SolidWorks Community

New home for the SolidWorks Blogs

2006-03-29T07:14:00.000-08:00

NOTE: The locations of the SolidWorks Blogs have changed as described below.

The SolidWorks Blog has moved to its new home at:
http://blogs.solidworks.com/solidworksblog/

The SolidWorks Media Podcast Blog has moved to its new home at:
http://blogs.solidworks.com/mediapodcasts/

The SolidWorks Community Blog has moved to its new home at:
http://blogs.solidworks.com/swcommunity/

Thanks,
SolidWorks Corporation

News and notes from the SolidWorks User Group Network

2006-03-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

The Lower Alabama SolidWorks User Group is holding its first meeting March 23rd - http://www.swugn.org/pages/calendar/UGdetails.html?id=338

The Seattle Area SolidWorks Power User Group celebrates its 10th anniversary with a meeting on April 18th - http://www.swugn.org/pages/calendar/UGdetails.html?id=127

The Eastern Michigan SolidWorks User Group reports 100+ RSVP’s for its March 22nd meeting - http://www.swugn.org/pages/calendar/UGdetails.html?id=196

A North Alabama SolidWorks User Group member recently uploaded his 100th model to 3D Content Central.

SolidWorks CEO John McEleney visits the Los Angles/Orange County SolidWorks User Group April 19th - http://www.swugn.org/pages/calendar/UGdetails.html?id=212

The Houston SWUGN Technical Summit kicks off a nine city tour of training and networking events on April 6th. Space is limited, so sign up now - http://www.swugn.org/pages/summit/SWUGN_Tech_Summit_Houston.html

The Midwest Region SolidWorks User Conference, hosted by the Midwest Region SolidWorks User Groups is scheduled for October 4th – 6th in Racine, Wisconsin. Last years conference drew more than 200 users and 25 exhibitors. Stay tuned for more information soon.

For more information about SolidWorks User group, visit the SWUGN website at www.swugn.org

SolidWorks Early Visibility (EV) program

2006-03-13T13:49:00.000-08:00

At SolidWorks, we place a high value on the opinion of our customers. The Early Visibility program provides you an opportunity to review and validate a Service Pack before general release. This program is for active subscription service customers.

The Early Visibility program provides an opportunity for customers to test a Service Pack before it goes on general release. Problems identified in the Early Visibility release will be evaluated for severity. Critical issues will be fixed prior to the general release of the Service Pack. If no critical issues are identified, the Early Visibility Service Pack will go on general release with no changes.

To learn more about or join this program, visit the Early Visibility program page.

Regards,
Greg Jankowski
SolidWorks Corp.

SWUGN Technical Summits

2006-03-03T12:51:00.000-08:00

Monthly Technical Events around the US

The SolidWorks User Group Network (SWUGN) has announced the schedule for the 2006 SWUGN Technical Summit days. These one-day events are being held monthly in cities across the US and feature a choice of 10 technical sessions designed to enhance your skills and knowledge of SolidWorks products.

Session presenters include SolidWorks Program Managers, user group leaders, and local SolidWorks experts. A nominal registration fee applies, and includes a general session, breakfast and lunch.

For more information, please visit the SWUGN website at www.swugn.org.

Richard Doyle
User Community Coordinator

23 days, 22 meetings

2006-02-28T03:44:00.000-08:00

There are 23 working days in the month of March, and 22 SolidWorks/COSMOS User Group Meetings scheduled.

http://www.swugn.org/pages/calendar/calendar.html

WOW!!

Special edition of SolidWorks Express dedicated to reviewing SolidWorks World 2006

2006-02-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

Please click below to view a special edition of SolidWorks Express dedicated to reviewing SolidWorks World 2006.

It includes an Event Highlights Video, a summary of Press Reviews available online, and more. Find out why SolidWorks World 2006 was the biggest and coolest MCAD event on record!
http://www.solidworks.com/swexpress/pages/feb06/.

Also, mark your calendars for SolidWorks World 2007.

SolidWorks World 2007 International User Conference and Exposition will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, February 4th — 7th.

To learn more about promising developments in the rebirth of New Orleans, view city update.

Regards,
Greg Jankowski
SolidWorks Corp.

Getting more from the support site.

2006-02-24T09:49:00.000-08:00

An under-used features for SolidWorks subscription service customers are the web cast (Online seminars) area. We host quartly web casts on a wide variety of topics. There is also an archive of previous web casts for your review.

The Online Seminiars links is on the right side of the support page at:
http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/subscription/index.html

Some examples of previous web casts were:

Why SolidWorks Is Good as a Surfacing Tool?
Administering and Deploying SolidWorks
Getting the Full Power of SolidWorks drawing capabilities
Using Toolbox in a Multi-User Environment
Using the SolidWorks® Task Scheduler

If you are looking for better ways to use SolidWorks, atend a web cast or view the archives.

Regards,
Greg Jankowski
SolidWorks Corp.

SolidWorks 2006 SP3.4 is now available

2006-02-24T09:39:00.000-08:00

SolidWorks 2006 SP3.4 is now available to Subscription Service customers.

For more information about this release or to download your personal copy, visit: http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/downloads.html.

SP3.3 and SP3.4 mainly deals with some PDF and BOM releated issues.

To determine whether to download a service pack, visit the SPR List and Lookup link on:
http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/subscription/index.html

Best regards,
Greg Jankowski
SolidWorks Corporation

Busy month for user groups

2006-02-13T12:28:00.000-08:00

After we have all caught our breadth after SolidWorks World, March can be a busy time for user groups. Many of the group leaders were at SolidWorks World and are bringing back a summary and ideas from the many sessions, partner products, and networking with other from the SolidWorks community.

Many groups have meeting after SolidWorks World just to talk about the experience and things they picked up. The current user group calendar has many local meetings listed.

To see if your local group is having a meeting, visit:
http://www.swugn.org/pages/calendar/calendar.html

Regards,
Greg Jankowski
SolidWorks

Post Conference Materials for SolidWorks World

2006-01-30T08:44:00.000-08:00

For those of you who attended SolidWorks, here is some information on the post conference materials:

Next week an email with a link to access the end-user breakout session presentations will be sent to all full conference attendees
At the end of March all full conference attendees will receive a proceedings DVD which will include the end-user breakout session presentations, highlights video, and more!

Regards,
SolidWorks Corp.

Interview with Suchit Jain, Vice President of Analysis Products

2006-01-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

I caught Suchit Jain in the press room at SolidWorks World long enough to throw a few questions at him. Suchit has been working with the COSMOSWorks product line for 12 years, and now works out of the SolidWorks office in Santa Monica, California.

Q. Where do you see the integration between COSMOSWorks and SolidWorks headed?

A. Our goal is to make analysis just like any other feature in SolidWorks. There are lots of facets to that integration, including user interface and philosophy. Whenever we add an analysis feature to SolidWorks, it has to be simple, totally seamless. If there are 10 things we want to add and it gets too complex, we’ll add nine.

The high level goal is to get more people to use analysis. When we started with the integration in 1995, only 2-3 percent of CAD users were using any type of analysis product. Now it’s up to 20 percent. Very few people were using analysis 12 years ago, so how were they making their designs? Some of them were doing hand calculation, some physical testing, which took a long time, and some weren’t doing anything. One benefit of integrated analysis is that it allows the designer to test his intuition.

Q. Why add COSMOSMotion to Office Premium?

A. When we offered Premium last year with COSMOSWorks Designer included, we wanted to make a new technology more available by lowering the cost of adoption. Now a lot of engineers are using analysis who otherwise would not. Motion is applicable across all industries. But if we sold it at $6,000, some aren’t willing to spend the money to see the benefits. Now more designers get a chance to try it, and understand its usefulness.

We feel that the design industry is on the cusp of mainstream design validation, but there are always barriers to adoption. COSMOSXpress is one feature that has helped us bring analysis to more people. And with our education package, we are helping young designers to accept analysis as just another part of the design process.

