AUGI World Mag – Civil 3D SAP

Check out the Civil 3D column for details on the Civil 3D Subscription Advantage Pack in AUGI World Magazine.  Page 26.

AUGI World issue 6 low-resolution (9MB) version

AUGI World issue 6  high-resolution (47.5MB) version

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Autodesk University 2009 – Thank You

Yes, I can write an eternity on AU, but it’s time to wrap it up.  A Quick Thank You note and then some afterthoughts following this article.

My intent this year was to

• meet everyone I wanted to
• get some good interviews
• introduce some new courseware
• to expand my skill set and professional horizons
• to prove the benefit of AU, and to help increase attendance

Hopefully something I picked up will be useful to you all in the year to come.

Autodesk University Staff

I want to thank these folks right from the start.  Thank You very very much.  The Design Slams were a lot of fun, please continue them next year.

Special thanks to:

Cheryl Romero – God bless you! You are the bomb! (“The Queen of all things AU” was already coined by LA).

Joseph Wurcher…much thanks again, and it was nice to finally meet you this year.

Sophie Dupras…I didn’t get to meet you, but thanks for helping.

Autodesk personalities

Lynn Allen… Always a pleasure to speak with you.  Thanks

Karen Brewer… Truly captivating person. I look forward to speaking with you again. (…also the only person I have ever instantly remembered the name of).

Kevin Schneider…Well, I missed the chance to interview you, but thanks for the sweet Fusion demonstration…Teach next year please.

Autodesk Certifications

You folks really busted your rears.  This was not a convention for you, but a hard week of work… stuck with a guy who thought he should run half a mile before taking a test.  1600+ certifications in 3 days. 

Barbara Bowen, Nancy Tremblay, and all of you there that went out of your way to make everything as smooth as possible. Amazing.

Autodesk Usability

Ananth Uggirala, Carlos Olguin, and Erin Bradner. Thanks for the opportunity to work with you, and taking extra time to discuss the broad scope of usability.  Erin, one day I hope to actually meet you.

ImaginIt

I can’t speak for the classes at ImaginIt, but the professionalism, warmth, and diversity of the people there always amazes me.  Every time I turn around, someone I enjoyed speaking with, that helped me, or that I think I need to speak with is from ImaginIt. 

Mark Flayler, Alex G. (Gioultouridis), Warren Medernach, Malcolm Fernandes and Elvis.  These guys really made me feel at home, and introduced me to some pretty cool people.  Thanks to all of you.

MasterGraphics

The classes and personal time taken, I really appreciate.  I think you have a good bunch up there Dan.

Dan Banach – As always, a truly good guy, that I can always count on for honest professional advice…and thanks for dinner too.

Thomas Fitzgerald and Stephen Gabriel did a great job this year.

More Speakers

Ron Couillard…Awesome classes, and a really good guy to be around.  Thanks again.

Adam Peter… Great class.  It was a pleasure to work with you.

Peter Maxfield…Thanks for a great class and the introductions.  I hope they will both expand the possibilities this year.

Shakeel Mizra…Really good class.  Thanks for your time.

Rollin Godette…Thanks for the class and the chat.

Chris Fuggit…Really good guy, thanks for the time bud.  Next year!

Bloggers

All those awesome bloggers and tweets that really made me feel at home.  Shaan Hurley… deserves a special thanks for all his hard work and keeping participation way up.  Thanks for the great Blogger Social as well.  That was a nice way to start AU.

Donnie Gladfelter… Thanks for introductions, passing my name along, and generally helping smooth out some rough spots.

AUGI-jp

Teruo Misumi…For allowing me to disturb your lunch, and inviting me to the meeting.

Autodesk University 2009 – Friday

I packed up and got a cab to the Airport.  My sea bag now weighted down with a few extra books and a Laptop bag was a bit hefty.  I wondered how much it would weigh, and if there was an additional fee.

