3 Meetings, 3 Meals, and 2 Presentations

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I don't often do three SolidWorks User Group meetings in three days, but when the CEO is making his first user group appearances, your schedule tends to change.

The trip started in Atlanta where Tom Ellis treated us to vast amounts of pizza, a slew of reseller reps, and an energetic crowd of SolidWorks users.  Tom has been running the Atlanta group for a long time, and his passion for the SolidWorks Community really shines when he's up in front of his group members. It was nice to catch up with Nicole Walden too – formerly of HOUSUG, Nicole now leads the new Chattanooga SolidWorks User Group.

On to Greenville where the GSWUG welcomed Bertrand and I with a nice cake:

Cake
 
The GSWUG steering committee put together a great meeting, complete with custom choppers, RP Machines, and some really fine BBQ.  The stage where we did our presentations was quite nice as well.  Casey Gorman and Rodney Hall also made the trip to Greenville to show their support.

The last stop was Cary, NC for the Research Triangle Park SolidWorks User Group meeting.  This was my first trip to this group, and my first chance to meet group leader Mike King.  We also got a tour of Mike's company, [TC]2 and were amazed at the full body scanning machines they build.  We also saw a "test project" that promises to be very cool, but I'm not sure I'm supposed to say anything about it, so I won't.  As often happens at user group meetings, I ran into an old friend – James Lewontin of Bitwright Software.  I've known James for a long time, and it was very nice to see him again.

All in all, a very successful trip.  I know that Bertrand enjoyed his first user group experience very much.  So much so, that he has agreed to do another trip this year, probably in the Southern California area.  Look for us to make a three-group swing later this fall.

 

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