Q. Why are designers resistant to using analysis?

A. Because the designers and analysts were two groups. Analyst were the PhD experts and the designers thought it was not their job and that they were not qualified. Analysis was thought of as a rocket science. And that notion has carried over even though designers do have access to analysis today. Changing the behavior of people is one of the hardest things. At the end of the day, things are driven by market pressures. Some years back people had the luxury of designing products with extra material. Today costs are getting higher, the market is more competitive, and people need ways to cut costs.

Regards,
Amy Castor

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A freelance technology writer, Amy Castor writes for CAD/CAM/CAE and other high-tech industries. She is a regular contributor to the SolidWorks Express newsletter and several of her articles have appeared in Design News magazine.

Interview with SolidWorks COO Jeff Ray

2006-01-27T06:07:00.000-08:00

I had a few minutes during SolidWorks World to sit down and talk with Jeff Ray, chief operating officer of SolidWorks. Jeff’s been with the company for two years now, and this is his second SolidWorks World event. Jeff is a well-known “channel guy” so I focused many of my questions on the channel program.

Q. SolidWorks is growing, clearly evident by the size of this year’s event. How do you plan to hold on to the uniqueness of the company as it expands?

A. What gets many companies in trouble when they expand is a loss of focus. They forget where they started, and after a while, they’re not doing anything at all very well. Our goal is to stick with what our customers find important, which is developing software that supports building the world’s best products.

Q. What are your goals for the channel program? In other words, how are you going to bring SolidWorks from a quarter billion to a half billion dollar company?

A. The beauty of the channel program is that we live and die by each other’s success and failure. If we want to grow 20 to 30 percent a year, than each of our channels have to grow at that same rate. Our responsibility is to go beyond what other companies to. Many companies play games with their channels, for example, they bring in resellers who are not qualified just to have more resellers. Our goal is to help our resellers become better business people. We give our resellers tools to address basic business issues, such as how do you recruit and hire great people? How do you develop a better marketing program? We work with our resellers as business consultants to offer them programs that address their individual needs. Some of our programs are personal and direct in nature, others are more general.

Q. Where are the opportunities for growth at SolidWorks? What areas of the world are you looking to expand in?
A. We don’t really work that way. It’s much more precise than that. We take it down to a zip code level and look for specific areas were we need to either strengthen a reseller or add a new one. But we break it down by zip code or specific areas.

Q. What new industries is SolidWorks expanding into?

A. We are seeing a lot of growth in the consumer product industry with our focus on surfacing tools in SolidWorks. And the medical products industry finds SolidWorks attractive because they need precise products and integrated analysis tools. COSMOSWorks provides proof of how designs function to make it easier for many medical design company to get insurance. And in some cases, COSMOSWorks enables companies to speed the FDA approval process. And then we find the unexpected, people like Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, who use SolidWorks to design some of the products on their TV show “Mythbusters.”

Regards,
Amy Castor

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A freelance technology writer, Amy Castor writes for CAD/CAM/CAE and other high-tech industries. She is a regular contributor to the SolidWorks Express newsletter and several of her articles have appeared in Design News magazine.

SolidWorks World: Day 3

2006-01-27T05:54:00.000-08:00

Jeff Ray kicked off the morning’s General Session. He showed a hilarious video taken in the arcade at the off-site event of the heads of John McEleney and two others on top of these little cartoon bodies dancing to the Beach Boys tune “Fun, Fun, Fun.” I never laughed so hard.

We then got a sneak preview of SolidWorks 2007 presented retro-style in a “Dating Game” skit delivered with lots of puns and 60’s humor. The new features flowed quickly, but I caught a few of them here:

Balloons link to any attribute, not just part numbers.
Sketch blocks allow 2D animation, such as pulleys and CAM systems.
When you add new dimensions to drawings, the dimensions no longer overlap, but space out automatically. And it’s easier to move dimensions.
COSMOSWorks now supports beam elements.
COSMOSXpress calculates minimum factor of safety automatically.
Based on SWIFT technology, TolAnalyst for true tolerance stack up.
Also based on SWIFT, DraftXpert makes it easier to add draft angles.
You can automatically add flanges to the curved edges of a sheet metal part and unfold them.
Multimate command applies mates to multiple components with a common reference.
Freeform feature lets you specify the exact points you want to push and pull to manipulate a part.
Toolbox automatically generates missing components making it easy to share designs.
Copy Design command gathers all the files you need to transmit a design via email.
Belt command automatically wraps belts or chains around pulleys.

The focus of SolidWorks 2007 is reducing CAD overhead so designers can focus on making great products with four key themes:

Harness 2D expertise to power your 3D design
Focus on product design, not the design tools
Innovative new design tools
Design new and innovative products

The software ships this summer.

Joe Dunne, director of technical marketing, announced the winner of the SolidWorks 2005 design contest: Oslo, Norway-based 360 Grader Produktdesign with its PREMACARE Incubator. The product keeps premature babies safe and warm and gives parents a 360 degree view of the baby under a clear dome cover.

At the end of the session, CEO John McEleney came back on stage to thank everyone for coming to the event. “We’re a different company,” he said, “because we focus on our users, and that’s the difference at SolidWorks World.”

He also announced that the next SolidWorks World takes place in New Orleans February 4-7, 2007. See you all there for some gumbo.

Regards,
Amy Castor

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A freelance technology writer, Amy Castor writes for CAD/CAM/CAE and other high-tech industries. She is a regular contributor to the SolidWorks Express newsletter and several of her articles have appeared in Design News magazine.

SolidWorks World Wen 1-23

2006-01-27T05:51:00.000-08:00

Last day of the show and we saved one of the favorite items for many attendees, an introduction to the next version of SolidWorks, SolidWorks 2007. The format was the dating game, and it was both hilarious and informative. The team will have to scratch their heads hard next to top this one.

On the serious side, what the attendees saw was our investment in the idea that a CAD system should allow designers to designers, not think about how to drive the software. SolidWorks was built on ease-of-use and as good leaders do, we will continue to push innovative ways to make your jobs easier and more fun.

We also announced that next year’s SolidWorks World will be in New Orleans the first week in February 2007. I look forward (already) to a even bigger and better SolidWorks World next year.

I already look forward to going back to a rebuilt Big Easy.

Regards,
Greg Jankowski
SolidWorks Corp.

Interview with SolidWorks CEO John McEleney

2006-01-27T05:47:00.001-08:00

John McEleney is the CEO of SolidWorks, a position handed down to him by company founded and former CEO John Hirschtick five years ago. This month McEleney celebrates his ten year anniversary at SolidWorks. Although his title may sound intimidating, McEleney is the sort of person you immediately feel at ease around. Although I wasn’t able to book a formal meeting on McEleney’s busy schedule, when I spotted him in the press room at SolidWorks World, he was more than happy to share a few minutes with me.

Q. How does this SolidWorks World event compare to others in the past?

A. I think it’s been the best one so far. For one thing, it’s the biggest with 3,500 attendees. But there’s also an energy, a buzz in the air; people are smiling and happy and there is a real sense of purpose. It’s different in other ways too. Big companies often spend too much time talking about themselves. It’s the old “enough about me now let me tell you about me” story and it’s too easy to do. This year, we deliberately pulled in the corporate focus, and put more emphasis on our customers and partners.

Q. Where are you taking the SolidWorks software?

A. We want the software to do the work for you. Take for example iTunes software. People don’t realize the brilliance of iTunes is digital rights management. The software tracks all of the music on your computer and knows where it comes from. Yet people use iTunes without thinking about what’s going on in the background. Similarly, we want SolidWorks to take care of what goes on in the background, so that the user can focus on making products. SWIFT [a new technology platform in SolidWorks 2007 that many new features are going to be built on] is an example of a technology that takes care of the details.

