SolidWorks World 2007 – What to Expect on Wednesday

Wednesday morning marks the beginning of the end, but that doesn’t mean the final day of SolidWorks World is any less special.  With shortened exhibit hours, and nothing off-site to contend with, Wednesday is all about the technical sessions.

Breakfast
Most attendees were up late the night before at the off-site event.  The buses usually return by 11:00pm, but I’ve seen my share of post-event "events" too.  That means the breakfast crowd will be thin.  TIP – eat and get to the main ballroom early for today’s opening session.  The best seats are up front.

General Session
The Wednesday general session has three things you don’t want to miss.  First, the results from the conference long "enhancement request" survey will be announced.  SolidWorks surveys attendees each year to find out the top 10 enhancement requests as voted on by attendees, and over the years nearly all of them have made it into SolidWorks software.  Next up comes the "Sneak Peek" into the next version of SolidWorks, presented annually by CEO and CSWP John McEleney.  John does a great job with the presentation, and you can feel his passion for SolidWorks as he demonstrates new features and functionality.  Finally, the general session wraps ups with an announcement on the location of the following years conference.  TIP – I don’t really have one – just enjoy the session and get ready to finish out the day.

Breakouts
In addition to the regular agenda, day three features repeats of some of the most popular sessions from earlier in the week.  Some of the more popular sessions may also be added "on-the-fly".  TIP – Check the message board near the registration desk for additional breakouts not on the original agenda.

Partner Pavilion
The exhibits close early in Wednesday, so its your last chance to visit partner companies.  Use Wednesday to get any last minute questions answered about products you are interested in.  TIP – Looking for an extra t-shirt or bouncy-rubber-light-up ball to take home.  Cruise through the exhibit area during tear-down and see what you can pick up.

Wrapping Up
If you still want to visit with some of the SolidWorks representatives, do it early.  Tear down starts around lunch time, and everyone will be quite busy packing up.  The conference officially ends at 5:30pm, but lots of your fellow users will be heading out early to catch flights home.  Make sure you use the morning and early afternoon to catch up with everyone before they go.  If you’re hanging around until its over, stop by the registration area and look me up.  I’ll be easy to spot – a couple of people will be dragging me kicking and screaming out of the conference center.

See ya in ‘Nawlins.

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
Richard Doyle