This past week, I had the honour of being invited to attend the BlackBerry10 Launch Event in Toronto.  As a very vocal supporter of BlackBerry, this was a huge event for me. Weeks building up to the unveiling of the #BlackBerry10 had #BBElite members (myself included) were waiting in anticipation.
At the BlackBerry pre-party, #BBElite members got to meet in a smaller, more intimate setting. It was the first time I met fellow members, other than @JennAnnis, whom I have known for about two years now. Jenn and I met at a previous social media conference and had been tweeting and BBMing each other since.

It was great to be in a room of BlackBerry lovers. I am not a techie, but I do love my BlackBerry Bold 9900. I rely on it so much since I work in social media. I'm on all my social media platforms all day. Having a device that can help me switch from platform to platform, handle multiple accounts (personal and work), keep me on track with all my appointments and important dates, and just be really good for work is what I need. In the words of @JennAnnis, I need a tool and not a toy. My BlackBerry is definitely a useful tool. In fact, I don't know what I'd do without it.

As much as I love the Bold 9900, the Z10 had my curiosity piqued. Though unsure as to whether or not I could ever give up my keyboard (I can BBM, text, and type like it's no one's business if I'm using my BB keyboard!), I have been keeping up to date with info on the touch keyboard on the new device via the BlackBerry Blog, and it looked pretty impressive. With the BlackBerry keyboard, you can type faster and more accurately on a touchscreen keyboard that learns how you write. I also love how you can go back and forth between languages. I've tested it and it works! French and English texting has never been easier!

At the pre-party, BlackBerry gave their #BBElite members a Z10!  I was so shocked! I wasn't expecting it, but I was certainly hoping for one! We got to set up our new devices and I can honestly say that it was a new experience!  The BlackBerry Z10 "features and apps work together seamlessly and share your train of thought to help you complete tasks faster and with ease." 

BlackBerry Z10 features I am blown away by:

• Voice to text - How fabulous (and convenient) is this feature? While in text, press the microphone icon and speak. The Z10 turns that into text! It is amazing! If you're multitasking and can't use your hands to text at the moment, the voice to text comes in handy!
• Camera with Time Shift mode - I cannot count the number of times it takes for me to snap a "good" photo of my daughter or our dog. It's so hard to capture a family or group photo where everyone has their eyes open or is not making a funny face. With the Time Shift mode, you snap the photo, and move parts of your photo backwards or forwards in time! I've been testing this out as much as I can (okay, I'm slightly addicted to Time Shift). At the BB10 Launch Event, a group of us posed and made funny faces. We used the Time Shift mode to go back and "fix" our facial expressions. It was pretty wild! We pretty much went back in time and created a moment that never existed! 
• BBM Video with Screen Share - You can catch up face to face with other BBM users and even share what's on your screen! This is perfect for work meetings! A great way to have a business video conference if you're on the go. It helps that the social media team I work with are all BlackBerry users! I BBM with @Dogpaddling and @LilSugarMag on a daily basis, so BBM video will be very useful.
• BlackBerry Hub - You can peek into the BlackBerry Hub from any app to see your messages and conversations. I always have a lot on the go, so being able to quickly peek and check out my messages and conversations is really helpful. This is one of my favourite features.
• Story Maker - One of the things I  love about social media is being able to share stories. Whether stories be in the form of word or visual, being able to share them with others is a great way to connect with others. Story Maker is quite possibly one of the coolest things I've ever seen. It's so simple to just click on the photos or videos you want, add them, choose music, and presto! You've got a little montage or vignette and it is fast, simple, and beautiful! Oh, and you can't instantly share it on your social media platforms too!

My first time using BlackBerry Story Maker:


There are so many other exciting features I would love to talk about, but I'd be here all day and I'm sure you don't want to read a blog post of epic proportions.

The BlackBerry10 Launch Event

We were able to learn more about how to use the devices, learn about the features, ask questions, and also network with others at the event. Great launch, great company, great convos, great food, and I love that there was a signature BlackBerry Martini! Some of my favourite social media pals were in attendance as well. It was a great night!
Musical entertainment of the evening at the Toronto BlackBerry10 Launch...Flo Rida!


BlackBerry fans everywhere will be excited to get their hands on the new device!  Our good friends from +PhotoCaptiva have been following my #BB10 tweets and Facebook updates, and ambushed me at the airport when I arrived in Sudbury! They're both tech gurus (Jamie is a programmer) and huge BlackBerry fans. Hearing that I was at the event and had the Z10, they were excited to see it firsthand! They're both blown away by the Z10. They even wrote a blog post about it here.
Pssst! Rosie from PhotoCaptiva was smitten and wanted to wear my BlackBerry Elite gloves and my BlackBerry event pass. It was fun watching Jamie check out all the features and apps on the Z10. Like a kid in a candy store. So awesome!

I'm still learning how to make the most of my Z10 and so far I am in love. The only thing I really want/need to learn how to do is how to add multiple Twitter accounts and be able to switch back and forth between them. My job relies heavily on me being on multiple Twitter accounts and I was able to do that with my Bold 9900. That's my only issue right now. Other than that, pure love!