SolidWorks User Group – Chennai

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On Wednesday morning, I took a quick 35 minute flight to Chennai with Ravi Varadarajan, our TTM for India.  We were met at the airport by Mr. Mohan Santhanam of Barry-Wehmiller who would be our host for the day.  The traffic was very similar to Bangalore and I was once again amazed at the way our driver skillfully maneuvered his way the the BWIR offices.  We were treated to a fine lunch, and a quick trip to the Cane ‘n Bamboo, a small shop that offers beautifully handcrafted items at prices you wouldn’t believe.

After that we headed out to the very first Chennai user group meeting held at The League Club, a perfect venue for a user group meeting.  Nearly 40 users braved rain and some minor flooding to attend.  I was lucky enough to be able to present once again, and the audience was very polite as I spoke about user groups in the US.  Then it struck me – I could actually have been in the US.  The meeting set-up, the attendees, the presentations, the venue – it was very much like any other user group meeting I’ve been to this year.  The only difference – I was half way around the world.  We had a great meeting, and I was a just a little embarrassed when one of the attendees stood up at the end and thanked me publicly for coming.  It was me that should be thankful – my favorite part of my job is attending user group meetings, and here I was at a meeting in India.

I also have to thank Mr. Santhanam specifically for his hospitality.  We could not have had a better host, and you won’t meet a finer person.  Thank you Mohan, I look forward to seeing you again.

Next stop – Pune

Richard Doyle

Richard Doyle

My official title is Senior User Advocacy & SolidWorks User Groups - but most people just call me "The User Group Guy". I've been a SolidWorks user since 1997, and was one of the founding members of the SWUGN Committee. Since starting the Central Texas SolidWorks User Group in 1999, my career path has led me to DS SolidWorks and a dream job supporting the SolidWorks User Group Network worldwide.
Richard Doyle

@https://twitter.com/swugn

Richard Doyle