10th Annual SWUGN Summit at SolidWorks World

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Here are some additional highlights from the 10th Annual SWUGN Summit at SolidWorks World.

SWUGN Elections
Congratulations to Ontario SolidWorks User Group leader Chris White who is now the SWUGN Committee representative for Canada.  Chris becomes the first non-incumbent to be elected to the committee.  Rob Rodriguez (Eastern US), Phil Sluder (Western US), and Gareth Rogers (Europe) were all re-elected to new two-year terms.

SWUGN Growth
24 new SolidWorks User Groups joined SWUGN in 2008, bringing the total number of SolidWorks/Simulation user groups to 150.  There are now SolidWorks users in 22 countries around the world enjoying the benefits of attending local user group meetings.

SWUGN Technical Summits
These cities will host SWUGN Technical Summit one-day events in 2009.  Atlanta, GA; Columbus, OH; Denver, CO; Happy Valley, PA; Minneapolis, MN; Orlando, FL; San Antonio, TX; San Jose, CA; Vancouver, BC; London, England.  Dates will be announced soon.

SWUGN Awards
For the first time since the Participating Partner of the Year award was created, 3D Connexion did not win it.  This year the award went to Rapid Sheet Metalfor their outstanding support of SolidWorks User Groups everywhere.  In addition to 3D Connexion, other nominations went to Nvidia Corporation and Pro Source.

The Reseller of the Year award was presented to Alignex, Inc., a SolidWorks reseller based in Minnesota.  The other nominees…Javelin Technologies, DASI Solutions, Computer-Aided Products, and MLC CAD Systems all deserve special thanks for their support of SWUGN in 2008.

Goals for 2009
After a very successful 2008, the SolidWorks User Group Network heads into 2009 with a lot of momentum.  We're looking for 15% – 20% growth internationally, and intend to add at least 20 new local user group chapters in North America.  SWUGN will be reaching out to the Education Community as well, with the hopes of bringing more educators and students into the community.

2008 was a great year for SWUGN, and 2009 is off to a great start.  For more information about joining or starting a local SolidWorks User Group chapter, visit the SWUGN website.

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