SolidWorks World - What Would "Make" you Attend?

Malcom,

Oops, that's right, six or seven years ago when there wasn't much to really talk about.

It's closer to 100 miles.

Mark

I am not going to try to convince anyone to go. I will just share my story.

The immediate tangible benefit of going to SWx World for me was not picking up a few 'tricks' or improving my 'productivity' a percent or two, though those might be enough if you use Richards math. At each of the first three SWx Worlds I went to, I got insight into how to overcome things that were absolute show stoppers - modeling or file management challenges that would have simply killed jobs or forced TONS of rework if I had not been introduced to how to work through them.

It also was an introduction to a larger world then I knew before. When I first went, I was considered to be a 'power user' (a term I hate) which was why I got to go. When I got to SWx World I learned just how much of a neophyte I was (and still am, to be honest). There is so much you can do with this software, the tools that are sold to supplement it, and the access you have to write your own tools, that its both exciting and intimidating when you get introduced to them.

Going to SWx world changed the way I think about SWx, and the way I use SWx. I saw lots of stuff, some of it immediately useful to me, some of it not, some of it even bad advice, but all of it contributed to changing the entire way that I approach using this software to create my designs, and the way I interact with other folks who I have to collaborate with.

Finally, I learned never to be dumb enough to get caught saying that 'you can't do that in SWx'. I learned from SWx World that 80% of the time the person who says 'SWx can't do something' is flat out wrong, and another

15-18% of the time there is a way to get around the limitation.

Is it worth the money? Since I treated it like I was at work from 8 AM to

10 PM and not getting a few days off to screw off at Disney, I made sure it was worth the money.

I learned that if you are an active attendee, if you sit near the front and take notes at the breakout sessions, if you try to meet people and learn about their businesses and how they work, and if you share what you learn with the other folks in the office when you get back, the investment is readily recaptured. Those first few trips have easily paid for themselves many, many times over. I would only have trouble justifying the expense to someone who has been to a couple, because there is a point of diminishing returns on the breakout sessions if there is a lot of repetition from year to year (which is one of the reasons why when I give breakout sessions I try to keep adding material instead of giving the same old show)

-Ed

It would be nice if there was a way to attend through some sort of live virtual cyberspace setup (like webex or whatever).

SolidWorks could charge a small fee, and I could choose what presentation I'd like to watch. They could be repeated at certain times (like a pay per view channel on cable).

You could have chat rooms, avatars and all that geeky stuff so that we can talk and interact with each other.

An employer could even reserve one of their conference rooms, with the big LCD projector, so that employees can kick-back and watch the show.

Failing that, SolidWorks can create regional 'hot spots' at local hotel conference rooms around the world with multiple kiosks for people to attend and plug into the matrix.

Are there any companies out there that specialize in setting that sort of thing up? If not, hey I just invented a niche market company!

That's my idea of a no-brainer.

Mike Wilson

That one in Palm Springs came about 2 months after I bought SW. I was moving over from Cadkey and having a horrible time with the transition. I hadn't taken the training offered by my VAR for a really bizarre reason, that I'd be happy to share over a beer with any of you that are interested when I see you at Orlando in January.

Anyway, talking to my peers at the conference was the one of the best things I ever did. In 4 days I went from struggling and clueless to having an idea how to approach my job with my new tool. Years later, I still learn something every time I attend. Last year I really couldn't afford it due to business conditions, but went anyway. Good thing I did because I made a contact that has been feeding me work ever since. He's going to be my best customer this year. Needless to say, I'll be going again this year, but I would appreciate having one on the West Coast some time.........

jk

Talking to people who use the software the same way you do makes it definitely worth the cost. I am self-employed and there is no doubt in my mind that attending has paid off for me.

Truth is your VAR doesn't know how to do your job. No amount of training will help anybody learn how to design plastic injection molds with SW, for example. People at SW corporate don't really even know very much about it, to be honest with you. Talking to other mold designers was the key to increasing my productivity. When anybody goes they should seek out people in similar industries and share ideas. I consider that a lot more than just picking up a few `tips'.

jk

Face it. If you're a regular poster (or lurker) here, you're well on your way to being a bit of a geek anyway, and probably more than a mite "touched" into the bargain. Geeks have some advantages normal mortals don't have, such as the allowance to be a bit eccentric and for that to be a "good thing".