Q. As the company grows, how do you plan to keep it as the SolidWorks that we’ve all grown to know and love?

A. We as an executive team have to stay grounded. Our job revolves around our customers, the people who use our software everyday. We are here to serve them, not the other way around. As the company gets bigger, I can’t be involved in every decision. But no matter how big we get, we always need to keep our focus on the customer.

Regards,
Amy Castor

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A freelance technology writer, Amy Castor writes for CAD/CAM/CAE and other high-tech industries. She is a regular contributor to the SolidWorks Express newsletter and several of her articles have appeared in Design News magazine.

SolidWorks World Tues 1-23

2006-01-27T05:47:00.000-08:00

The general session today feature the design duo of Seymour & Powell. They gave us some interesting perspectives on design and how to look at things in different ways.

I gave three presentations today on the Design Checker, Large Assembly Performance, and the CAD Administrator Survival Guide. I also noted that I will be placing all of my presentations and some other goodies on the support site later this week. Look for this link under Tech Tips & Best Practice on the main support page.

Interesting note on Design Checker, is that after the hands-on session, the

Ended the evening at the offsite event at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. As we came in we were greeted to the roar of jet fighters taking off with after burners from the adjacent Nellis Air Force base as the Red Flag exercises were underway.

We got opportunity to run go-carts, auto-cross, take laps around the speedway with a professional driver, and my favorite drag race. The only unfortunate part was when I got up the front of the line, I got the car we dubbed the “grocery wagon” as we were waiting in line. Still it was a lot of fun, even though I got beat by Phil Sluder. Phill kept the evidence as we also got a printout of reaction time and speed thought out the race.

Regards,
Greg Jankowski
SolidWorks Corp.

Straight Talk with User Group Founder Rob Rodriguez

2006-01-27T05:45:00.000-08:00

I had a nice chat at SolidWorks World with Rob Rodriguez, who is the president and founder of the Northern Vermont SolidWorks user group. Rob started the group just over a year ago. His day job is as CAD designer at Rock of Ages, a Vermont-based producer of granite products.

Q. What made you want to start your own user group?

A. I felt the users of the area needed more learning resources for SolidWorks. I had the idea to start the group and spoke with Richard Doyle, the user group coordinator for SolidWorks, and he helped me get going.

Q. How many members are in your group now and what are you doing to attract new members?

A. We have an email membership of about 60 and we draw 20-25 members to a meeting. To attract new members, we have a website and we use word of mouth. We also have a really good relationship with our VAR Computer-Aided Products, and they do a nice job promoting and supporting the group. They’ll send an applications engineer to come up and give a presentations at one of our meetings. And they provide different hardware, for example, they let us use their LCD projector for our meetings.

Q. What support does SWUGN provide?

A. I can list my meetings on the SWUGN website and they have a link to our website on theirs. They also give us $400 to spend at each of our meetings. I use that money if I have to rent a hotel room for a meeting or to provide food and beverages. We also have a deaf person in the group, so I use part of that money to hire a sign language interpreter.

Q. How often do you have meetings?

A. The third Thursday every two months, so six times a year.

Q. What do the meetings consist of?

Each meeting lasts three hours from 6-9 PM. We hold them in Waterbury, Vermont, at the Best Western hotel. The meeting basically consist of some general discussion where members bring up problems, issues, solutions, maybe job openings. Sometimes we serve pizza. We do networking, and then we have a 90-minute technical presentation. We haven’t done it yet, but we’ve talked about submitting enhancements requests as a group. SolidWorks gives priority to the enhancements asked for by the most people, so if we submit a request as a group, it’s likely to get more attention.

Q. What sort of technical presentations do you have?

A. That’s the hardest part of the meeting is finding someone to give a technical presentation. One time Mark Biasotti [product manager] from SolidWorks came up and gave a surfacing presentation and that was the highest attended meeting we had. Another time we had Keith Peterson from Computer-Aided Products give a top-down design presentation. Once we had a member of the group give a sheet metal presentation. And I also gave a PhotoWorks presentation.

Q. What advice would you give to someone else wanting to start a user group?

A. I’d give the same advice that Richard Doyle gave me. If starting a group is something you’ve thought about doing, you’re probably the right person for the job.

Q. Anything else you want people to know?

A. Our next meeting is February 16th!

Regards,

Amy Castor

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A freelance technology writer, Amy Castor writes for CAD/CAM/CAE and other high-tech industries. She is a regular contributor to the SolidWorks Express newsletter and several of her articles have appeared in Design News magazine.

Straight Talk with SWUGN Regional Director Mark Peters

2006-01-27T05:44:00.000-08:00

During the 2006 SolidWorks World conference, I had a chance to talk to Mark Peters, regional director for the SolidWorks User Group Network (SWUGN) the Midwest territory. Marks is also the president/CEO of IMPACT Engineering, a 65-member engineering support and professional services firm with offices in Wisconsin and Illinois.

SWUGN is the official go-between for SolidWorks and the user group community. Mark has been with SWUGN for 12 years, so he has a long history with SolidWorks. What’s more, Mark has been to every SolidWorks World event.

Q. Why are user groups so important to a software company?

A. People look for more avenues to learn. If you only have other users in the same company to speak with, it becomes incestuous. You’re just passing around the same old information. In contrast, user groups provide extended exposure.

Q. What are some of the challenges the SolidWorks user groups are facing?

A. Getting the word out. A lot of people who use SolidWorks aren’t aware that there may be a user group in their area. Or if they want to start a user group, they don’t know how to get one going. We try to educate and pass the word around to the resellers because they’re the ones who talk to the users.

Q. How do the SolidWorks user groups compare to the Pro/E user groups?

A. Funny you ask that because my company also started a Pro/E user group in our area. We use both software, but I have a fondness for SolidWorks because I’ve been involved with SolidWorks for so long. I like the people, the message, and the products. PTC mainly sells Pro/E to existing accounts rather than new customers, so their user groups are more senior. Pro/E user group meetings are also better attended because there are fewer of them. Wisconsin, for example, has one Pro/E user group and four SolidWorks user groups. SolidWorks user groups are smaller, more new faces, and you generally don’t have to drive as far.

Q. Do you remember the first SolidWorks World?

A. Yes, the first SolidWorks World conference was in Waltham. It was much smaller than this, maybe 600-700 people. We were able to go to the off-site event in three or four buses. [Compared to the 60 buses it took to get everyone to the Los Vegas Speedway Tuesday night.]

Q. How do you compare the first SolidWorks World with this one?

A. Even though this event is clearly much bigger, John Hirschtick and John McEleney still continue to carry on the underlying spirit and values of SolidWorks. And that’s why I come here every year. I want to see if that changes. If it does, then I know this is going to become the next PTC. But so far, it hasn’t changed. SolidWorks is a byproduct of good people with good values who hire like-minded people. If you walk up to John Hirschtick, John McEleney, and Vic Levanthal at one of these events, they greet you like a long lost child. I’m very passionate about this company.

Regards,
Amy Castor

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A freelance technology writer, Amy Castor writes for CAD/CAM/CAE and other high-tech industries. She is a regular contributor to the SolidWorks Express newsletter and several of her articles have appeared in Design News magazine.

SolidWorks World Mon 1-23

2006-01-27T05:43:00.000-08:00

When I walked in the 1st general session Monday morning it amazed me as to the size and vibrancy of the SolidWorks community represented in the hall.

Caught a quick sneak peak at the 2007 as John McEleney showed a few of his favorites. The folks from NextEngine also showed their 3D scanner and how it’s integrated into SolidWorks. Pretty cool stuff.

I am a fan of the Myth Busters and thoroughly enjoyed there talk. Never knew salami could power a rocket. My favorites are when it involves speed or something blowing up. Go figure…

Finished the day out with the annual SWUGN (SolidWorks User Group Network) advisory board meeting. The meeting was well attended and we had some great discussions about where we area and where the group wants to head in the future.

