Jenzabar Community Convenes for Largest-Ever Jenzabar Annual Meeting (JAM 2007)

Boston, MA (PRWEB) June 7, 2007 -- Jenzabar, Inc., a leader in software and services solutions for higher education, announced that last week's annual client conference (JAM 2007) was the largest event in Jenzabar history. JAM 2007 hosted more than 1,300 attendees, including Jenzabar users, client executives, industry partners, Jenzabar client services and technical staff, and thought leaders within higher education. It marked more than a 20 percent increase in client attendees over 2006, which previously held the record for the most attendees. The four-day event was held at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, FL. The theme of last week's event was "Building Stronger Communities," and numerous sessions focused on how Jenzabar's portal solution (Jenzabar's Internet Campus Solution, or JICS), constituent relationship modules (Jenzabar CRMs), and learning management system (Jenzabar LMS) can be effectively deployed to help institutions engage their constituents and build strong, life-long communities.

Representatives from public, private, two-year, four-year and specialty schools came to the conference, which featured more than 325 user information sessions covering the entire range of Jenzabar's product and service offerings. The event also included hands-on labs, user group meetings, and several fun activities designed to facilitate networking among clients and interaction with Jenzabar associates. Jenzabar clients presented almost half of these sessions, a testament to the involvement and vitality of the Jenzabar community. Attendees overwhelmingly praised the value and exceptional quality of the conference.

"JAM was excellent - a very valuable and informative experience," said Jeffrey Mah, Systems Consultant for Simon Fraser University, a new Jenzabar client. "I was amazed by how helpful and engaged members of the Jenzabar community were. The sense of community is quite strong and I am impressed at how Jenzabar actively fosters that community."

JAM 2007 opened with a keynote address entitled "The Future of Higher Education and The Technology That Will Drive It" delivered by Dr. Victor Edmonds, Director of Educational Technology Services at the University of California-Berkeley. An engaged audience witnessed a glimpse into the future that included numerous cutting-edge learning technologies in place at some of the world's leading research universities and consortia.

Jenzabar Chairman and CEO Robert Maginn opened the first full day of JAM 2007 with his annual Executive Management Update, and described Jenzabar's growing focus on enrollment, retention, and advancement (ERA). He explained how the company has created new cross-functional ERA teams to align Jenzabar's efforts more effectively within each area and to help the company become even more responsive to customer needs. In addition, Maginn reported that corporate resources have been realigned to place more emphasis on product development, customer support, customer care, and services. The CEO also described the contributions of the Jenzabar Foundation to support the charitable endeavors of our client institutions and their students.

The CEO's remarks also emphasized the importance of partnership, both with technology providers who add value to Jenzabar solutions and with Jenzabar client institutions as well. During the four-day event, Jenzabar announced new or expanded partnerships with business intelligence leader Cognos, Informz for text messaging, Docufide for electronic transcript delivery, and payment solutions provider CASHNet.

Pre-conference sessions included in-depth training classes and the third annual JAM Executive Program, which provided a unique forum for institutional leaders to learn from and interact with experts and other executives. Bill Cahill, CIO of St. Edwards University, presented his institution's initiatives of using transactional data from their Jenzabar system to improve student retention. Participants also had a chance to hear first-hand from two panels: a panel of CIOs who shared their insights on IT reporting structures within higher education; and a panel of students who shared their thoughts about social computing trends and potential applications within higher education. Dr. Anne Federlein, President of Kentucky Wesleyan College, capped off the program with a case study describing how she and her colleagues turned KWC into a strategic enrollment success story through a well-orchestrated strategic plan and a dramatic cultural shift within the college.

Ten Institutions Honored as They Reach Their 25 Year Milestone as Jenzabar Clients
Continuing a tradition first established at JAM 2005, Jenzabar honored customers that have reached the 25-year milestone in their relationship with Jenzabar. This year's conference recognized: Converse College, Cottey College, Dominican College, Georgetown College, Hendrix College, Philander Smith College, Shawnee State University, South Plains College, Southern Wesleyan University, and William Woods College. These institutions join 25 other Jenzabar client colleges and universities that have been clients for more than 25 years.

First JenzaStar Awarded to Outstanding Client-Partner
Jenzabar customer Alan Roberts, Director of Enterprise Services for Grove City College, was presented the first annual JenzaStar Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions as a partner. "Alan has worked very closely with Jenzabar executives, developers, and product managers over the years. He serves on numerous advisory groups, volunteers as a beta client - all to help Jenzabar and our products achieve overall excellence," Maginn noted. "Our relationship with Alan exemplifies the kind of partnership we are trying to build with all our clients."

About Jenzabar, Inc.
Jenzabar, Inc. is a leading provider of enterprise software and services developed exclusively for higher education. With more than 35 years of combined experience offering technology solutions to colleges and universities, Jenzabar is the trusted partner of choice to more than 700 campuses worldwide, including private liberal arts, state, and community colleges and business, medical, law and other graduate schools. Jenzabar is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with regional offices located across the United States. For further information, please visit www.jenzabar.net.






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