RIM loses Director of Global Developer Relations Mike Kirkup

RIM’s Senior Director of Global Developer Relations Mike Kirkup just announced on his personal blog that he is leaving Research In Motion after 10 years. While he thanks “many amazing individuals” inside RIM, it’s obvious to anyone outside the company that RIM has failed to gain a much-needed developer base, even with the launch of the first QNX product, the BlackBerry PlayBook. His full letter is after the break.

After an incredible journey with RIM, I have resigned as Senior Director, Global Developer Relations today.

As the mobile space continues to change so quickly and this seems like a great time to step back and consider my next steps.  If you wonder what I mean about the changing mobile landscape, just look at what has happened in the last two weeks – Motorola was acquired by Google, HP shut down webOS and Steve Jobs resigned as CEO from Apple.

Over my 10 year career I have worked with so many amazing individuals both inside RIM and in our broader developer community. This is a great company with leaders I respect and admire.  It has been an honour to share in the success and growth of such an extraordinary company.

The opportunity to work in Developer Relations has been one that I will never forget.  To be exposed to so many great ideas and the people behind them has been inspiring.  To manage the variety of challenges each and every day has been something which helped me grow personally.

I will be sharing my thoughts on the industry on this blog and on Twitter (@mikekirkup) and look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks, @muerl!

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Tags: BlackBerry, RIM

Jonathan S. Geller