Why should developers attend BlackBerry® DevCon Americas 2011? Anyone who’s been to a BlackBerry DevCon event will tell you that it’s an amazing opportunity to connect with BlackBerry development experts and get tips and tricks for developing mobile apps. Attendees can discover great ways to build for BlackBerry platforms, whether in native language or using web standard language, that allow developers to leverage their work on other platforms as well. Developers attend BlackBerry DevCon because they want to build for a dedicated, passionate user base of over 70 million people.

If those reasons aren’t enough to convince you to come, we’ve got plenty more suggestions from BlackBerry developers and the event organizers on why you should attend this year’s BlackBerry DevCon Americas 2011, happening October 18-20th in San Francisco, California:

Get a snapshot of everything you can do with BlackBerry. Spend three days getting the info you need to develop for the BlackBerry platform. More than 100 breakout sessions focus on HTML, Java®, Native and Android® development, as well as developing, testing, debugging, monetization, the BlackBerry App World™ storefront and so much more. You’ll be able to train on site in one of two new developer courses on the latest technologies, such as the BlackBerry® WebWorks™ SDK and Adobe® Flex® and Adobe® AIR®.

Get expert opinions on the latest mobile trends and technologies. Research In Motion Limited (RIM®) leaders and industry experts will talk about current trends in development and mobile apps, and where the best opportunities lie for developers. Visionaries like game developer Jane McGonigal is a featured speaker, not to mention more than 30 community experts like Adobe®, App-Promo, Assanka, Nitobi, Marmalade and salesforce.com will be giving attendees the opportunity to hear remarkable success stories from developers like you.

One-on-one expert guidance will be available. BlackBerry platform experts will be available in the Ask the Experts area to work through issues and to whiteboard ideas and solutions. Expert presentations and open Q&A sessions provide an opportunity for learning and providing feedback.

Get an inside track on a new product or service. Save yourself the time of hunting down the solution you need by visiting the Mobility Pavilion. BlackBerry partners and mobility leaders from Adobe, iSpeech, New Toronto Group, Search for BBM™, Sencha, XtremeLabs, and many more will be showing the latest tools and time-saving solutions. Take advantage of App Express to fast-track your apps by porting your existing Android app to the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet, or transform an existing web application into a full-fledged app for both the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and BlackBerry smartphones. Plus, you can submit your app for the chance to get it on BlackBerry App World!

Try out the next generation of developer tools. Your chance is coming up at BlackBerry DevCon Americas to participate in a five hour hackathon on the BBM™ Social Platform or BlackBerry® WebWorks™ HTML5 Platform, on Wednesday October 19 from 7:00pm-1:00am. Hackathon events are a great way to get time with BlackBerry experts who can provide guidance and tips and tricks that will help you build your next application. How do you get involved? You need to be registered at BlackBerry DevCon Americas to participate – register now. To sign up for the Hackathons, use My Scheduler. Spaces are limited!

Get some downtime, even while you work. The BlackBerry DevCon Party on the evening of October 18th is interactive and game-driven — ideal for meeting new colleagues! Find out how much fun it can be to beat a fellow developer at Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, then continue the conversation the rest of the week at the BlackBerry DevCon TweetUp, Hackathons , Roundtables and Birds of a Feather sessions.

Get a free BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. We want you to get a jump start on developing your next big application – register today and receive a free BlackBerry PlayBook tablet when you arrive at BlackBerry DevCon Americas 2011.

If you’ve been to the show before, please share with the community why you’re coming to BlackBerry DevCon Americas 2011 this year!

Ideas and feedback make BlackBerry® products better, especially when they come from the developer community that uses the BlackBerry platform and technologies every day. If you have something to say, or an idea for a way to improve the BlackBerry platform, there’s a way to contribute at BlackBerry® DevCon Americas 2011.

BlackBerry DevCon Americas 2011 is featuring a new series of “Collaboration Roundtables”. Simply put, these Roundtable sessions are interactive discussions with fellow BlackBerry developers and the technology experts who make BlackBerry products. You’ll be able to help shape the direction of the platform by providing feature requests and feedback on these subjects:

• Making Highly Addictive BlackBerry® 7 OS Apps
• Building Better Web Apps
• Porting Android Apps to BlackBerry Tablet OS
• Where Can You Take Adobe® Flash® and Adobe® AIR® Apps?
• Native App Development for BlackBerry® Tablet OS
• Platform Services for BlackBerry® smartphone OS and BlackBerry Tablet OS

All you need to do is register for BlackBerry DevCon Americas – which takes place in San Francisco from October 18–20, 2011 – and sign up for any (or all) of the GRP 01-06 sessions. Plus, when you register you will also receive a BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet to help you get a jump start on development.

Additionally, Research In Motion® (RIM®) and its partners would like to help you do more with your apps through two interactive Birds of a Feather sessions on Consumer Apps and Business Apps, where you will learn more about the BlackBerry user and mobile marketplace. Members of RIM’s Business Development team will be on hand to discuss your apps and partnership opportunities with RIM.

Check out all sessions planned at BlackBerry DevCon Americas in the public catalog!

Lots of developers work day (and night) to try out a new technology until they understand it completely – but BlackBerry® DEVCON Americas 2011 has a shortcut. Research In Motion® (RIM®) and training partner New Toronto Group (NTG) are pleased to announce the launch of two new application development courses at this year’s conference. Choose between two one-day training opportunities that are intended to improve your skills for developing for the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet OS!

Develop for the BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Using Adobe® Flex® or Adobe® AIR® is a great course if you’re an experienced developer working with Adobe Flex or Adobe AIR and need hands-on experience with the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet OS. You’ll create your own code and work through various features of a sample application, focusing on fundamentals such as designing the user interface, geolocation, consuming XML data and JSON data and deploying the app.

Develop for the BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Using BlackBerry® WebWorks™ is a course designed for experienced HTML5, JavaScript® and CSS developers. This course will teach you how to create, compile, package and deploy a BlackBerry WebWorks -based application for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. As well, you’ll focus on details like debugging an application using the BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Simulator and using an offline database within an application.

Both courses are offered at BlackBerry DevCon Americas 2011 on Monday, October 17, from 9 am to 5 pm at the rate of $499 USD per person (lunch and refreshment breaks included). The course fee is in addition to the registration fees for access to BlackBerry DevCon Americas 2011.

In one day, you can come away with skills that can make your apps better or your development process faster. And you can do it all while taking advantage of the resources offered at the biggest BlackBerry developer conference in the world. Register now and receive a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet when you arrive at the conference!