Ended the evening at the ESPN Sport Zone with the other CSWP’s (Certified SolidWorks Professionals) included the ones that just passed the test on Sunday. A great was had by all and I never realized you could actually bowl backwards.

Regards,
Greg Jankowski
SolidWorks Corp.

SolidWorks World: Day 2

2006-01-27T05:33:00.000-08:00

Tuesday Morning General Session
Richard Seymour and Dick Powel delivered a fantastic keynote this morning on how to harness creative energy to design products for the future. The London duo were hosts on the popular British television show “Better by Design” that focused on making everyday designs, such as a toilet or a toaster, more functional.

Design is a three stage process, they said, that includes idea, belief, and embodiment. An example of an idea is a tea kettle that you don’t have to unplug to fill or pour. Epiphanies happen when you don’t think in a linear way.

Oftentimes engineers design products that makes sense from a manufacturing standpoint. Take for example, a bag of frozen peas. Easy to manufacture, but how does a user store an opened bag of peas in the freezer without spilling them everywhere?

Artists think in an intuitive, nonlinear way. Engineering design is somewhere between art and engineering, intuition and logic.

You need to step back to gain a new perspective on a design. “Why do I have to fill my iron with water through a hole the size of a postage stamp?” asked Seymour. “And why is the iron always tipping over?” The two designers worked with one client to successfully design an iron that you fill through the back and that has an extra wide back heel so to keep it steady. A reasonable design idea, but why had no one done it before?

Other examples of new designs (and this is where the British humor comes in) included a bra for very large women and a self-cleaning toilet with no rim, a large target area, and an anti-bacterial glaze. You have to close the toilet for it to flush, making it a preferable device for women who like to see the lid left down. The duo also discussed their model of a motorbike that runs on hydrogen.

Some people are more creative than others and it’s best for companies to put the genesis of thinking in a small group of people who behave as individuals. Great ideas are fragile, and there is plenty out there inspiring to kill a good ideas, so it’s important not to lose track of the goal when going from idea to embodiment.

The vast majority of people are like you, said the two Brits, so if you don’t like or believe in an idea, chances are neither will the people buying it, so trust your intuition.

Off-site at the Los Vegas Speedway
How to you move 3,500 conference attendees from Caesar’s Palace to the Los Vegas Speedway? The answer: 60 tour buses. SolidWorks basically rented out the entire Las Vegas Speedway for its Tuesday evening off-site event. The bus ride over was about 20 minutes and we were dropped off in the center of the speedway, surrounded by racetrack, where plenty of drinks and food awaited. On the menu: hotdogs and hamburgers, and grilled chicken fajitas. I was amazed at the logistics of the event. How did SolidWorks manage to pull everything off so smoothly?

Attendees had an opportunity to take a ride around the track or race go-carts. An arcade full of games and pool tables brought added entertainment, but one of the biggest attractions was a booth where three people would sit in front of a video camera covered in green frocks. Their heads would then appear on a little video with cartoon bodies singing and dancing. It was hilarious.

Regards,
Amy Castor

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A freelance technology writer, Amy Castor writes for CAD/CAM/CAE and other high-tech industries. She is a regular contributor to the SolidWorks Express newsletter and several of her articles have appeared in Design News magazine.

7th Annual SWUGN Summit

2006-01-25T06:40:00.000-08:00

Every year SolidWorks User Group leaders from around the world gather to meet and discuss the state of SolidWorks user groups. Group leaders and the SWUGN Committee share thoughts and ideas to increase meeting attendance, attract new members, and make leading a local user group chapter easier and more satisfying. The SWUGN summit is also a great chance for the group leaders to meet each other face-to-face.

Highlights include the results of surveys conducted in December (meeting attendance is up, group members are happy, and group leaders are very satisfied with the support they receive from the SWUGN committee and SolidWorks). John McEleney made a surprise visit, as did Marie Planchard to offer group leaders some ideas for including students and faculty in their local groups.

The first annual SWUGN awards were presented this year. Congratulations to Rob Rodriguez (Group Leader of the Year), the Colorado SolidWorks User Group (Group of the Year), and Lila Theis and Gene DiMonte (Lifetime Achievement). Awards were also presented to 3Dconnexion (SWUGN Partner of the Year) and MCAD Technologies (SWUGN Reseller of the Year) for their outstanding support of local user groups and SWUGN regional events.

The two hour meeting hasn’t ended yet; group leaders and SWUGN committee members continue to meet over lunch, during breaks, and after sessions to carry on conversations that don’t seem to have an end. A full SWUGN summit report will be available at the end of the conference at www.swugn.org

Richard Doyle

Monday Morning’s General Session

2006-01-24T11:58:00.000-08:00

Monday Morning’s General Session

I woke up around dawn this morning and hustled over to Caesar’s (I’m actually stationed at Bally’s Hotel across the road) so as not to miss the 7:30AM breakfast but nearly did anyway. Hundreds of SolidWorks World conference attendees swarmed like bees around two enormous tables laden with fruits and pastries. I keep hearing how big this event is, and when I see food disappear like this, I believe it.

(Side Note: I’m posting on the morning after, so regardless of the date on this post, you’re reading about Monday.)

After breakfast was the 8:30-10AM General Session, where SolidWorks executives and keynote speakers address attendees. The room was packed and finding a seat was hard work. Jeff Ray, chief operating officer of SolidWorks was the first onstage to welcome us, talk about the conference in general, and remind everyone not to drink and drive at off-site event at the Los Vegas Speedway on Tuesday night. You get an wristband after you sign a waiver to drive. If you get a drink, the wristband comes off.

Jeff brought on to stage Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, the two gentlemen who host the popular television show “Mythbusters,” where the goal is to rebuff or prove urban legends such as dropping a penny from the top of the Empire State building can kill a person down below and answering your at a gasoline pump can set off an explosion. Jamie and Adam use SolidWorks to support their unusual design ideas, including a recent one that involves building a rocket that uses salami as a fuel source. John McEleney, SolidWorks chief executive officer, joined the three onstage bringing the rocket.

John then took over for the second half of the session. He gave us a brief review of the 40-year history of CAD and reminded us of SolidWorks’ humble beginnings in someone’s home Winchester, Massachusetts, and showed us a picture of the first release of the program SolidWorks 95. Today SolidWorks is a quarter of a million dollar company with half a million users around the globe.

Next on stage was the CEO of new SolidWorks partner Next Engine to introduce the product I hinted about in my post yesterday: an affordable 3D desktop scanner the size of a cereal box. Pretty amazing when you consider about five years ago, a typical 3D scanner was the size of a refrigerator. The new device sales for $2,495 USD, about 10x less than what a typical 3D scanner normally costs. It’s the hope of Next Engine that this device will “democratize 3D scanning.”

And finally, at the end of the session, a much waited for glimpse at SolidWorks 2007. In the next major release of SolidWorks, file size is cut in half, making it much easier to share designs over an FTP site (download time is less) or even in some cases allow you put a model on file a USB memory stick.

COSMOSMotion is part of SolidWorks Office Premium, another way to get more people using COSMOS products. And a new 3D PDF publishing add-in enables you to create documents with embedded 3D interactive models in them for use in manuals and other documentation.

And a new technology called SWIFT, which stands for SolidWorks Intelligent Feature Technology, automatically repairs your model if you get a rebuild error when trying to make a design change. Rather then having to go back to figure out where the problem is, you can simply click a new FeatureExpert button in the What’s Wrong dialog box, and the program solves the problem for you. The new feature reduces CAD overhead to enable you to spend more time focusing on design.

I really enjoyed the General Session this morning, but I’m a first timer at World, so I spoke with other attendees to get their opinions. Most had positive feedback. They found the session interesting and entertaining. One commented that while the focus of last years’ show was centered on the next release of SolidWorks, this year, SolidWorks was doing more to share the limelight with its customers and partners, which is a good sign.

