SolidWorks World 2004

I've been to every one. For a look at how you can justify the expense, look here:
It worked for Jay :)
Richard

If you have to justify SolidWorks World attendance in terms of dollars, I guess we won't be seeing you there. It's very hard to quantify to a companies bottom line. Would your boss expect you to return from New Orleans with your pockets lined with bills, or perhaps he expects to see a general ledger entry like "$$ saved by attending SWW = $xxxx.xx". Either way your hosed! But, what if you returned from SWW with some tip that saved you just 1% of your time spent on creating or modifying a drawing? (hmmm, 2080*1%=20.8@$30.00/hr=$624.00) What if you found a Partner Product that could trim five days off of a 90 day project for a customer? (let's see..$20,000 project/90=222.22*5=$1,111.11, roll in the cost of the solution, ooh..) Of course, these are my numbers, not yours (heck, you might be worth more than $30.00/hr), but with over 55 different breakout sessions available, not to mention the opportunity to sit one-on-one with SolidWorks technical staff members, certainly you can see the chance to find that 1%, maybe even 2% improvement in productivity. Ask your boss how that would affect the company's financials.
If that's not enough to convince him/her, how about a chance to meet face-to-face with some of the leading experts in the SolidWorks/Mechanical Design industry? One of last years highlights for me was talking with Bob Noftle of Cimlogic, not only about his Toolbox product, but the state of the mechanical design industry and the shape of things to come. Trevor, Cholly, Michelle, Greg, and Phil; one word names that everyone recognizes (sorta the Supermodels of SolidWorks), they'll all be there. Some will be presenting, some will be there for the same reason that you should be, to share information and to learn all that they can about our little world.
If you still have to spit out a spreadsheet with lots of black numbers and dollar signs, I'll look forward to meeting you some other time. But if you can convince your boss that continued employee education, peer networking, product research, and maybe a little moral booster are worth $450.00, I'll buy you a beer on Bourbon Street!
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Richard Doyle DTM Corporation

Thanks for posting Richard's justification.
Of course, you've got to factor in the time you lose by going to SW World. My boss gets 235 days of work out of me, in theory (three weeks of vacation/sick leave, 11 days of holidays). Three days (I'll travel on Sunday and Wednesday night) of work lost is a 1.3% hit on my productivity right away! So now I've got to increase my productivity by at least that much before I can save anything.
It's going to cost the company something like $1700-$2000 to send me. ($645 for the conference, $480 for the room, at least $100 for meals, at least $370, probably more like $670 for the flights, since I won't be able to book until pretty close to the conference date, $100 to get me to the airports and back.) Call it $2000. If I were the $30/hr guy doing the drawings above, that's 67 hours I've got to save, plus the 24 hours of lost work time, so I've got to save 91 hours in the rest of the year. I've got 232 days left, or 1856 hours, to save it in, so I've got to increase my productivity by 4.9% to make it pay. This is certainly possible, but it's not exactly a slam-dunk.
Fortunately, I'm a highly paid engineer, so my burdened rate is more like $100/hr. So the conference cost is only 20 hours and I've only got to come up with 44 hours of time saved. If I spent 8 hours a day on SW, that's just a 2.4% productivity increase. Unfortunately, I doubt that I spend more than 25-50% of my time on SW, so I've got to come up with 4.7%-9.5% producitivity increase to make it pay. Again, it's possible, but a 10% increase in productivity is a pretty high target. It's possible I can come up with a few tips that would save that much, but I certainly can't guarantee it.
One other possibility for our small group is to send one of the three MEs. If the lucky one can come back with tips that help all three of us, we're down in the 1.6%-3.2% productivity increase needed. That seems pretty easy to find.
If you've got 10 engineers/designers/drafters, then it isn't hard at all to justify sending one or two people.
Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems

Thanks for the link Richard.
I'm really interested and excited about going to SolidWorks World. My employer has no problem with paying to send me. The cost of the conference is very reasonable. The travel and lodging expense are what drive the price up. I was just wondering if past attendees felt it was worth their time and money. I guess I have 2 YES votes.
I attended PhotoShop World a few months ago and was really disappointed!! It was a very unorganized conference and I really left there feeling like it wasn't worth the trip.
Before I took the plunge into SolidWorks World I thought it would be nice to get a little feedback from people who have attended.

Rob,
I've been four years running and paid for it myself for the most part. This year is a little different than the past. I spend all my time in the seminars and a little time schmoozing.
Rob Rodriguez wrote:

Rob,
Even though my comments on Richard's justification make it look like I'm seriously questioning the value of SW World, I really think that most of the people who follow this newsgroup would benefit. I just wanted to throw in a little bit of reality, so that people realize that it's not as easy to justify as it first seems.
I went the first year I started using SW and got a lot out of it; I'm quite sure it more than paid for itself in the next year. Going every year probably doesn't make sense for me, but every two or three years probably does make economic sense. If your boss is willing, go for it! It only takes one or two really good sessions to pay off, even if you are a one man shop.
Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems

