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Vote for BlackBerry Panels at SXSW 2014: All About Mobile Y’all

08.26.13 / Donny Halliwell

Below is a guest post by Steph F. from the Inside BlackBerry for Business blog –DH

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South by Southwest, better known as SXSW, is a set of film, interactive, and music festivals and conferences that take place every spring in Austin, Texas, bringing together celebrities, industry influencers, executives, and consumers. SXSW Interactive is centered on emerging technology, a focus which has earned the festival a reputation as a breeding ground for new ideas and creative technologies.

This year, BlackBerry has put forward a number of thought-leadership ideas to discuss at SXSW because we want to share, engage and foster new ideas in the ever-evolving mobile space.

“BYOD Pros & Cons: Keeping Mobile Business Secure”

At SXSW 2014, we hope to dive deeper into BYOD, as it is one of the topics we hear about most often from our customers. In this session, attendees will debate the pros and cons of BYOD, formal phone programs and corporately-owned, and personally-enabled (COPE) programs. BlackBerry executive, Scott Totzke, Senior Vice President, Global Security Group has partnered with Sheila Jordan, Senior Vice President, Communication and Collaboration IT to lead attendees in a discussion of BYOD risks, efficiency, security, and cost savings to offer business owners the information needed to make educated decisions about their mobile phone strategy.

Mobile computing is an essential component of the business world and is quickly changing the way we balance our professional and personal lives. Doing business remotely is where the future is headed. At BlackBerry, we’ve focused on creating mobile technology that enables us to carry sensitive personal and business data with us everywhere we go. People are already inseparable from their devices: 80 percent of the world’s population has a mobile phone, and 84 percent admit they couldn’t go a single day without it. In fact, one in four people check their phone every half hour; one in five do so every 10 minutes. In just the last few years, smartphones have changed our lives in ways that were barely imagined a decade ago.

A “bring-your-own-device” (BYOD) environment in the workplace is inevitable. By making our platform compatible with other devices, we are acting as a partner to many of our global enterprise customers looking to allow different devices in the workplace. BlackBerry embraces BYOD, allowing clients to securely manage all BlackBerry, iOS, and Android smartphones and tablets, including the new BlackBerry 10 smartphones.

Interested in learning more about the variety of BlackBerry thought-leadership discussions at SXSW? Below are all of our submissions:

“Can You Feel Me Now?” – Consumers are now demanding the ability to share almost every aspect of their mobile lives on the go. Companies are purposely developing mobile experiences to spark a range of behaviors that help us live happier lives. Panelists from BlackBerry, KAYAK, and The Weather Channel will highlight how they view the intersection of psychology and technology and how that insight drives new innovations in their mobile business.


“The Future of Mobility” – The emergence and evolution of mobile technology over the past 10 years has completely evolved the ways in which we communicate. During this panel, attendees will hear from key executives from BlackBerry, Cisco, and KAYAK who are making waves in the digital age, to discuss what the future of mobile looks like and predictions of the next big trend in the mobile ecosystem that will change and affect consumer behavior.


“Social Relationship Management and Global Brands” – As corporate social media management matures, brands are taking their social media efforts to a new level while experimenting with different structures, processes, and strategies. The fast pace and new threats posed by social media have created challenges when it comes to managing the madness. This has led to tug-of-wars across product teams, departments, regions and partners such as agencies. Empowered consumers, new technology, C-suite pressure, the proliferation of channels, and global/local sensitivities are adding to the complexity–forcing the enterprise ecosystem to adapt. It’s time for brands to have a social relationship roadmap. The panel will share insights from first-hand experience at brands like Blackberry, Dell, Citi, and Samsung.


Now that you’ve heard all about our proposed panels, we need you to share the love and vote until Friday, September 6. Winning panels are announced on Monday, October 14 and featured at SXSW March 8-12, 2014 in Austin, Texas.

How to Vote:

The first step is to register through the SXSW PanelPicker: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/

Once registration is complete, users can visit the URLs below and cast their vote for their favorite BlackBerry panels.

Don’t forget to also click the thumbs up icon in the upper left-hand corner, where it says “Cast Your Vote.” Public voting accounts for 30 percent of the decision-making process, so make sure you vote for the panels you want to hear from!

After “thumbs up’ing”, tweet us (@BlackBerry) or a leave a comment below telling us what questions you’d ask if the panels are accepted. Just think: your tweet, comment, or question could generate the next big mobile discussion or idea!

Donny Halliwell

About Donny Halliwell

Donny is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at BlackBerry and Former Editor-in-Chief for the Inside BlackBerry blogs. There's no disputing, #TeamBlackBerry is awesome. I'm pumped to have the opportunity to talk with you and bring you the latest and greatest from Inside BlackBerry every day. In my spare time, I can be found helping entrepreneurs and startup companies grow their business. I spend the rest, obsessing over the auto industry, or enjoying music. Follow me on Twitter or Google+