P.S. I brought my camera to the even and am including a few random pictures with this post.

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Amy Castor A freelance technology writer, Amy writes for CAD/CAM/CAE and other high-tech industries. She is a regular contributor to the SolidWorks Express newsletter and several of her articles have appeared in Design News magazine.

Sun Customer Roundtables

2006-01-24T00:09:00.000-08:00

We all know that Las Vegas is famous for its tables but on Sunday, before the official kicked off SolidWorks World, some interesting discussions took place at tables of a different sort. Again this year roundtables were held enabling users to share ideas with the SolidWorks Product Management and Product Definition teams. Forums included machine design, mold design, consumer product design, drawings, data management, design validation and API programming to name a few. Approximately 400 users participated in the pre-conference roundtables.

SolidWorks has a long history of driving its’ products based on the needs of our customers. While we can’t implement every concept we get at these round tables what we are able to do is tackle the more common issues that will help the most users. Without this type of dedicated user feedback SolidWorks would not be the great product it is today. To those who participated and shared their ideas – THANK YOU!

As SolidWorks World 2006 officially kicks look forward to a few surprises and remember when at those other tables always split 8s and Aces.

Regards,
Fielder Hiss
SolidWorks Corp.

SolidWorks World Day 1

2006-01-23T08:53:00.000-08:00

Familiar faces, and plenty of new ones.

It’s always great to see old friends at SolidWorks World. The energy from attendees that have been here before is special because they know from experience what’s going to happen over the next few days. New faces express awe at the size of the event, but you can see the anticipation as they take in Sunday sessions such as the roundtable discussions or the CAD Administrators Bootcamp, and get a sense of what’s coming up. New or old, everyone here feels the sense of community, evidenced by the many ad-hoc conversations taking place all around the conference center.

User groups were a big part of my Sunday. Several conversations started with, “Hi, I’m Joe, do you have a few minutes to talk about users groups?” I heard that introduction many times on Sunday, and I look forward to hearing it the rest of the week. The annual SWUGN Summit meeting is Monday afternoon, and we’re looking forward to hosting the 50+ user group leaders that are here, as well as those wanting to learn more about SolidWorks user groups in their area. A report on the SWUGN Summit will appear here tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Richard Doyle

A Welcoming Reception

2006-01-23T08:19:00.000-08:00

Welcome reception is the official opening of the exhibit hall on Sunday night at SolidWorks World. Folks started arriving early in a steady stream and by 5:30PM the place was packed. Rows of exhibits lined the exhibit hall and in the center of it all was the Product Showcase with over 50 SolidWorks-designed products in all their glory.

I was anxious to see it all, but first on my mind was food, which promptly became available at 5:30PM. An assortment of eats was available, plenty of hors d'oeuvres, a pasta bar, and a salad bar with various salads in tiny ice-cream cones that you could eat along with the salad, and of course, open bars at all four corners of the room.

Turning my mind back to the exhibit hall, it was impossible to miss the yellow sports car smack dab in the center of the hall. It’s called the Koenigsegg CRR and was designed by a 39-employee company in Sweden. All the mechanical parts—the chassis, engine, shock absorbers—essentially everything that is not painted yellow was designed with SolidWorks software. According to company CEO Christian Von Koenigsegg, the carbon-fiber car has a 806 hp engine and is the fastest production car in Europe (an American version is due out soon) with a proven speed around a circular track of 242 mph. Later in the night, when SolidWorks CEO John McEleney climbed into the car and started the engine, a crowd appeared. Nobody could take their eyes off that car!

While wondering through the Partner Pavilion I spotted a few booths that seemed interesting. I had a hush-hush conversation with David Shoenfeld, the VP of marketing for Next Engine (http://www.nextengine.com/), a company located in Santa Monica, California. Monday morning the company is announcing a brand new product it’s been working on for five years. David was excited. According to him, the new product is the size of a cereal box and makes available something an engineer might normally pay 10x to 20x more for. I can’t say anymore, but I’m looking forward to seeing the response on Monday.

3Dconnextion (http://www.3dconnextion.com/) out of Los Gatos, California, has a new product this year called Space Pilot. Essentially, the product is an extension of the company’s earlier products Space Mouse, Space Ball, and Space Traveler, which are controllers that let you simultaneously pan, zoom and rotate your SolidWorks. Space Pilot adds new intelligent functionality that enable you to access up to 21 SolidWorks commands (such as Cut, Fillet, and Linear Pattern, if you’re working on a part) on the controller, putting more functions at your finger tips so your hand makes fewer trips to the keyboard. The device sales for $499.

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Amy Castor A freelance technology writer, Amy writes for CAD/CAM/CAE and other high-tech industries. She is a regular contributor to the SolidWorks Express newsletter and several of her articles have appeared in Design News magazine.
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On my way to Vegas

2006-01-23T08:13:00.000-08:00

On my way to Vegas
I knew I was on my way to Los Vegas when the flight attendant began taking drink orders at 8:30AM on the one-hour flight from Los Angeles. I settled for coffee in a styrofoam cup whilst the gentleman next to me complained of too much vodka in his bloody Mary.

I haven’t been to Vegas in years and forgot how big it is. This is my first SolidWorks World event, and I am struck by the shear size of it as well. The event consumes two large floors of conference rooms at Caesar’s Palace, and people with red SolidWorks badges are everywhere, roaming the Casino, the hotel lobby, on the escalators. It took me a few hours of dragging my suitcase around to get the lay of the land.

During my wonderings, I ran into Mike Volpe, director of marketing communications for SolidWorks, who had time for a quick chat. Last year’s user conference was in Orlando, Florida and the year before that in Boston, Massachusetts. “We felt it was time to return to the West coast,” said Mike. It’s been four years since SolidWorks World was held in Vegas.

According to Mike, there are 3,500 attendees at this years’ event, up from 2,300 last year. This year, 1,500 of the attendees are users and the rest are partners, exhibitors, resellers, and employees.

Mike said the growing attendance is due to enthusiasm. SolidWorks users are passionate about their work and the products the make, he said, so much so that at 7AM Sunday morning, there was a rush-hour lineup at the registration area. “It’s like a family reunion,” said Mike.

Mike threw some other good factoids at me. People are here from over 100 different countries, as far away as Africa and Asia Pacific. Over 100 exhibits line the Partner Pavilion. Everyone gets a shirt when they register, and the most popular shirt size is men’s large. The next most popular is men’s extra-large.

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Amy Castor A freelance technology writer, Amy writes for CAD/CAM/CAE and other high-tech industries. She is a regular contributor to the SolidWorks Express newsletter and several of her articles have appeared in Design News magazine.
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SolidWorks World Sun 1-22

2006-01-23T08:08:00.000-08:00

SolidWorks World Sun 1-22

Arrived in Las Vegas and am always amazed at the size and extravagance of the hotels. Caesars Palace is an great location for the conference. This will be our biggest, best one ever. It’s always great to see and catch up with everyone during the Sunday night reception.

The CAD Manger’s boot camp was well attended this afternoon. Four hours of everything you ever wanted to know about a wide variety of topics that concern the CAD manager.

One of the reasons I hold this event to that you typically find it’s either a IT person who does know about the requirements of a CAD environment, or a engineer who does know much the IT side. The Bootcamp is meant to give the managers, whether they have a CAD or IT background

It is amazing to me how this event continues to grow and get stronger.

Regards,
Greg Jankowski
SolidWorks Corp.

SolidWorks World 2005 - Orlando

2006-01-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

The last in a series of SolidWorks World recaps

SolidWorks World 2005 was déjà vu all over again (sorry Yogi). Returning to the Coronado Springs Resort for the third time in five years, attendance was high, the exhibitors were back in force, and the weather was great.

