Most people think that BlackBerry taking on Alicia Keys as their Global Creative Director was just a last ditch effort to provide some nourishment to a slimming crowd of BlackBerry diehards and hopefuls. We have been closely following her work with the BlackBerry Keep Moving Project in her latest videos from her “Your City” project., but after getting to sit on her session today, “Women in Tech – Redefining Ambition Daily”.
Alicia Keys sat down with a panel of lovely and very successful women in tech who gave some insanely deep insight on their journey throughout the tech world, what it meant to them to be women in tech, and their achievements along the way. These women were Reshma Saujani – Girls Who Code – Elisa Camahort Page – BlogHer – and Leila Janah – the Founder of Samasource.
Honestly, I went to this session just to see Alicia Keys up close and personal, but after the first five minutes of hearing what these women had to say, my mentality changed. It was on a level that was – by my standards alone – unprecedented for a BlackBerry conference. The discussion was like one of those jam sessions I used to hold with my garage band as a teen – it flowed and went on and on and on and could’ve kept going, but when it ended, it left a long lasting impression. It just brought a needed depth to this event. It truly did, and I thank each one of them for contributing what they have to the conference, and society as a whole.
It was wonderful to see Alicia Keys stepping up in her role and really expanding horizons; in a way you could say she is the true embodiment of BlackBerry. Especially after hearing the keynote and seeing the future for BlackBerry and what it may hold – they aren’t just trying to be another tech company anymore, they strive to be the leader in every aspect of mobile computing. Just like they once were – Research in Motion – striving to be the leader in mobile communication, now they have transcended that market and found a higher calling. Differentiation seems to be the key theme of this BlackBerry Live event and I think they picked the right person to help them initiate this change, not only in technology, but within the industry as a whole.
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