Let me tell you, there is a fee.  That’s 50 USD on top of the 20 USD fee per bag overweight.  The very nice folks at Continental weighed it for me, and informed me it was 3.5 pounds over. The lady asked me if there was anything that I could pull that was 3.5 pounds. “Ma’am, I don’t know!” 

Wait….I wonder how much an AOTC guide weighs?  The guy at the counter pulled everything off he scales, put the book on it, and through the crowds gave me the thumbs up.  Apparently it was exactly 3.5 pounds.

The flight went out with no problems.  Good bye AU, until next year.

Houston

I got to my connecting flight at Houston, looked out the window and what did I see. No Snow.  Where is the snow that I Twittered about?  I mean no one seemed to care that much at AU about the impending travel disaster, and this is why.  No snow.

Autodesk University 2009 – Thursday

Last day of the active convention.  In the past years that I attended, things were extended through Friday at lunch time, but this year it is all crammed into 3 days, and many extra items happened behind the scenes on Monday.

Before I tell the tale of woe, I’d like to say that I had all intention of making the most of the day, as I had the last 2.  Unfortunately, productivity went out the window.  This was not the worst day in AU history, but little benefit came from it.  The “I should have stayed in bed” adage would have been useful.

Firstly, I got up a bit late.  I didn’t go to bed as early as I should have, and I was exhausted from the day before. After making the half mile hike, and getting in touch with a few people, and having lunch with Alex G before he left town, I had to decide the remaining day’s events.  I had classes, and the Civil 3D Pro re-certification that I had not tended to was out there.  You know me and certifications: it was just calling my name, “Free!  Free! Here! Easy!”. Should I study my weak areas, or just go to class.  Nah, just go to class.

Classes – Design Optimization via Simulation

Peter Maxfield taught the 90 minute class Design Optimization via Simulation.  Peter is a veteran teacher at AU, and his titles follow my interests closely.  I wasn’t about to miss this class.  It went well, but so many labs, it was like a culture shock to sit and listen.  This class focused on using parametric tables in the analysis, and promoting changes back to the design.  This was kind of nice because it tied up a few loose ends in my simulation courses, almost as if the Autodesk guys sat down and planned it out.  The only thing I might ask of Peter for next year is more data in the handout.  They were good, but I would have liked a bit more.  I really use those handouts over the following year.  I hope Peter continues to teach higher level classes next year.  Thanks again.

Snow in Houston

I was heading to certification when my phone rings.  My wife is telling me that Continental Airlines left me a message via computer voice saying that my flight tomorrow is cancelled due to snow.  Then it informs me that they’ll get me back in motion on Saturday.  I’m in Vegas.  I don’t have the funds to stay another day in Vegas.  The burger meal I had first day was 30 USD.  Besides I had the opportunity to stay over Friday night, and opted to come early instead. 

So I try and stay calm, and while she is relating this info to me, and telling me there is nothing she can do to help (so I will have to care for it myself), Ron Couillard is taking off and trying to say goodbye!  I don’t want to ignore Ron, but I really have to fix this!!  The frustration started to set in hard.

Ron was in a hurry so we said goodbye, and when he was out of sight, I proceeded to have my conniption.

Certification

So rather than deal with it, and study a bit of my weaker areas, I figure the best thing to do while my blood pressure is rising was to go take a big test. So I hauled butt to certification.  They let me right in.  Half way through I began to feel the pressure of the flight plans, an started feeling really sick.  I banged through and did not check my work, and let’s just say the score was not as good as it was earlier this year.

I bailed.  I didn’t even print the results, I just excused myself, and headed to the room as fast as I could cover the half mile journey.

Autodesk University 2009 – Online courses available

Autodesk announced the release of the Autodesk University Online content for 2009, as of December 11, 2009.  Happy Birthday to me.  Not a bad present.  I have been trying to finish my articles and give decent credits, but most of the information is unavailable, unless you have some old URL data.  (hint hint: try your old bookmarks).

It is not available as of the writing of this article, but hopefully sometime today they’ll get it tied into the web interface.

