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12
A little over 12 years ago, I attended my first SolidWorks training class.  I remember it vividly because I was skeptical about being there at all.  Believe it or not, I didn't think our company needed to move away from the current 2D CAD system to 3D Solid Modeling.  One hour into the class, I was hooked.  The trainers at the time – Catherine Norman (nee Wright) and Michael Leesley had a tough time getting me out the door that day.  I couldn't wait to get back for day 2 and day 3.

10
10 years ago this month, I stood in front of 40 or so fellow SolidWorks users at the first meeting of the Central Texas SolidWorks User Group.  I don't remember what we talked about, but I do remember having goosebumps afterward.  I could surely tell that this was something I wanted to keep doing.

5
It will be 5 years from this December when I became the User Community Coordinator for SolidWorks Corporation.  Not too many people knew at the time, but I was hired as a contractor.  That didn't matter one bit to me, I was going to be doing something I really, really liked on a daily basis.

2
Today is my 2 year anniversary as a full-time employee of SolidWorks Corporation.  My title has changed, but little else has.  I still use SolidWorks (almost) daily, I still help support the vast network of SolidWorks User Groups, and I'm still hooked.  I look forward to getting up every single day to do my job.

There are far too many people to thank personally for the past 12 years, so I won't even try here.  I'd just like to mention to everyone associated with the SolidWorks Community that it's been a great 12 years, and I'm looking forward to the next 12 with much anticipation and excitement.

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