Jerry, Okay, if you really break down the numbers you can find some fault with my "justification", and that's okay. It's really meant to give those tight-fisted managers a little something to think about instead of simply putting the hammer down and dismissing the conference outright. But, what we haven't yet talked about is the WOW factor of SolidWorks World.
Technical Session WOWs Ed Eaton - Surfacing - WOW. One of the best and he comes here every year to share his knowledge.
Phil Sluder - Tips and Tricks - WOW Phil's first Tips and Tricks session in Palm Springs was standing room only - IN THE FREAKING HALLWAY. Acknowledging the popularity of this session, the next year they scheduled it in a room with a capacity of 1000. It didn't fill up, but you couldn't get a really good seat if you straggled in late.
Gene Dimonte - Drawings - WOW I did a drawings presentation for two years straight (and thought it was pretty good), and I would have continued if not for Mr. DiMonte's session. Blew me right out of the water.
Networking WOWs I mention Bob Noftle (WOW) in my justification letter. Now he's a SolidWorks employee and still has plenty to share. And he's more than willing to do so.
Jeff Rowe - MCADCafe - WOW Recently named editor at IBSystems, Jeff will likely be there and is very accessible. He did our keynote at the All-Texas Conference and made quite an impression with our attendees.
Matt, Eddie, Doug, Wolfgang, Rodel, Lila, Jay - WOW Power users that everyone should try to meet.
Scott, Chris, Jeremy, Wayne, Nick - WOW Reseller AE's, REALLY good ones.
bob z - WOW We can only hope.
Joy, Marc, Greg, Jim, Gopal - WOW All SolidWorks, all the time. Everyone is accessible at the conference.They are there to help, listen, teach, listen, share, and listen. Face to face with the folks that bring us our software is the best way to get what we need. Sign up for a roundtable discussion and make your concerns known. Watch as the SolidWorks folks really get to the bottom of what we are talking about. It's not just a bitch session, but a truly productive conversation.
And finally, the Spring-Like effect, or COR (Coefficient of Rejuvenation) - WOW The conference is fun! Let your hair down, sing in the Karaoke bar, eat the food (save your C note Jerry - most if the food is included), enjoy the accommodations, meet a bunch of really good people. If you don't return to the office with a little spring in your step, you haven't done it right.
Hope to see you there.
Richard

Hi Rob,
I went to the first 3 (Palm Springs, New Orleans, & Orlando1) and haven't been the last 2 years. The first one I went to was a month after I purchased SWX. I learned a lot at that one. I got as much from speaking with my peers as I did from the sessions. It really helped me get my brain around the software.
The next couple of years were valuable as well . I had more experience with SWX by then which also meant that I had more questions. After taking 2 years off, I will be in Boston for this one. I pay my own way, and have never felt that I couldn't justify the expense.
Good Luck,
jk

good ol' bob z. is tryin to talk his boss into lettin him go!
bob z. can NOT believe he has been included in a list with people of such an immense caliber!
-- bob z. p.s. bob z. was humbled for many hours before he found the words to reply...
"people with less brain power than you are doing more difficult things everyday"©

Sorry, didn't include you on the list
JK - WOW

Why is there mention of New Orleans and Bourbon Street? Neither one of them is in Boston? Unless I was thinking of going to something else....?

it was originally written when the conference was in N.O.
but perhaps there's an excursion planned??

Is this the same Bob Noftle, former President of Cimlogic (i.e. original toolbox for AutoCAD)?
Kman

Yes, Noftle came with SolidWorks' acquisition of Cimlogic.
JJ

Yep.

I'm not trying to discourage people from going. I'm just pointing out, that for those who have bottom-line oriented, intelligent managers, you've got to make a pretty good case. If you don't think to include your own "lost" time in the justification, they certainly will. So go into the argument with your eyes open and all the facts you can possibly gather at the ready.
But, what we But remember, your manager probably isn't going to go WOW about anything that doesn't get product out the door faster, cheaper or better. Translate your WOWs into things he/she understands. This usually involves dollar signs.
Absolutely. Fortunately the pinhead who scheduled the two big talks on surfacing (Ed and Keith Pedersen) for the same time slot got religion (or his head handed to him on a plate) and split them up.
Phil's T&Ts are great, particularly for those just starting out or who work in a small office without much contact with a large group of users.. There are also T&Ts for advanced sheet metal design, SW Office users, and CosmosWorks.
I'll skip talking about the rest of the WOWs you listed, but most of us can find a bunch of topics to get excited about.
I wish. I'm hoping we can send at least one of us this year, but I've made it to one SW World, so I feel I should let one of the others have a chance.
Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems

Rob,
Go ahead, SwWorld is just a great place to learn, share and meet nice people. you are lucky your employer will pay for the event, I wish my boss was like yours, I won't be able to be there...!
Just have fun, and enjoy learning a lot at SwWorld..!
Aimer

Like a lot of folks here, I've been. I've only been to one though. Been to (2) Pro/E ones and an AutoDesk one too. I thought that SW World (Las Vegas) help me a bit more than the 1st Pro/E one I went too. Like others have said, I learned quite a bit from the SW World attendees who would sit down and chit chat with you, than from some of the sessions.
Don't get me wrong, there are some sessions that a VERY good, but one on one conversations with folks in the same boat is a good thing.
I'll be going (unless something happens) and for the most part, be footing my own bill, unless Wayne or Doyle is going to let me sleep on their floor for free....
Mr. Pickles

Hey, works for me as long as you don't snore too much.
WT