This story really caught my attention as well as the attention of RIM because they have put this article up under their newsletter section. In case you have yet to hear the story, here goes. The headline sort of gives the main idea away, “BlackBerry Messenger Saves Opening Night at Las Vegas Nightclub”, but let me go over the details so you can know what happened.
It’s opening night for the new XS Nightclub with over 1,700 tickets sold, one can just imagine the traffic at the premier of a new club on the strip of Las Vegas. Everything is planned as accordingly until the staff’s radios began to act up. The radios kept cutting off, disabling any communication between staff members.They were unable to communicate to seat guests, clear tables and basically everything else needed to manage the night’s activity. The solution? BlackBerry Messenger (BBM!) The staff all used BlackBerry® Messenger to save the night and get work done. From organizing tables, to coordinating guest arrivals, everything was done using BBM.
Continue Reading for More >>>
XS is now the top-grossing nightclub in the US, according to Ronn Nicolli Director of Strategic Marketing for Drais Management, the company that manages the nightclub. It generated $70 million in 2009 and was named the top-grossing nightclub in the US for 2010 by Nightclub & Bar Magazine. “XS on a Saturday is serving from 5,000 to 8,000 people—a rather crazy number,” says Nicolli.
Nicolli embraced how the field team naturally did their work with BlackBerry smartphones. “Instead of fighting what they love to do, the field team is on their BlackBerry smartphones getting everything done and we’re getting the word out there,” he says.
Nicolli says that BlackBerry smartphones are here to stay. “Guys will try to pitch other smartphones, but BlackBerry has the market share in Las Vegas. Anything else is just a toy,” he says. “You just are not serious without BlackBerry.”