- 2013BbWorld ’13Las Vegas, NV · The Venetian / Sands ExpoRollout of new partner ecosystem initiatives.
- 2014BbWorld ’14Las Vegas, NV · The Venetian / Sands ExpoEarly previews of the Ultra interface design paradigm.
- 2015BbWorld ’15Washington, D.C. · Walter E. Washington Convention CenterFormal announcement of the Ultra experience for Learn and Collaborate.
- 2016BbWorld ’16Las Vegas, NV · The Venetian / Sands ExpoLaunch and general availability push for Blackboard Learn Ultra.
- 2017BbWorld ’17New Orleans, LA · Ernest N. Morial Convention CenterFocus on SaaS migrations and accessible education solutions (Ally).
- 2018BbWorld ’18Orlando, FL · Orlando World Center MarriottCloud transformation milestones and analytics integration.
- 2019BbWorld ’19Austin, TX · Austin Convention CenterFinal standalone in-person BbWorld prior to global pandemic disruptions.
- 2020BbWorld ’20 VirtualVirtualTransitioned fully online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 2021BbWorld ’21 VirtualVirtualBbWorld held virtually in July; prior to the finalized fall 2021 merger.
Anthology Together 2022 to 2025
- 2022Anthology Together ’22Orlando, FL · Walt Disney World Dolphin ResortFirst unified in-person annual conference under the merged brand.
- 2023Anthology Together ’23Nashville, TN · Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention CenterUnveiling of generative AI features (AI Design Assistant) for Learn Ultra.
- 2024Anthology Together ’24Orlando, FL · Orlando World Center MarriottFocus on institutional intelligence and expanded ecosystem integrations.
- 2025Anthology Together ’25Las Vegas, NV · Fontainebleau Las Vegas25th anniversary era of the combined conference lineage.
Building Blackboard Together 2026 to 2027
- 2026Building Blackboard Together ’26Dallas, TX · Hilton AnatoleFirst conference after financial restructuring and rebirth of the Blackboard name.
- 2027Building Blackboard Together ’27 Up nextSan Francisco, CA · Venue not yet announcedFirst Blackboard conference in Northern California.
California host years are highlighted in red. Dashed markers indicate virtual years. The 2027 venue has not been officially announced.
San Francisco rewards the people who stay an extra day or two.
If you rarely get to the west coast of the United States, this is a good year to build in a little extra time. Between Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, and a day trip to wine country or Muir Woods, there is plenty to justify a weekend on either side of the conference. A hotel in the middle of a walkable city is also a nice upgrade from the “convention center connected to a mall connected to nothing” experience many of us know too well. And July in San Francisco is refreshingly cool. As a Houston resident, I consider that a feature.
Now the part your budget office will want to discuss.
San Francisco has never been a cheap place to visit, and BbT27 will not be the exception. Here is what the early numbers look like:
Building Blackboard Together 2027 ● San Francisco
Estimated Single Attendee Cost
Average estimated cost per person, before meals and ground transportation.
Includes 4 nights at the $259 group rate plus roughly 16.25% in San Francisco hotel taxes and fees ($1,204 total lodging), average round-trip economy airfare ($460 across 7 US cities, $1,460 across 10 international gateways), and early bird registration ($825 main conference, $1,175 with the Developers Conference). Airfare figures are projections, not quotes.
Add those up and a domestic attendee is looking at roughly $2,361 before meals and ground transportation, or about $2,711 if you are attending DevCon. International attendees face a forecasted average airfare just shy of $1,500, which pushes their baseline to around $2,861 for the main conference and $3,211 with DevCon.
Building Blackboard Together 2027 ● San Francisco
Domestic Attendee Budget Estimator
Pick your departure city and registration type to see a per-person estimate for your budget request.
Compare all departure cities
Airfare is a projected midpoint for standard economy round trips into SFO; the range reflects projected low and high fares. Lodging is 4 nights at $259 plus roughly 16.25% San Francisco hotel taxes and fees. Excludes meals and ground transportation. Best domestic booking window: February to April 2027.
Building Blackboard Together 2027 ● San Francisco
International Attendee Budget Estimator
Pick your gateway, registration type, and currency. Converted amounts use current public exchange rates.
Compare all international gateways
Loading current exchange rates…
Airfare is a projected midpoint for standard economy round trips into SFO; the range reflects projected low and high fares. Lodging is 4 nights at $259 plus roughly 16.25% San Francisco hotel taxes and fees. Registration and hotel are billed in US dollars, so your final cost will follow your card or bank’s exchange rate on the day you pay. Excludes meals, ground transportation, and visa or ESTA fees. Best international booking window: November 2026 to February 2027.
For a single admin, that is a significant ask. For an institution hoping to send a team, it is a line item that will get scrutinized, and possibly cut. Between budget tightening across higher education and the general unpredictability of global politics, I would not be shocked if those numbers look different by July. However, it is appropriate to point out that the cost is only about $500 higher than attending the other LMS vendor conferences, which I calculated below.
2027 LMS conference season
2027 LMS Conference Travel Comparison
Building Blackboard Together, InstructureCon, and D2L Fusion all land in July 2027. Choose where you are flying from to see a per-person budget for each, including for international attendees.
