It may not look much different from a style point of view but we made some significant changes in June of 2011.

A New Host

Blackbus has been growing steadily and we have moved to a new host a new VPS (Virtual Private Server). This will give us the horsepower to make the site snappier as well as have much more control over how we run things.

A New Forum

Our forum software was abandoned by its developers and we have really had a lot of complaints and confusion surrounding its use over the last year. We have converted the forum to a new platform called Kunena which is much more powerful and easier to administer. We hope you like it!

Cleaned Up the Junk

We had a lot of things running on the site. We have stripped back almost everything into just a core set of features. Some of you will miss the things that are gone and we want to hear from you! Most will not notice.

Tighter Integration

Our CMS (Joomla) is our main platform, and we use JomSocial to power the People and Groups section. We've implemented much tighter integration between these three pieces of software than we were capable of before. The goal was to make the user experience for you as seamless as possible. We aren't completely done yet, but we are definitely way farther along than we have been.

Better Communication

We're starting a new newsletter which will go out monthly. The content is still being developed but it will serve as a way to keep everyone up to date on the major happenings at the site as well as from our partners and sponsors.

Let us know what you think of the changes! Click the link at the bottom of this post to comment in the forum!

Thinking about Blackbaud NetCommunity? BBNC is all the rage these days, but did you know that it comes in different flavors? And unlike choosing an ice cream flavor, these flavors may have long-lasting implications for your organization and it's technology infrastructure. NetCommunity expert Lisa Lane Kasperzak of Beyond Nines Group lays out some of the differences in this exclusive Blackbus article. If your organization is considering NetCommunity, be sure to read the article to understand these important differences.

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Blackbaud is offering $125 off BBCon 2011 registration until April 30th. You can sign up for the early bird registration here. If you're planning on attending, please let the other Blackbus members know on this thread. According to Blackbaud, some of the new things promised for this year's conference are:

• Unique, Exciting Sessions from Industry Gurus: Industry professionals from today's hottest companies - including Groupon, Facebook, and YouTube - will be presenting.
  
• Hands-On Blackbaud Learn® Labs (New!): Participate in hands-on training led by our expert instructors, teaching you the skills you need to use your software to its fullest.
  
• Professional (and Personal!) Networking: This year's Conference will be the place to make new connections and re-connect with old friends. Meet industry leaders and gain knowledge from their expertise.
  
• Pre- and Post-Conference Sessions of Special Focus Areas:Hear innovative tips on social networking, new media, traditional and online marketing, benchmarking, and more.
  
• Blackbaud Updates and Product Road-Maps: Hear what Blackbaud has been working on this year and what's on the horizon with Blackbaud CEO Marc Chardon, and our new Senior Vice President of Products and Marketing, Jana Eggers.