BlackBerry® Collaboration Forum 2011 is coming to five Latin American countries starting in late July, bringing BlackBerry® Business Solutions to companies in the region! We’ll be kicking off the conference tour in Santiago, Chile on July 27th 2011. We’ll also be traveling to Bogota, Buenos Aires, Mexico City and Sao Paolo, hosting one of the most important entrepreneurial conferences in Latin America.

This is the third annual BlackBerry Collaboration Forum. Last year, more than 7,000 guests attended the event, which more than doubled the previous year’s attendance. To learn more about the 2010 Collaboration Forum, check out these videos: BlackBerry Collaboration Forum 2010 (Subtitles in Spanish) and BlackBerry Collaboration Forum 2010 (Subtitles in Portuguese).

This event is a great opportunity for companies – from small businesses to fortune 500’s – to learn how BlackBerry mobile technologies can optimize their business. The BlackBerry Collaboration Forum 2011 will be divided into four tracks, each tailored to diverse areas of interest and knowledge:

• General Session: This is an introduction to the event and how the BlackBerry solution can assist companies through latest devices and software.
• Track 1 – Businesses: How to maximize the use of BlackBerry products, services and programs for large enterprise business.
• Track 2 – Small Businesses (PYMES): How to grow and expand your business through BlackBerry solutions
• Track 3 – Success Case Studies: Examining the successful adoption of BlackBerry services by companies in Latin America.

BlackBerry Collaboration Forum 2011 is free, but you must apply to attend. For more information about the events or to apply to attend, please visit http://www.blackberrycollaborationforum.com (note: the website and the events will be in the local language of the host country).

See you there!

Fresh off a flight from Brazil the night before, surviving on only a few hours sleep yet full of his usual enthusiasm, I recently met with Rick Costanza, Regional Managing Director for Latin America, to chat a bit about the BlackBerry® Collaboration Forum he hosted. Similar in nature to the Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES), this regional event – now in its second year – was an overwhelming success with over 7000 customers, including representation from Pequenas e Médias Empresas straight up to F500 enterprises, as well as various government agencies.

We spoke about the nature of the event, attendees, content, key takeaways, and challenges for the future. Like many other regions, Latin America is dealing with challenging economic times, and IT / Business decision are under significant pressure. The BlackBerry Collaboration Forum, however, clearly demonstrated how small investments in proven wireless solutions could, as Rick put it, “reduce cost, drive revenue, and bring organizations closer to customers.”

We captured our conversation on video, and added some live footage from the BlackBerry Collaboration Forum to give you a taste of the event. If you weren’t able to attend, or are simply curious about the LATAM region, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the above video.

The challenge, like Rick said, is how to do it “bigger and better” next year. I don’t know how he’ll do it after this year’s event, but if I know Rick, I’m sure he’ll find a way!

If you’re based in Latin America, hopefully you can join us at the BlackBerry Collaboration Forum next year, or for those with other regional interests, we’ll see you at WES.