Richard Doyle's Community Blog

What's Your "How I Got to SolidWorks World" Story?

Mine is boring. 

When I first approached my boss about attending SolidWorks World 1999 in Palm Springs, the immediate answer was "No, I don't think so".  I came back a few days later with a better offer - I would submit an abstract for a technical session, and if accepted, the admission fee would be waived.  He agreed, I was accepted, and the rest is old news.

In 2000, I helped a fellow SolidWorks user convince his boss by posting some really good reasons to attend on a newsgroup.   That post has since morphed into what has become a set of "justification" emails that have helped many users over the years convince managers of the conference's benefits.

Jason Raak has an interesting story to tell.  Weeks of blogging, pleading, and preparing a good presentation for his boss led him to sunny San Diego in 2008 for his first SolidWorks World conference.  You can read his wrap-up here.

So here we are getting ready for SolidWorks World 2009.  Someone, somewhere must have an interesting story to share on just how they were able to convince the boss to send them this year.  Was it because of a discount?  Did the justification email do the trick?  Maybe you had to take vacation time or work the following weekend?

We're looking for your story, and if it's a good one, Jeff Ray may just share it with 5000 or so folks in his keynote address at the conference.  Tell your story here (comments), or share it with a lot of folks in the SolidWorks Discussion Forum - we've started a thread there as well.

A Great End to a Great Year for SWUGN Summits

The SWUGN Summit - Los Angeles capped a terrific year for these one-day training and networking events.  An all-star cast headlined by SolidWorks users Devon Sowell, Phil Sluder, Anna Wood, Matt Lorono, and Casey Gorman treated 85 enthusiastic attendees to a full day of outstanding technical sessions.  In between sessions, the hallways were buzzing with talk about "how I do this" and "how I do that" in SolidWorks.  And, for maybe the first time in SWUGN Summit history, the continental breakfast was entirely consumed.

I'd like to thank everyone the put their time and effort into making the 2008 SWUGN Summit events the huge success that they were.  Thank you to the local SolidWorks resellers for your support.  Thank you SolidWorks Territory Technical Managers for helping with presentations (and in a lot of cases A/V equipment).  Thank you Debbi H. and Debbie W. for making sure the venues were first rate.  And of course, thank you to all of the SolidWorks users that paid their 40 bucks and spent a day with us in Orlando, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Baltimore, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Chennai, and Los Angeles.  We look forward to seeing many of you again in 2009, and meeting some new folks in some new cities.

Finally, please join me in recognizing the special members of the SolidWorks Community that spent their own free time preparing presentations, taking time away from work to attend, and in some cases, traveling great distances to share their knowledge with fellow SolidWorks users.

Casey Gorman, Ken Elliott, Matt Lombard, Ricky Jordan, Richard Hall, Gary Hall, Phil Sluder, Patrick Ellis, Thomas Allsup, Devon Sowell, Dan Podzimek, Wayne Tiffany, Mark Nelson, Rob Jensen, Brian Lindahl, Rameshbabu Chandran, Rod Uding, Trung Do, Charles Culp, Gerald Davis, Colin Heald, Matt Lorono, and Anna Wood. 

We couldn't do this without you.

   

150 and Counting

With the registration of the Orange County SolidWorks User Group, the SolidWorks User Group Network has reached 150 user groups worldwide.

OCSWUG group leader Gabe Corbett was on fire this week.  I spoke to him Monday about the SWUGN Summit - Los Angeles, and he inquired about a group in his area.  Noting that the only other group in the area was a little far away, he asked how hard it would be to set up a new group.  I pointed him to the User Group Support page and told him it wasn't that difficult.  By Tuesday afternoon, his new group had a website and a meeting scheduled for January 22nd.

That was easy....

If you can't find a user group in your area, and are willing to put one together, take a look at the SWUGN website.  Or, contact one of the SWUGN reps - they're more than happy to help.

At Least it Wasn't the Sushi

I was talking with Greg Jankowski last week when he mentioned a pretty severe case of stomach pain.  He suspected food poisoning, and really hoped it wasn't the sushi he had had the night before. He felt a little better the next day - but still a little "off".

Over the weekend, they admitted him to the hospital with a perforated appendix.  Greg's had surgery, and is doing better.  He's expected to be in the hospital for another few days, and then a week or so of recovery time at home.

I spoke to him this morning and he's feeling okay.  Please join me in wishing him all the best and for a speedy recovery.

SolidWorks World Interviews - Already

We're still two months away from Solidworks World 2009, but that isn't stopping Jason "The Rock" Raak from getting busy with the interviews.

Check out what Jeremy Regnerus and Darren Henry have to say about the event.

More Mystery at SolidWorks World?

By now, everyone knows that Richard Branson will be the "Mystery Guest" at SolidWorks World 2009 in Orlando.  If you thought that was the only surprise that Kerri and her events team had up their sleeves, you might be mistaken.

I was clued in Friday that something else is going to happen.  What is it?  I don't know, and I don't want to know.  This is part of what makes SolidWorks World such a special event.

So don't come here looking for answers.  Come to Orlando February 8th - 11th and find out for yourself.

Charles Culp Does Things in Denver

According to Colorado SolidWorks User Group leader Kelly Frazier, Charles Culp was a big hit with his surfacing presentation at last night's COSUG meeting.  If his session was anything like the one I saw in St. Louis, I'm sure it was.

"It was our pleasure to have Charles attend our COSUG meeting, and we will welcome him back anytime for future events and discussions on surface modeling, and SolidWorks in general."

Thanks Charles, the entire SolidWorks Community appreciates your time and efforts.

Tenpins or Candlepins?

I'll have to admit, I chuckled a little when I saw the agenda for the Maine SolidWorks User Group meeting on January 21st.  Bowling??

I think I've been around long enough to know that this is definitely a first for a SolidWorks User Group meeting.