- Registration
- Airfare
- Lodging, 4 nights
- Ground and meals
Line-by-line budget
US airfare by departure city
| Departure city | To SFO July 12 to 16 | To CLE July 19 to 23 | To DEN July 26 to 30 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas / Fort Worth (DFW, DAL) | $320 to $440 | $340 to $470 | $260 to $380 |
| New York City (JFK, LGA, EWR) | $420 to $580 | $240 to $360 | $360 to $510 |
| Baltimore / Washington (BWI, DCA) | $410 to $570 | $260 to $390 | $350 to $490 |
| Atlanta (ATL) | $420 to $560 | $310 to $440 | $330 to $470 |
| Minneapolis / St. Paul (MSP) | $360 to $490 | $290 to $420 | $250 to $370 |
| Chicago (ORD, MDW) | $350 to $480 | $220 to $330 | $280 to $400 |
| Boston (BOS) | $440 to $600 | $270 to $410 | $380 to $540 |
| Average projected fare | about $460 | about $335 | about $370 |
Projected round-trip economy fares at peak mid-summer conference pricing. Booking windows open roughly 330 to 360 days before travel.
International airfare and routing by gateway
| Gateway | To SFO (BbT27), USD | To CLE (InstructureCon), USD | To DEN (D2L Fusion), USD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney (SYD) | $1,250 to $1,800Nonstop on United or Qantas | $1,300 to $1,8751 stop via Los Angeles, Dallas, or San Francisco | $1,525 to $2,1751 stop, usually via Los Angeles or Vancouver |
| Melbourne (MEL) | $1,300 to $1,900Nonstop on United | $1,350 to $1,975 *1 or more stops, usually via Los Angeles | $1,800 to $2,6251 stop, usually via Los Angeles |
| Riyadh (RUH) | $1,200 to $1,7501 stop via London, Frankfurt, or Istanbul | $1,100 to $1,6001 to 3 stops via Amman, London, Atlanta, or Chicago | $1,150 to $1,6751 stop, usually via London, Rome, or Istanbul |
| Jeddah (JED) | $1,150 to $1,7001 stop via Istanbul, Doha, or Dubai | $1,050 to $1,550 *1 or more stops, no nonstop | $1,100 to $1,625 *1 or more stops, no nonstop |
| London Heathrow (LHR) | $950 to $1,450Nonstop on United, British Airways, or Virgin Atlantic | $1,200 to $1,8501 stop; Aer Lingus via Dublin is a common option | $1,175 to $1,775Nonstop on United or British Airways |
| Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) | $1,050 to $1,550Nonstop on Air France, United, or French Bee | $1,125 to $1,6501 stop; Aer Lingus via Dublin is a common option | $1,025 to $1,525Nonstop on Air France (summer only, 3 flights a week) |
| Frankfurt (FRA) | $1,100 to $1,600Nonstop on United, Lufthansa, or Condor | $1,225 to $1,8001 stop; Aer Lingus via Dublin is a common option | $1,250 to $1,825Nonstop on United or Lufthansa |
| Amsterdam (AMS) | $1,050 to $1,550Nonstop on KLM or United | $1,025 to $1,5001 stop; Aer Lingus via Dublin is a common option | $1,200 to $1,7751 stop, no nonstop service |
| Cairo (CAI) | $1,250 to $1,8501 stop via Istanbul, Paris, or Doha | $1,225 to $1,800Often 2 stops via New York, Chicago, or London | $1,225 to $1,8001 stop, usually via Istanbul |
| Johannesburg (JNB) | $1,500 to $2,2001 stop via London, Istanbul, or Doha | $1,575 to $2,3251 stop via Newark or Atlanta | $1,600 to $2,3501 stop via London, Newark, or Atlanta |
| Average projected fare | about $1,460 | about $1,510 | about $1,610 |
San Francisco fares come from the BbT27 international budget projections. Cleveland and Denver fares are estimates: each San Francisco projection is scaled by how current average fares from that gateway to Cleveland or Denver compare with its fares to San Francisco (KAYAK route data, September 2026), rounded to the nearest $25. * Jeddah (to Cleveland and Denver) and Melbourne (to Cleveland) use Riyadh and Sydney route data because direct comparisons were not available. Cleveland has no nonstop service from any of these gateways; its only transatlantic nonstop is Aer Lingus from Dublin.
Conference details and cost assumptions
All estimates assume economy airfare, arriving the day before and leaving the day after each event (4 nights), and the full registration rate available as of September 30, 2026. International estimates exclude visa or ESTA fees. Converted amounts use current public exchange rates; registration and hotels bill in US dollars, so your final cost follows your bank’s rate on the day you pay. Airfare for a specific city uses the midpoint of its projected range. These are projections for budgeting, not quotes.
Credit where it is due: the early notice matters.
The good news is that Blackboard has given us a very early timeline, and that is not a small thing. Many of us are building budget requests right now, and knowing the city, the approximate hotel rate, and the registration pricing this far out gives us a real chance to make the case internally before funds get allocated elsewhere. In the current climate, that kind of lead time is exactly what institutional clients need, and I appreciate Blackboard getting it out the door early. What I will say is this: the math matters, but so does being in the room. The extra few hundred dollars for BbT27 buys you the conference where your roadmap actually gets discussed. And with Blackboard publishing its pricing and hotel rate this early, you have more lead time than usual to make the case.
Final thoughts
I am excited about San Francisco. A cooler, more walkable city with plenty to explore, and a destination Blackboard clients have never experienced for this conference, is a strong combination. Cost will be the biggest hurdle for many in our community, and I hope Blackboard keeps that in mind as it finalizes the venue, room blocks, and any group or multi-attendee pricing.
On a personal note, BbT27 will be my 19th Blackboard conference, and it happens to land during my 50th birthday. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate than with the Blackboard admin community in a city I have been looking forward to visiting. If you are headed that way, find me. The first round of sourdough is on me. 😉
Technically Yours,
The Blackboard Guru