I’ll remember SolidWorks World 2005 as my favorite conference. In December 2004, I joined the SolidWorks team as User Community Coordinator. Imagine my joy after six-plus years of trying to find time (happily I’ll add) outside my day job to run a local user group, coordinate regional user conferences, attend SolidWorks World, and fulfill my duties as a SWUGN committee member. Now, I was going to be able to focus my energy full-time helping group leaders from around the world to strengthen and grow their groups. I still wake up every day doing the happy-dance, and I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to work closely with the entire SolidWorks Community. The SWUGN committee was a big part of my life and career for many years, and I look forward to working with the current members. My circle of SolidWorks friends has grown too, and each day brings new opportunities to be a part of the SolidWorks Community.

I wish I could provide a lot of highlights from SolidWorks World 2005. I can tell you that the Sunday evening reception was great, and that the appearance of the guys from OCC Monday morning drove the crowd into a frenzy. The SWUGN meeting was attended by more than 70 people, and John McEleney stopped by to thank the group leaders for their efforts. After that, things are a little hazy. What started as a tickle in my throat at the SWUGN meeting turned into a persistent cough by evening, and in the morning – a full-blown case of the flu.

If you think you’ve ever had the flu, you haven’t. You will definitely know when you have the flu. By Tuesday morning, I couldn’t even get out of bed. I missed Burt Rutan’s keynote, I missed Vic Leventhal on his “chopper”, and I even missed the announcement of my new position at SolidWorks. I was able to drag myself out for a few hours each day, but spent most of my time sitting down and warning everyone not to get too close. I should have worn a sign that said “You do NOT want to shake my hand today”. I was terribly disappointed because I really wanted to spend as much time as I could with group leaders, potential group leaders, and anyone else who wanted to talk about the SolidWorks Community. Everyone was very understanding, and I did manage to meet up with some folks. I said I’d remember SolidWorks World 2005 as my favorite, but I’ll also remember it as missed opportunity. I lost thirty pounds during the two weeks after SolidWorks World because of that flu, so I guess there is a silver lining.

By most accounts SolidWorks World 2005 was the best conference ever. That’s really what matters to me – the SolidWorks Community getting together, learning, sharing, and having fun. If you have never been to SolidWorks World, do whatever you can to get there. If you have been there before, I’ll see you again because you will be back.

I’ve had a lot of fun re-visiting my past SolidWorks World experiences, thanks for listening. I hope you’ll share some of your thoughts as well. Leave a comment or drop me a line. And if you’re going to be in Las Vegas for SolidWorks World 2006, please look me up.

Sincerely,
Richard Doyle
Worldwide User Community Coordinator

SolidWorks World 2004 - Boston

2006-01-20T08:13:00.000-08:00

Part six of seven

By some accounts, SolidWorks World 2004 was disappointing. Attendance was down, and the exhibit area was small. Having the event during winter in Boston had something to do with it, but the US economy that year probably played a bigger role. Even so, the conference had its share of great moments.

I got in on Sunday and registered right away. There were already a lot of users there, and I ran into several folks I knew. I was fortunate to dine that evening with Bruce Pilgrim, then editor of Solid Digital Digest. I agreed to provide some highlights from the SWUGN Summit in exchange for some help promoting user groups. According to Bruce, I became his new best friend that week (we still communicate on a regular basis – see his “Talking to My Cats” journal, its classic). After dinner I kept running into fellow SolidWorks users, and it took me nearly an hour to get from the second floor to my room. SolidWorks World always offers new people to meet, and plenty of old friends to get reacquainted with.

2003 brought quite a change for the SNUG committee; mainly because we weren’t SNUG (SolidWorks National User Group) anymore. The committee had transformed into the SolidWorks User Group Network (SWUGN), and went “International”. Two new members joined the committee to help serve user groups in Europe and the Asia/Pacific regions. The SWUGN Summit meeting was well attended, and we highlighted some of the past years achievements; the new SolidWorks user group website pages, 11 new user groups in North America alone, and some new ideas to help get members, partners, and resellers involved in local chapters. It was another successful meeting.

I made two new friends in 2004 (warning: name dropping ahead). Ed Eaton, known world-wide for his “Curvy Stuff” presentations, was kind enough to share his approach to creating complex geometry in SolidWorks, and also provide some insight on industrial design in general. We spoke for a long time, and I came away with a better understand of both. I was also able to talk him into coming to Austin for our regional event. Ed was a huge hit with our attendees, and I hope he’ll come back again. Marie Planchard and I had been in contact for years regarding user groups, and she was always a joy to work with. I finally got the chance to meet her in person in Boston. Getting to know Ed and Marie would have been reason enough for me to be in Boston.

SWW 2004 was the “Year of the Ad”. A SolidWorks competitor spent big bucks to run a full page advertisement in the local Boston paper targeting the conference attendees. I guess they didn’t know that the hotel distributes another paper to guests. They coughed up another chunk of change to re-run the page the next day. The blunder was good for a few laughs, and SolidWorks got a couple of day’s worth of free publicity.

Yes, it was cold. No, I didn’t bring a coat. And SolidWorks World 2004 might not be remembered as the best. But just like every other year, the conference offered an opportunity to learn, to share, and to enjoy the benefits of being a SolidWorks user and a member of the SolidWorks Community.

Next..The last chapter and my favorite SolidWorks World ever!!

Getting close....

2006-01-18T14:11:00.000-08:00

Only a couple of days till SolidWorks World. It will be the biggest and best SolidWorks World ever.

We will be posting daily updates and pictures to this Blog during the show. Stop back for the highlights of each day.

Stop by and say hi at the reception Sunday evening 6:00 PM.

Regards,
Greg Jankowski
SolidWorks

SolidWorks World 2003 - Orlando

2006-01-18T10:28:00.000-08:00

Part five of my SolidWorks World recaps

I wasn’t disappointed to return to the Coronado Springs Resort having had such a great experience in 2001. A surgically repaired shoulder nixed a return trip to the golf course, but that didn’t temper my enthusiasm for SolidWorks World. The sling on my arm should have been a warning to those around me, but the huge crowds caused several moments of pain as I attempted to make my way through the halls a couple of times.

I’ll get right to the best moment of the 2003 conference; Peter Marks. Certainly one of the most popular keynote speakers to date, Mr. Marks riveted the crowd of 2000+ with his session. I’ve since had the opportunity to hear him speak several times and I never tire of his style or his message. If you ever get the chance to see one of his presentations, do not pass it up.

This year’s SNUG meeting continued to build on the momentum we gained from the previous year. More than 50 attendees, mostly user group leaders, learned about some of the new programs that SNUG had put into place during the past year. The group got a preview of the newly redesigned user group web pages created by SolidWorks that allow group leaders to post meeting schedules, add their group information, and request fax/email notifications, speakers, and giveaway items for their meetings. We also showed the results from the first SNUG survey that had been conducted a few months prior. The survey data provided a wealth of information about local user group chapters, including the types of presentations offered, average attendance and frequency of meetings. We also heard some great ideas from group leaders that we were able to share with everyone. The open discussion was lively and informative, and generated a long list of items we could use to improve user groups, and to help spread the word about the SolidWorks User Group Community.

The dented wing I sported that year gave me a good excuse NOT to ride some of the attractions at the offsite event held at Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park. I’m afraid I have an aversion to heights and spinning, so I spent my time on the Buzz Lightyear ride with a couple of friends blasting Zurg and his minions with a light gun. Over to the arcade for some one-armed video gaming, food, drinks, and some SolidWorks talk. The Parade of Lights and a trip to Downtown Disney for some music rounded out the evening.