The rest of the AU articles are coming soon, Including the remaining 2 days, and some follow ups regarding some vendors and the future.  Keep checking back.

Autodesk University 2009 – Wednesday

This was a busy day.  I had a lot of people left to meet, and classes to attend.  I also had 2 Labs to cover. 

Lackey job – Making the Grade session 2

First thing was the second session of the Making the Grade Lab.  Once again Ron Couillard did a fabulous job, especially since he had covered classes back to back, and then his booth last night.  An earlier cold was now causing his voice to break.  We just turned him up a bit, and he powered through.  Still pretty fun to rib him about it later in the evening.

Classes – Using Dynamic Simulation

I headed off to my next class, MA208-5 Using Dynamic Simulator to Prove Your Design by Rollin Godette. This was a pretty good class, describing transitioning forces on a moving lift.  We learned more about forces than joints, but did get some ideas about graphing the data, and testing results. I became interested in the instructor’s background so I headed off to lunch with him, instead of going to the AutoCAD subscription lunch.  We had a good chat, and parted ways.  I was scheduled to be in another of his classes, so we figured we’d continue later.

Lackey Job – Designed for Success

I needed to be at my Labs 25 minutes early, and by the time I found the location I was just at the mark.  I got to CV214-4L Designed for Success: Making Designs Look Magnificent by Adam Peter, as the assistants were decompressed the lesson files and were waiting on the attendees to arrive.  The focus on cleaning up a FG design was a good topic, well received, and the class went off without a hitch.  Adam Peter’s method of teaching seemed to do well with the class, as I evaluate it from an assistant’s point of view (my job was quite easy).  Another individual I will look forward to working with next year.

Autodesk University 2009 – Tuesday

It’s the first day of classes, and we are all ready.  There are about 8000 attendees, and they descend on the South Convention Center for Breakfast. 

Breakfast

This year it’s muffins and coffee. ummm…yeah…  We’ll push through this section with a few brief comments.  First BRING BACK BREAKFAST!

The muffins were delicious, as most muffins are, although I have no idea what they were since they were labeled “assorted muffins”.  Since this is not a culinary convention, we should not be expected to know what type muffin is which.  I suspect those with basic food allergies were perplexed.  We were told the first day to “go upstairs, they still have food up there”.  You can figure out how well that went over.

Classes – Showcase

I headed off to my first class, which was ID104-2L Showcase Your Design by Stephen Gabriel.  This was a great class.  Not too difficult.  I like high level classes, but I am new to showcase, so the level was just right.  I had waned to meet Thomas Fitzgerald, one of the lab assistants, but I had other responsibilities, and figured I’d meet up with him later.

Autodesk University 2009 – Monday

I’m sure there was a lot going on, but I just could not seem to get into the groove until later in the evening.

AUGI Meeting

I had a little time to kill in the morning so I stopped off at the AUGI meeting.  There was some discussion about local user groups, volunteer action, and leadership.  An interesting study on interactive boundaries was brought up, and made me interested in seeing where the discussion was heading. However, I had to leave prior to the end, so I can’t say much more about it.

A nice hour+ with Usability

I then got down to a usability meeting with Ananth Uggirala, Carlos Olguin, and Erin Bradner (who was somewhere behind the scenes), who I always miss meeting.  We ran through scenarios, answered questions and played with things as directed.  It’s all hush hush, but I can say that each time I meet these folks I always go in with the premise that there won’t be anything too interesting, and leave with a bit more hope for the future.  They always surprise me. Ananth took a little extra time to discuss some interesting things about usability and development, and that helped me get over the fact that I missed the opportunity to meet with Elena Fadeeva’s study.

Blogger Social

I got there on time, but it seems that the early birds had already got things started downstairs at the Border Grill.  We all tried to get around and meet new people, discuss some business and some not so business topics.  The beer was cold and waitresses brought tapas about to munch on.  The stuffed date things were awesome.

