WES 2009 Almost Here... Come on Down!

RIM fired off a press release today to remind everyone that the biggest BlackBerry show of the year is just a couple weeks away, set to kick off on May 5th. You can read the press below after the break and jump over to attendwes.com to learn more about the event and register.

I don't think we'll see any big device unveilings this year at WES as we did last year with the Bold and the year prior with the Curve (I'll be pleasantly shocked if we do!), but don't think that means there won't be a lot of exciting stuff happening. With the world of BlackBerry in one location for three days, we're bound to see some announcements in addition to the anticipated rollout of BES 5.0.  The Crack Team is getting geared up for the event (http://crackberry.com/wes2009 microsite under construction and coming soon)... there will be lots of WES 2009 action coming in the days and weeks ahead!

Press Release

RIM to Host Eighth Annual Wireless Enterprise Symposium

WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 20, 2009) - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) will host the eighth annual Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES) from May 5-7, 2009 in Orlando, Florida. WES 2009 will bring together industry innovators and leaders from around the world to share insights on the BlackBerry platform as well as a wide range of other wireless products and services. Attendees can learn about the latest mobile innovations and gain the tools and inspiration needed to assess new mobile opportunities in their organization and maximize the return on their investment.

The symposium will feature an impressive range of exhibitors in the solutions showcase and will host thousands of delegates from over 90 countries worldwide. WES 2009 will provide attendees with exceptional opportunities to learn from many of the industry's leading experts, discover the very latest breakthrough solutions, network with peers and form new business relationships. WES 2009 attendees can also gain hands-on experience with the new BlackBerry(R) Enterprise Server v5.0 software as well as try out a broad array of BlackBerry applications in the BlackBerry App World(TM) showcase.

WES 2009 co-sponsors include Cisco, Hewlett Packard, IBM, AT&T, BoxTone, Brightstar, Chalk Media, Conceivium Business Solutions, Google, Lenovo, SAP, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless, Viigo, Vodafone and Zenprise. Leading experts from Forrester Research, IDC, Yankee Group, and CCS Insight will also be presenting at WES 2009.

Keynote Speakers

An impressive line-up of keynote speakers at WES 2009 includes:

• Mike Lazaridis: Mr. Lazaridis is recognized in the global wireless community as a visionary, innovator, and engineer of extraordinary talent. He is Founder, President and Co-CEO of Research In Motion (RIM) and is responsible for product strategy, research and development, product development, and manufacturing.
• Robert J. Picciano: Mr. Picciano is General Manager for Lotus and WebSphere Portal Software at IBM and oversees an extensive portfolio of collaboration tools designed to empower people to be more effective, responsive and innovative within the context of the work they do.
• Laurent Philonenko: Mr. Philonenko is Vice President and General Manager of the Cisco Unified Communications business unit, which provides messaging, conferencing and desktop and phone client solutions including video and mobility.
• Eric C. Haseltine: Mr. Haseltine is President and Managing Partner, Haseltine Partners LLC, as well as Former 'CTO' for the U.S. intelligence community and former head of Walt Disney Imagineering. Mr. Haseltine has more than 100 publications in science and technical journals, the web and Discover Magazine.
• Shane Robison: Mr. Robinson is Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Technology Officer at Hewlett Packard where he is responsible for shaping HP's overall corporate strategy and technology agenda and oversees the company's corporate marketing function.
• Malcom Gladwell: Best-selling author of Outliers, The Tipping Point and Blink, Mr. Gladwell has been named as one of the 100 Most Influential People by Time Magazine. He is also know to have an incomparable gift for interpreting new ideas in the social sciences and making them understandable, practical and valuable to business and general audiences alike.

Tracks and Sessions

A wide selection of general sessions, technical seminars, case studies, demonstrations, exhibits, training, labs and workshops will also be offered. WES 2009 features five tracks with a choice of more than 100 sessions to enable attendees to customize and maximize their learning opportunities.

• Mobile Architecture and Administration -- This track focuses on the new BlackBerry Enterprise Server v5.0 software, architecting for high availability, best practices for administration, reducing downtime and troubleshooting common challenges.
• Mobilizing Enterprise Applications -- This track discusses new development-accelerating tools and outlines approaches to building and deploying BlackBerry smartphone applications that enable mobile productivity in ways organizations may not have imagined. It offers ideas, case studies, and the latest tips and tricks for building and deploying applications for the BlackBerry platform.
• The Business Value of Mobile Deployments -- This track focuses on getting the maximum business value from your mobile deployment with custom applications, workflow improvements and effective strategies for unified communications.
• Mobility Trends and Insights -- This track concentrates on where wireless technologies are heading from industry experts who closely monitor mobile trends.
• Wireless Solutions Up Close -- This track provides in-depth discussions about new solutions that are available, and how customers have implemented them.

For more information on WES 2009, or to register online, please visit: www.attendwes.com.