I worked the exhibit area hard that year, but not because I needed information. The local user group I headed up (CTSUG) had hosted a regional user event for the previous two years, and I was determined to make the 2003 version something special. I made a lot of contacts and managed to attract more than 25 exhibitors to Austin that year. Without the advantage of having these companies all in one place, my job would have been much tougher. The Partner Exhibit is filled every year with the very best hardware, software, and services companies. If you are attending SolidWorks World, make sure you visit every booth. You never know when you’ll find that gem of a program or service that will add huge value to your projects, or save your company time and money.

Next..If you visit Boston in January, bring a coat

SolidWorks World 2002 - Las Vegas

2006-01-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

Part four of my SolidWorks World recaps.

Las Vegas is my town, and SolidWorks World is my conference. I’ve been there at least 20 times over the years, and in 2002 I got the chance to be in one of my favorite places for SolidWorks World. The trip didn’t start well. I was up at 3am for a 6am flight to Dallas, then my connection that was delayed for two hours. I finally arrived in Las Vegas at around noon local time and decided to forego a shuttle and take a cab instead. Big mistake!! The line was really long and it took me almost an hour to get the cab. When I arrived at the hotel, the check-in lines were 30 – 40 people deep. Of course, I got in the line that moved the slowest. I was starting to wind down a little as I got in the elevator to head upstairs. I opened the door to my room and IT HADN’T BEEN CLEANED YET!! I managed to flag down a housekeeper and asked please, just change the sheets and give me some towels. She complied and at last I could settle in. I decided to rest a bit and laid down around 3pm. The next thing I knew it was 6am the next morning.

I attended two roundtable discussions in 2002; drawings (again) and eDrawings. The selection criteria had changed from the previous year, and attendees had to show a genuine interest in helping SolidWorks move forward. The roundtables were a big hit, and I still can’t get over the interaction between the users and the program managers. It was the kind of discussion that truly draws out some wonderful ideas, and it was a genuine pleasure to be involved.

SolidWorks World 2002 was also a milestone for the SNUG committee. Phil Sluder of “Tips and Tricks” fame had joined the committee, and Greg Jankowski of SolidWorks had been given the responsibility of working with us. The SNUG meeting was a big success, with more than 30 user group leaders attending. We realized that we had some work to do when it was revealed that only 60% of those in attendance even knew that SNUG existed. Between the SNUG meeting and subsequent meetings with Greg, we generated a list of things to work on in the coming year. The SNUG (now SWUGN) committee has come a long way since then, and 2002 was really the turning point.

I have to mention the offsite event. We were bussed over to the Hard Rock Café for a night of live music, and a mile long Sushi buffet (thanks Stace!). Downstairs was the oxygen bar, and a place where you could have temporary tattoos placed just about anywhere you wanted. The whole thing was a bit surreal; watching normally reserved “engineering types” kick it up on the dance floor, whoop it up downstairs, and really have a great time.

There isn’t one thing that stands out about SolidWorks World 2002. The offsite event, meeting Kate McGraw of Solid Solutions and Phil Sluder in person, the Mandalay Bay hotel, the PDM sessions (we were evaluating systems that year), and of course the general sessions, are all things I remember fondly. The trend continued in Las Vegas; the conference just gets better every year

Next..Back to Orlando with a broken wing

SolidWorks World 2001 - Orlando

2006-01-16T13:51:00.000-08:00

Part three in the series.

SolidWorks World 2001 was another opportunity to go somewhere I had never been; Orlando, Florida. Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort was chosen for its ability to host nearly 3000 SolidWorks users, resellers, partners, and employees. I was a little surprised to learn at the airport that I was still an hour away from the resort. Luckily, I ran into some fellow SolidWorks users and we all decided to share a cab (network, network, network). The fare was reasonable, and we arrived at the resort within the hour. Arriving a day early gave me the chance to play 18 holes on one of the great Disney golf courses. The free cab ride to the course offered by the resort was a nice touch. I walked in the footsteps of Tiger Woods that day, and made sure I hit one shot from the famous “Mickey Mouse” bunker.

I was invited to participate in the drawings roundtable discussion on Sunday. The SolidWorks Program Managers asked each roundtable attendee to be prepared with a list of their top ten issues, concerns, or enhancements. I could only come up with four or five things myself, but as we went around the room and heard from the others, I found myself thinking, “Yes that would be a good idea” over and over. I went in with four or five items, and came out with a dozen. (Note: as of SolidWorks 2005, everything on my initial list has now been addressed or implemented). SolidWorks uses the yearly roundtables as just one more tool in the on-going effort to provide the features and functionality that users need to accomplish design tasks.

The 2nd annual SNUG meeting was a departure from the year before. We decided not to spend all of our time introducing ourselves, and instead the SNUG committee put together a formal presentation and saved some room for an open discussion. We ended up with 20-25 user group leaders in attendance, and the meeting provided those group leaders a little more awareness of the committee members and our goals for the coming year(s). The SNUG committee also learned a thing or two about the individual groups.

After a couple of previous conferences, I thought I knew exactly what to expect from the offsite event; food, drinks, friends, and fun. But nobody could have been prepared for what we ended up seeing. Imagine if you will two high level executives in “super-hero” outfits battling it out onstage before hundreds of people. I’ll just leave it at that. After the event, a very large group of users, resellers, and SolidWorks folks met up back at the resort for drinks, some pizza, and an impromptu Karaoke session (sans the Karaoke machine). Most of us stayed until well past closing time, and had a great time.

SolidWorks World 2001 turned out to be the best conference I had ever attended. We had a 2000 person game of “Simon Says” at the general session, outstanding technical sessions, the huge exhibit hall filled with SolidWorks Partners, and a LOT of fun. I also got to meet several key users that were (and still are) highly regarded members of the SolidWorks Community. I left the conference with one thought; only 12 more months until SolidWorks World 2002!

Next..Las Vegas. A tough trip, but worth every minute.

SolidWorks World 2000 - New Orleans

2006-01-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

Part two in a series of SolidWorks World recaps

My second SolidWorks World experience got started early this year. The official call-for-papers came out in mid-July, and I started to get excited about a return trip to the conference. Once again my abstract was accepted, and I began making my plans.

I chose to make the trip by car, an eight hour drive from my home in Austin. I used the time and a cassette tape (cassette tape, what’s that?) of my session to rehearse it as I traveled the interstate. I made New Orleans around noon, and checked into the hotel.

I didn’t have to sweat out my session this year; I was scheduled for the first day. I learned a lot from previous year, and decided that this time I would work with SolidWorks “hands-on” during the presentation. Everything was going well, and I knew my material backward and forward, until…BSOD. A quick restart and off I went only to have it happen again. I was rescued by one of my resellers AE’s who jumped up and got the computer going again while I stood and used my hands, feet, and facial expressions to describe what I had wanted to show. The little song-and-dance kept my audience’s attention until we were able to get running again. It turned out to be a computer problem – another presenter later had the same issue in that room.

We were bussed to a nightclub for the offsite event, held at a large, but cozy nightclub. The night was complete with food, drink, and music provided by a local choir group. The SolidWorks executive team (ALL of them) spent the evening mingling with the attendees introducing themselves, asking questions, and learning how they were using SolidWorks. It was another reminder of how everyone at SolidWorks is interested in us and what we do. I left a little early with a friend and took the requisite walk down Bourbon street. I had never seen such a site, thousands of people lining the street, spilling out the doorways of clubs and restaurants. I can only imagine what it must be like during Mardi Gras.

The October prior to SolidWorks World, I was asked to become a part of a volunteer committee that would help SolidWorks oversee the growing user group community. I jumped at the chance, and the SolidWorks National User Group (SNUG) committee was formed. We held the first annual SNUG roundtable of user group leaders at SolidWorks World. We literally sat around in a circle, and spent most of the allotted hour introducing ourselves to each other. We didn’t discuss a lot of user group business at that first meeting, but it was a good start and gave the committee some ideas to work with. The group is now known as the SWUGN (SolidWorks User Group Network) committee, boasts 8 members, and has done quite a job for SolidWorks user groups since.

