BlendKit2017, the open, online course on blended learning design, combines a global cohort with value-add local interactions to provide a powerful professional development experience for those faculty and designers wishing to get started with or brush up on designing effective blended courses. The “local cohort option” (see video introduction) encourages the formation of face-to-face groups to provide mutual accountability and institutional contextualization for the more general global cohort experience. Past groups have reported that local sessions were extremely valuable in helping individuals apply blended learning design principles and successfully complete the global cohort. Groups can be as simple as occasional “coffee conversations” or as robust as full-blown institutionally incentivized faculty development programs.