For us real geeks, there is no end of benefit you can draw from SW World. There are certainly all of the tips and new techniques that you pick up. One of my favorites was Ed E's stuff. Ed has a remarkable combination of knowledge of the subject matter and the ability to communicate it. People usually have one or the other, rarely both.

I also found the roundtables to be possibly the most valuable thing I did. This put you in touch with other high level users and folks from SW who have influence over (or at least knowledge of) the direction the software is taking.

I find the "productivity" argument for a trip to SW Workd kind of interesting in light of the tendency of some employers to use a trip to Disney as a reward for "strollers" (politically connected casual non- geek users with more interest in Pleasure Island than the partner pavilion, and who look at Model Mania as being "for geeks"). They get no more productivity benefit from the trip than a bag of free pens.

There's a lot to be said for the connections you gain while there. I still draw on some of the people I've met at SW World. All companies get some value from that which is very hard to measure in dollars and cents. Being immersed in "SolidWorks geekdom", seeing the inspiring heights of what some people are capable of, new ideas and techniques, new products to download and try, new sources of information and assistance, new customers, and new drinking buddies.

At one SW World, I was standing around trying to decide how I was going to get to two simultaneous events which were must-see. I turned around to walk away, and ran into a wall of white linen. "Are you the guy from the internet?" Jon Hirschtick is probably 6'4", I am 5'8" and was looking square into the middle of his shirt. I had never given "the internet" as an address before. He probably saw the shadow of a sarcastic response flit across my face, so he quickly introduced himself and correctly guessed my name. You can imagine, I was feeling more than a bit paranoid. In days gone by I used to be pretty ruthless railing against the software here in the newsgroup. I've moderated a bit in my old age. Anyway, Mr. H had a couple other folks with him, I think the head of development at the time and the quality director. It was a meeting that couldn't have happened anywhere but SW World.

John McEleney is probably 5'6" and not nearly as imposing as Hirschtick.

Anyway, all of this to say that I'm probably not going to be there again this year, even though as leader of a user group, I get a free ticket.

matt

"Richard Doyle" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@uni-berlin.de:

Bummer, Matt. Buying you (and Ed, Paul, Mark, Mark, and a few others) a beverage of choice would be one of my biggest personal reasons for going. Not that it matters a lot, since I'm probably not going either!

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems "take the garbage out, dear"

Hey, Craig, she already knows I'm an idiot! I'll help write the justification. If we convince her to send two of us, we can share a room and save $121 a night.

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems "take the garbage out, dear"

Combining your thoughts with those of Ed Eaton, there's probably a 90% chance that someone who works at the sessions can pick up 1 to 5 % on their productivity. For the kind of work we do, I might have a 30% chance of learning something that will have a big impact on my productivity, say

5-20%. Then there's perhaps a 10% chance that I can learn something that will pick up 20-50% on our productivity. Taking the midpoints and adding it all up, I end up with a likely increase in productivity of 10%. Figuring that only half or our time is spent working on SW, I've still got almost a 5% likely increase in productivity. That should more than pay for the costs.

Also don't forget that the person who learns all these nice tricks is going to share them with the stay-at-homes. The little stuff tends to get lost more easily, but the big stuff will get transferred nicely. Maybe a 3% increase in their productivity, multiplied by the number of stay-at-homes. More payoff.

Finally, the more people who go, the more chance that we will find something that pays off big, less losses in translation, but at added cost and with less stay-at-homes to pick up productivity.

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems "take the garbage out, dear"

Too bad the same managers turning their noses up don't take their own advice. How about Sturgis South Dakota say around July or is it August. You know the bike fest!

Kman

How about pigs in a blanket and beer!

Kman

Ed,

I have been to one conference "Chicago" and it was interesting and fun to meet the folks. However, I personally benefit more from working with top notch users in real-time. I get to ask them the same dumb questions repeatedly until it finally sticks.

Kman

I went last year...

I had high hopes for the conference, but on the whole didn't find it worth the (time & money) cost. There were some excellent presentations, but I didn't see anything like the productivity increase I'd need to justify going again.

I'm sure the conference is a wonderful tool for the SW developers, and helps them identify the directions they need to go in. As a user, however, I found the benefits to be marginal.