SolidWorks World 2007

I have been given the opportunity to attend SolidWorks World 2007, in New Orleans, LA.  This will be the third time I have been attend a SolidWorks World User Conference.

SolidWorks World is a great place for users and support technicians to learn new tips, tricks, and techniques on using the SolidWorks line of software and it’s add-ins.  If you think you already know a lot about SolidWorks, then SolidWorks World can help confirm what you already know, or show you more efficient ways of doing what you already doing, or remind you of what you forgot.

SolidWorks World also gives users a chance talk to the presenters and learn tips that can help them with the issues they are facing while using SolidWorks.  It may be a simple tip, or a reminder of a technique they usually don’t use.

I have had many opportunities to meet people from SolidWorks Corporation.  Some of the people I have met are John McEleney (CEO, SolidWorks Corp), Jon Hirschtick (Co-Founder, SolidWorks Corp), Vic Leventhal (Group Leader, Dassault Systemes), Richard Doyle (User Community Coordinator, SolidWorks), Marie Planchard (Dir. Education Marketing), and many more.

Being involved with the SolidWorks user group community, I attend the SolidWorks User Group Network’s annual meeting on Monday nights at SolidWorks World.  At this meeting, we learn about the status of SolidWorks user groups in all of the regions.

I have also had the opportunity to meet many more contributors to the SolidWorks community like Scott Baugh, Matt Lombard, Phil Sluder, Ed Eaton and many more.  As a contributor to this community, I enjoy talking with other users to see if I can help them either by providing some direction to do what they need, or identifying resources where they can get more help.

The Vendor Pavilion provides opportunities to see product demonstrations, talk to technicians and other support staff, and sales personnel for products that work within SolidWorks, or work with SolidWorks data.  This has been very useful for me because it allowed me to compare different PDM packages, nearly side-by-side.  It allows me to discover and evaluate new products to see if they meet the needs of the company I work for.

My TOP 10 TIPS for attendees:

1. Be ready for information overload, being over whelmed by the energy of the conference and the content of the great technical presentations.
2. Wear comfortable shoes because you will be doing a lot of walking to get around this conference. Wear comfortable clothes, the dress code is “smart casual”. 
3. You will receive a Conference CD a couple of months after the conference.  Because of this, you don’t need to take notes of anything that appears in the presentation slides.
4. Meet and talk to SolidWorks personnel.  They want to know that issues the users are facing.  SolidWorks uses this information for developing product features and improvements.
5. Talk with other users at the “Birds of a Feather” lunches to meet others from your region, technical area, or SolidWorks interests. 
6. Get involved by participating in SolidWorks surveys.  SolidWorks Corporation uses the information from these surveys to improve the SolidWorks software, the SolidWorks Community, and SolidWorks Corporation.
7. If you have to support SolidWorks installations, or other users, attend the CAD Managers Boot Camp on Sunday afternoon.  There is a lot of information in this session that you need to know, and this boot camp pulls it all together in one place.
8. Check out the Countdown to SolidWorks World podcasts at http://blogs.solidworks.com/countdown_to_swworld to get an idea on what to expect at SolidWorks World.
9. Have fun at the off-site party on Tuesday night!
10. If you are planning a vacation in conjunction with SolidWorks World, do it the weekend before the conference so you can enjoy the vacation.

The people at SolidWorks Corporation, and contributors in the SolidWorks community impress me because they were or are users of CAD systems.  They all understand the issues that are faced by many CAD users, and they make themselves available to help you resolve issues you are facing.  Every time I go to a SolidWorks World, or a local user group meeting, I have always been treated as an equal.  The people in this community are readily available to help other SolidWorks users.  This is why I have become a contributor to the community via my Lenny’s SolidWorks Resources website and my involvement with the SolidWorks Milwaukee Area Resource Team (SMART) user group.

Once again, I am looking forward to attending SolidWorks World, and talking to old friends, meeting new people, and discovering what’s new in the world of SolidWorks.

I’ll see you there!

Lenny