Shaan Hurley took the mic and gave introductions and a welcome thank you to the crowd.  He then explained that his head would not be shaved until THURSDAY!

I got to thank Joseph Wurcher in person, and did not pass up photo ops with Lynn Allen and Karen Brewer, but we got kicked out before I could get the Civil Diva to take one with me.

AEC Mixer

We moved over to the AEC Mixer, that had obviously been going on for awhile.  The groups were quite dispersed, and seemed awkward, which I figure is because we got there so late.  Our group continued discussions from before, and tried to find some food and beer to go with it.  Ok, I tried to find food and beer while my friends made some pretty impressive BIM arguments.  Then we got kicked out of there too.

Free Beer over

I said good night and headed in.  The lower limit poker games were over, so I figured enough was enough.  The day wasn’t as productive as I would have liked, but I got to meet some pretty cool folks, and got pictures with lovely ladies.  Not a bad night after all.

Autodesk 2009 – Sunday

The trip here went well.  No hangups and good weather.  Unpacking was the painful part, since the company shirt embroidery went awry twice, and it’s too late to fix it. You’ll know when you see it. 

The early birds got here ok it seems.  The early check-in was backed up for awhile, but got moving by about 5:30 PM or so.  They gave us a badge, and a laptop bag with an Autodesk subscription cup, a printed overview (the same one as the linked PDF), and a show guide.  I asked about the Blogger ribbons, and they told me Shaan would pick them up and hand them out later (in case anyone was wondering).

South Convention Center, Level 1, Bayside B  Registration

Registration is not too difficult to find.  If you are staying at the Luxor, just get on the overpass plaza going to Mandalay Bay, and keeeeeeep going.  Follow the signs to the Mandalay Bay Conference center; Go Straight of hold to the right, and eventually you will hit it.  Just when the trail seems to go a bit cold, there are people in Autodesk vests to point the way.

There is a food court on Level 1 with about 8 or so places to eat at.  But with 5K+/- attendees, you’d better come early, and bring a loft of money.  The cheapest lunch you can get will be $10 plus.

I decided to tour the battle field before the combatants appear.  It was pretty quiet.  3 main floors with lounges and internet stations at various locations.

Unfortunately most of the pics I took were blurry.  Here a couple to give an idea of what it is like without 5000 or so crazed technicians.

Supper

Dan Banach was kind enough to have supper with me, and spend some time catching up on events in the past year.  The first part of our journey was finding a place that had a meal for less than 15 bucks.  Yeah right.

The journey went all through Mandalay bay area, to the Mandalay/Luxor strip, where we finally gave in at the ‘Burger Bar’.  14 bucks for the Burger and fries, and 10 for the beer.  Damn. 

Chris Fugitt spotted me and helped me find the Walgreens (just North of NY NY) to get water and stuff, and then introduced me to the Luxor poker room.  I got to meet some nice folks there, and had a lot of fun.

The best deal of the day was the Shuttle bus to the Hotel at 6 USD, and the lady who gives massages while you play poker, at $10/5 minutes. 

Tomorrow

I have 3 events on Monday including the Blogger Social at 6 PM.  I’d hope to get time to have lunch with my buddy George from YesJapan here in Las Vegas.  This is a great school, and really supports the notion that just because you can get free tidbits online, does not mean you will get a good education.  George really jump started my Japanese with a solid foundation and vocabulary through his school. It was worth every penny. I hope I get the chance to visit with him and discuss my recent trip to Japan.

Autodesk University 2009 – Here we come!

Ok, I’m packed up and about to get 4 hours of sleep before my flight.  I’ll be there representing Tekni, and we’ll be giving away 3D Connexion goodies, and some training bennies as well.  Come find me at AU so I can get you on the list.  You can also register here for the drawing:

http://www.teknigroup.com/

I’m still trying to arrange another item solely for my readers.  Ask about the Civil to Inventor Drawing when you see me.

I’ll be tweeting for this site and Tekni as well.  Follow me on twitter

See you there!