My only regret from SolidWorks World 2000 is that I didn’t get a chance to meet Jay G. (and I still haven’t for that matter). Jay posed his dilemma on the newsgroup:

“My boss has an accounting background. Basically, what he is asking for me to do is prove to him that our company will financially gain from my attending the conference”

My response to that question led to him getting approval to attend, and morphed into the SNUG SolidWorks World justification letter. I still get dozens of requests for the justification letter leading up to the conference, and it’s now posted on the SolidWorks World website yearly. I promised Jay a beer on Bourbon Street that year; I still hope to pay up someday.

Only 13 days til SolidWorks World 2006!

Next..Mickey, Donald, and something kind of Goofy

SolidWorks World 1999 - Palm Springs

2006-01-04T04:16:00.000-08:00

First in a series of SolidWorks World recaps

My first SolidWorks World couldn’t have started off better. I submitted a technical session abstract that was accepted and SolidWorks granted me free admission to the conference as a speaker. That was enough for my employer at the time to spring for the travel and accommodation expenses. I flew in to Orange County and rented a car for the two hour drive to Palm Springs. I got a free upgrade from the rental car company, and cruised in style in a Mustang convertible which made the long drive seem way too short. The resort was opulent, the accommodations outstanding. I knew that this was going to be a great few days, and the first evening reception did nothing to change that feeling. Tons of food, plenty to drink, and hundreds of SolidWorks users in an outdoor atrium setting lit up with tiki lamps around the pool.

The keynote speaker was Caleb Chung, the creator of the Furby, an interactive toy that was taking the nation by storm at the time. During his very good speech he erroneously referred to an SLS part (selective laser sintering – a rapid prototyping process) as an SLA (a competitors RP process) part. I later took the opportunity to make a light-hearted introduction (it’s an SLS part buddy - powder, not goop!!). Mr. Chung was very gracious and we spoke for several minutes about RP and the benefits he realized by using it during the development of the Furby toy.

The best technical session I attended was presented by Bob Noftle, then with Cimlogic, the original developer of ToolBox. I expected a full on sales pitch, but the information we received during the session was technically oriented and really showed what this fine product could do. The one-hour session was enough to convince me to recommend the product back home. Several of the attendees (including myself) spent nearly an hour afterward just talking shop with Mr. Noftle. Outstanding!

My technical session was scheduled for Saturday, and I was very nervous. I knew the material and had rehearsed it to death. But this was my first time in front of more than the 8 or 9 people that usually constituted a design review back at the shop. Patrick Maher of SolidWorks Corporation quickly became my new best friend. Pat’s job was to introduce me at my session, and he was there early to reassure me, make sure I had everything I needed, and go over the details of the next hour or so. He got me a glass of water, helped me calm down a little, and offered some words of encouragement. I thought my presentation came off as dry and over-rehearsed. But the Q & A session that followed was very good. The audience participated thoroughly, and it turned into more of a discussion than a presentation. It was then I realized what a technical conference should be about – interacting and helping each other solve design and product development issues.

One of my favorite stories to tell involves a user presentation. Phil Sluder was due to present his first ever SolidWorks World Tips and Tricks session in a room that might have seated 40 people comfortably. I was lucky enough to get a seat, but dozens of unfortunate souls that arrived a little late spent the next 90 minutes or so on tiptoes looking over the crowd that had gathered out the door and down the hall. I think they took turns peeking in and trying to see whatever they could of this outstanding session. Needless to say, Mr. Sluder was provided with a bigger room the next year.

I spent most of the evenings with a contingent from my home state of Texas. I had only met a couple of these people before, but I still hear from all of them regularly, and have developed a couple of very good friendships as a result. To me, the best thing about bringing together SolidWorks users from around the world is that we immediately have something in common, and are presented with a huge amount of things to talk about. It doesn’t hurt that we all have a passion for SolidWorks software as well.

Only 18 days til SolidWorks World 2006!

Next..Bourbon Street, gumbo, and SNUG

Anticipation, Enthusiasm, Excitement – Why I attend SolidWorks World

2006-01-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

For me, the anticipation starts in mid-July with the official call-for-papers. My enthusiasm ramps up in November when registration officially opens. And when the holidays are over and the New Year starts, the excitement builds to a crescendo. The SolidWorks World Conference and Exposition is right around the corner!! I’ve attended every SolidWorks World conference, and I fondly remember each one for a variety of reasons.

Over the next few days, I’ll recap some of my favorite moments from each year. Don’t look for a review of the technical sessions, new products from SolidWorks Partners, or even a summary of SolidWorks features or functionality introduced each year. What I will talk about is the little things that brought me back every year; the chance to meet fellow SolidWorks users and share our passion for mechanical design and the software we use daily, speaking with industry analysts and experts about trends in software and hardware, and the wonderful “special events” that give us a chance to unwind and let our hair down a little.

I’ve had the rare pleasure of meeting hundreds (if not thousands) of SolidWorks enthusiasts at SolidWorks World over the years, and I look forward to seeing all of them again. I also look forward each year to meeting new people, and adding to my personal network of colleagues. No, wait, make those friends! I’ll be at SolidWorks World 2006 from start to finish, please look me up; I’ll be the guy in the SolidWorks shirt with a huge smile on his face.

Regards,

Richard Doyle

Best wishes for 2006

2006-01-03T07:02:00.000-08:00

All of us at SolidWorks would like to thank everyone within the SolidWorks community for making 2005 a very successful year and look forward to a great 2006.

The launch of SolidWorks 2006 and SolidWorks for Dummies were highlights I would point to for 2005 and we look forward to making you and your organization’s experience with SolidWorks even more successful and productive.

Regards,
Greg Jankowski
SolidWorks Corp.

SASUG does it Well!

2005-12-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

I attended a very good user group meeting in San Antonio, Texas last week. I say it was very good, not because of the excellent technical presentations, the attendance of 30+, or the BBQ diner (which was outstanding). No, the thing that struck me was the interaction among the group members during the entire meeting. From the opening presentation on SolidWorks World, to the wrap-up prize drawings, the members were engaged – asking questions, sharing tips, even helping the presenters when they got “stuck” a couple of times.
SASUG has been meeting for better than two years now, and many of the members have known each other for most of that time. But even the first time attendees were involved in the meeting, showing me that when you bring SolidWorks users together in an open forum, they become very passionate about sharing with, and learning from, other users. I would like to thank the good folks at SASUG for inviting me to attend the meeting.

For more information about SASUG and other SolidWorks User Groups, visit www.swugn.org

Looking for a User Group meeting in your area?

2005-12-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

Check the User Group calendar on the www.sugn.org web site at: http://www.swugn.org/pages/calendar/calendar.html.

If your group is not listed on in the calendar, visit the User Group Support section of the SWUGN web site.

SolidWorks World is right around the corner

2005-12-06T15:50:00.000-08:00

SolidWorks World 2006
- The premier event for 3D design, simulation and product
development
- SolidWorks World 2006, Las Vegas, NV, January 22-25, 2006
http://www.solidworks.com/swworld

Events I will be participating in:
Sun - Cadministratorsors Bootcamp
Sun - SolidWorks for Dummies signing event
Mon- Design Checker Hands-on workshop
Mon - SolidWorks for Dummies signing event
Mon - SWUGN User Group Meeting
Mon - CSWP offsite event
Tue - Understanding In-context References and Assembly Features
Tue - Understanding/Increasing Large Assembly/Drawing Performance
Tue - CAD Manager Survival Guide

Look forward to seeing you there,
Greg Jankowski

SWUGN Summit at SolidWorks World

2005-12-06T14:52:00.000-08:00

User Group Leader and Members:
Join us Monday, January 23 at 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM at the annual user group leader meeting. We will discuss what has been accomplished in 2005 and look forward to 2006. Please join us is you can.