I'm not sure I could do life without it. It's my phone, my diary and my main email facility.

I use it to check Facebook , update Twitter and chat with other Blackberry users. But still, I know that I probably only use a small fraction of the smart phone's capability.

And I'm not alone.

That's why I thought it was great idea when telecoms company Sure teamed up with the Junior Chamber of Commerce to run a Blackberry surgery recently at the Sefton Hotel in Douglas.

Sure's professional services manager, Gary Harrison was on hand to discuss making the most of your BlackBerry with an audience of business people, all keen to learn how better to use their smart phones.

Sure was first to bring BlackBerry technology to the Isle of Man, and now offers the latest handset on the market, the popular BlackBerry Bold.

Manx Telecom didn't lag too far behind and they too also offer the Blackberry Bold to Island customers.

Gary Harrison holds eight BlackBerry (RIM) and three Microsoft qualifications. So he really knows his stuff.

He told the Junior Chamber, 'There are many tips and tricks to make you more comfortable using your Blackberry.

'Also, you can customise your device, so that you're more confident with it. There is no such thing as a technophobe in the world of Blackberry.'

Gary gave a hands on demonstration of how to use Blackberry to deliver powerpoint presentations which eliminates the need to lug around a laptop.

He showed us how to create new Microsoft Word documents and edit attachments.

And for those working in large organisations he demonstrated how to access a PC desktop through the Citrix desktop view.

You could hear the embarrassed giggling as some of the Island's leading business people struggled to keep up with Gary's demo, but he was happy to visit each table to answer specific questions.

A highlight of the evening was when Junior Chamber of Commerce past chair Helen Okell was asked to draw the name of the winner of a new Blackberry Bold and drew her own business card!

But it was all fair and square, so she's now busy learning all about her new device.

Blackberry Bold is likely to be found stuffed in stockings across the Island come Christmas morning and it seems there is no better time to get shopping.

Sure offers the 9000 model for £410 for pay as go as well as with many different contract tariffs.

Manx Telecom has just cut its prices and offers an array of deals depending on the length of the contract and the range of service.

So you'll pay anywhere between £0 and £204 for the handset, plus a monthly charge ranging from £31.69 to £56.15.

Both companies offer special deals to corporate customers too.

Here are some of Gary Harrison's top tips to getting the most of your Blackberry.

To capitalise a letter with one click, hold down the letter key.

To insert a full stop, click the space key twice.

To enable automatic spell checking of email messages, click the options icon on BlackBerry home screen. Then click 'spell check' and select 'spell check email before sending' option.

In email inbox, press the S key to search for a sender or a word within a subject line, and any mail folder, regardless of when the message was sent or received.

Multitask while on phone calls by hitting the Blackberry menu key during a call and then selecting Home screen. You'll then have access to email and other documents. However, most Blackberrys don't allow for simultaneous voice and data transfer, so internet access is unavailable while on calls.

>Find specific contacts from your Blackberry home screen by pressing keys for first and last initials, with a space between the. If more than one contact has the same initials, scroll to the appropriate contact.

>Insert a back slash in a web address by clicking either the left or right shift keys and then hitting space.

>Refresh a web page clicking the R key.

>Display a list of the last 20 pages visited by hitting the I key.

>If Blackberry slows down, starts malfunctioning or freezing, always try removing the battery and waiting three minutes before reinserting it.


>>Sherrilynne Starkie is the managing partner of Strive Public Relations, a strategic communications consultancy serving the Isle of Man. Visit her business blog, Strive Notes for frequent updates www.strivepr.com/notes or follow her on twitter.com/sherrilynne