This year, Research In Motion® (RIM®) sponsored the 2012 SMB 150 awards coordinated by SMB Nation. These are the second annual SMB 150 awards, which seek to recognize top performing small and medium-sized business technology partners based on both community voting and a panel of judges. The awards have come to a close and the winners have been announced on the SMB 150 website.

It’s been our pleasure to work and partner with small business communities to solve challenges around mobility, and to help businesses grow and succeed. Last Wednesday, Bryan Lee, Senior Director, Enterprise Accounts and I attended the awards gala for the 2012 SMB 150 awards and we were very excited to meet this year’s winners, including international winners who traveled all the way from Brazil, the U.K. and Australia to receive their awards. We enjoyed chatting with the winners and attendees in person to explore their unique perspectives on small business and technology. My most memorable moment of the evening was when one of the award recipients’ accepted his award from a remote location via BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet video conference.

My personal favorite tool that we’ve put together is the SmartBuilder for BlackBerry. SmartBuilder pieces together a personalized mobile solution set based on your business needs, which you can input by taking a short survey within the tool. We’ve had fantastic feedback and are often working to improve our offerings for the SMB community, so please share what the specific challenges and successes have been for your business this year!

Also worth taking a look at in order to take your SMB to the next level are the following:

• BlackBerry® Enterprise Server Express (free)
• BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets to save costs and enable a mobile office
• BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) for both internal communication and Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• BlackBerry® Business Cloud Services to help integrate your Microsoft® Office 365 service and your BlackBerry smartphones

How has your SMB leveraged BlackBerry smartphones, tablets, or services to help grow your business and handle communication, collaboration, or CRM? Share in the comments below!

We’re entering the final stretch of our North American SmartBuilder Tour for small businesses and entrepreneurs. You can join us for a morning of interactive presentations, discussions and networking. Also, you’ll be able to enjoy a complimentary breakfast and listen to guest speakers share insights on BlackBerry® mobile solutions that will help make your business more efficient, responsive and productive.

Did we mention that registration is FREE? There will also be giveaways and attendees at each event can enter for a chance to win a new BlackBerry smartphone.* We’re excited to be bringing these three inspiring speakers to you: Ramon Ray, Brent Leary, and Patrick Schwerdtfeger.

Check out the Start and Grow your Business with the BlackBerry Seminar Series website and register your spot at the following cities:

Miami – April 5, 2011
Los Angeles – April 5, 2011
Atlanta – April 7, 2011
Washington – April 8, 2011
Orlando – April 12, 2011
Boston – April 13, 2011
Chicago – April 14, 2011
Denver – April 14, 2011
Houston – April 14, 2011
Las Vegas – April 15, 2011
Cincinnati – April 20, 2011

Hope to see you there!

*No purchase necessary to enter or win. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entrants at each event. Contest sponsored by Research In Motion Corporation. See Official Rules available at each event for complete contest details and restrictions.

One of our passions here at Research In Motion® (RIM®) is helping small and medium-sized businesses start and grow everyday – and we’re serious about it!

One of the tools we’re really excited about is SmartBuilder for BlackBerry®. SmartBuilder will ask you 8 questions about your business and your goals, and will provide you with a recommendation on a possible mobile solution, including devices, accessories and apps! Let us know if you’d like us to connect with you for more details, or follow up with your usual wireless provider. SmartBuilder for BlackBerry helps reduce the research cycles around mobility, so you can focus on doing business. We’re also out looking for your feedback on the BlackBerry platform and hearing about your business – and how mobility is working for you. Let us know in the comments below.

Also, in order to provide additional help to those in the business sector, we’re out on a ten-week “SmartBuilder” tour across the US, talking to entrepreneurs, business owners and their teams about the BlackBerry solution and the tools that are available to them. We might be in your city soon, so check out our SmartBuilder tour dates and come see our awesome tour vehicle!

Hopefully, we’ll see you at an event soon! You can follow along on Twitter® at @BlackBerry4Biz to get updates on the tour.