Great People Make Great Things Happen

By

I originally titled this "Great Things Happen to Great People", but changed it to reflect the real story. 

A little over a week before he was scheduled to attend SolidWorks World 2009, Rodney Hall found out that his employer was shutting the doors to the company.  That didn't stop Rodney from attending the conference though – he picked up his own tab and drove over eight hours each way just to be there.  Jeff Ray was so impressed by this that he mentioned Rodney's story during his opening address on Monday.  Rodney worked the conference hard, and it paid off.

This coming Monday, Rodney starts a new job with Shaw Areva Services in Aiken, South Carolina.  He gives a lot of credit to SolidWorks World and the SolidWorks Community for providing the networking opportunities that helped him land the new gig.  I'm sure it's true, but I suspect it had more to do with Rodney's talent, energy, and reputation.

The story gets even better.  Having to leave the Catawba Valley SolidWorks User Groupthat he founded was disappointing, but true to his nature, Rodney has left the group in the capable hands of Scott Furr.  To compensate a little for missing user group meetings, Rodney has agreed to take a part time job as a SolidWorks instructor at Aiken Technical College.  You gotta love that kind of dedication.

There is some downside to this great story.  Aiken is over four hours from Rodney's home in Hickory, meaning he'll be spending most of the week away from his family in a rented apartment.  He'll travel back and forth on the weekends, but he's also set up a Skype account and purchased a couple of high-quality webcams to stay in touch during the week.  Watching your kids over a webcam isn't ideal, but as Rodney put it, "sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do."

So, Rodney's story doesn't end here, in fact it's just beginning.  A new city, a new job, and new challenges.  If you know Rodney Hall, you know he'll give it 110%.  If you don't know Rodney, you haven't been paying attention.  I know he reads this blog, so leave a note of congratulations.  You'll also find him on the SolidWorks discussion forums, and if you "Twitter", he's there on occasion as well.  Who knows, there might be a new user group popping up in Aiken, South Carolina too.

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