-by Dan Turchin, chief executive officer and co-founder of Aeroprise

Stick 5,000 BlackBerry enthusiasts of all colors, races, shapes, and sizes under one roof for four sleep-deprived days and magic happens. Two lasting impressions from WES 2009:

1) The surreal scene at the will.i.am concert when he asked the booze-soaked crowd (tragically, most didn’t know who he was) to wave their BlackBerrys in the air like lighters. The place lit up like a Christmas tree.

2) I saw a great demo yesterday of a BlackBerry that is also a projector. Not an input to one but an actual functioning LCD projector fitted with a surprisingly sharp, bright laser that projects whatever is being presented on the device onto a 17” window on the wall.

When we first attended WES in 2003, it was in a basement in Chicago. Us and a few other ISVs traded war stories and wondered aloud if we had bet on the right pony. But mostly we crouched in lotus positions near windows or outside in the pouring rain trying to get a Mobitex or DataTAC wireless signal (yeah, well, it wasn’t funny then). Today, there are hundreds of exhibitors, thousands of customers, and hordes of media-types all clamoring for a peek at the next big thing – and, in so doing, creating it.

It’s not just a great time to be part of the BlackBerry community. It’s a way to watch a cultural phenomenon evolve from the inside. We exhibited with BMC and were amazed by how many conversations started with “Finally! My manager’s instructions were to find a way to use Remedy on BlackBerry and here you are.” Great energy but that wasn’t the most notable part of the show.

It was the reminder that even though there is only one RIM and many ISVs that develop BlackBerry applications (well north of 500 at last count), it remains the case that BlackBerry (the device, company, and pop icon) is every bit as dependent on its partners as we are on RIM. No mobile OS has an enterprise ecosystem even 1% as evolved as BlackBerry and what was clear this week is the gap is only getting wider. Call us the clownfish to RIM’s anemone. It would all seem hero-worshipy if it weren’t genuinely symbiotic.

RIM’s success is the result of years of paying close attention to unmet customer needs, not competing with its partners, and aggressively expanding its platform by focusing on the things we value – a stable device that is second-to-none with the best security model, battery life, a crack team of experts at our beck and call, and solid developer tools.

The iPhone, you say? A phenomenal device and a ground-breaking app distribution model – but a black hole for enterprise ISVs. RIM is light years ahead when it comes to go-to-market strategies, carrier sell-through, partner sales support and, most importantly, experience supporting large enterprise customers. But what was most motivational about WES is that despite years of torrid growth, five minutes in the exhibit hall confirmed we’ve only seen the opening act of a show none of us can afford to miss. Bring your BlackBerry.

The postings in this blog are my own and don't necessarily represent BMC's opinion or position.