#SWW17 Call for Papers – Time’s Running Out! Submit Today!

By

There are only 148 days left until SOLIDWORKS World, and planning is in full swing here at SOLIDWORKS. I might have the coolest role ever in planning the event – basically speaking, I get to orchestrate fun stuff: scavenger hunts, front row general session seats, exclusive meet and greets, and swagbags, etc. I LOVE the fun stuff, but at the end of day we’ll all be in Los Angeles to learn a few things! This is where we need your help. You are part of an amazing community of people representing expertise in countless industries and daily use cases for SOLIDWORKS. We need you to share your brainpower!

Panama City Beach SWUG

Here are are few reasons why you should present.

For you veteran presenters, stop reading and instead use this time to submit your presentation! 🙂

For you first-timers, here are a few notes from my experiences I hope will help alleviate any doubts you may have as to the process, rewards, etc.

  • You know more than you think you do. If you think you can talk about a subject for 50-60 minutes, you can teach the rest of us a few things. Don’t doubt your knowledge.
    • I chose to present for the first time about SOLIDWORKS certifications. At the time, I was an average user working toward my SOLIDWORKS Expert certification and compiling a list of resources and best practices. I thought at the very least I could talk for an hour and share those resources and techniques I had gathered from others, but I was also terrified that each and every person in the room was going to know more than me, already have those resources, and my very basic modeling fundamentals and editing techniques were going to be laughed off the stage. Here’s where it gets awesome. I WAS WRONG! I underestimated what I knew and what others didn’t about SOLIDWORKS certifications. I’ve been giving this presentation at SOLIDWORKS events for almost 5 years now, and always by request.
  • If you use SOLIDWORKS everyday, and you really think about it, you have at least one hour-long tangent you wouldn’t mind going on about.
    • While working SOLIDWORKS Tech Support, I regularly found myself teaching users how to compile a SOLIDWORKS RX, run Copy Settings Wizard, and otherwise perform basic maintenance on their setup. Recently, this turned into a presentation called “Everything you need to know about SOLIDWORKS, minus SOLIDWORKS”. Again, I was a bit worried that presenting at a SOLIDWORKS user group and NOT opening SOLIDWORKS might get some funny looks, but thanks to an awesome group in Panama City Beach, it turned into one of the most engaged evenings I’ve experienced so far – filled with intelligent questions, best practice discussions, and at the end of the night, a request for a copy of the presentation for future reference. Don’t underestimate your tangents and special use cases – we can all find value in them.
  • Presenters get in FREE!!! And they usually get a pretty sweet presenter gift. And an extra ribbon on their event badges. 
    • Asking your boss to send you to a 3 day event can be pretty intimidating – less so when you’re an expert presenter in your use of SOLIDWORKS, and just need some help covering the travel costs.

Moral of my story? Just try it! You’ll surprise yourself. The better each individual user becomes, the better the software gets. Better users ask better questions and submit more advanced enhancement requests and we all evolve together. That’s the dream. Please submit a presentation and teach the rest of us what you’ve mastered! See you there!

SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS

Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. offers complete 3D software tools that let you create, simulate, publish, and manage your data. SolidWorks products are easy to learn and use, and work together to help you design products better, faster, and more cost-effectively. The SolidWorks focus on ease-of-use allows more engineers, designers and other technology professionals than ever before to take advantage of 3D in bringing their designs to life.
SOLIDWORKS

@SOLIDWORKS