Jeff's Tool Shed

So I went to SolidWorks Corporation yesterday to see where SolidWorks, the software that enabled me to get the job that I have, is made. When I started my blog, there were people who helped me get things going and who, still, help me out. These people work at SolidWorks, and I wanted to be able to put faces to names as well.

Getting there from my sister’s house was a breeze. SW is located in an unassuming building. Were it not for the address being prominently displayed I would have driven right by it. I was given a tour by Nancy ohmygodIforgotherlastname (Sorry, Nancy…you should have given me a card…). She walked me throught the maze of offices explaining what everyone did. She took me by Jeff Ray’s office and he and I chatted for a few minutes. He came across as a very down to earth kind of guy; very likable and easy to talk to. While I didn’t get to ask him the the tough "Barbara Walters" kind of questions I wanted to, I did pick up a few tidbits. (An aside – I didn’t actually have any tough questions. I’m just not a "hard hitting" journalist. Actually, I’m not a journalist, I just pretend to be one so I can review cool stuff.) I asked Jeff whether they, management, paid attention to the negative comments made on the various forums and what they thought/did about them. He told me that they did, in fact, pay attention to them. He went on to say that they had meetings where comments, complaints and concerns could be aired without fear of retribution, including ones gleaned from the forums. He went on to emphasize how improvements were driven by customers. If I recall correctly, 92% of the changes came from customer suggestions.

I next met with Efrat Ravid, Director of Marketing and Alliances, and Nick Iwaskow, Solution Partner Marketing Manager. For most of you, this wouldn’t matter but, for me, it was important because of the nature of my blog. While I won’t bore you with details, suffice it to say that things should be picking up, review-wise, for me.

Next was lunch. Nick and I were joined by Patrick Cook and Eric Droukas. Patrick and Eric work on the web side of things and both, but especially Patrick, help me with my blog. Lunch was excellent, the service exceptional and the conversation was completely off topic. It was great! Especially the waitress. She combined just the right amount of sass with service to make our dining experience one that I’ll remember for quite some time.

After lunch, Patrick and I discussed some "blog" stuff and then I was on my way. If you’ve actually made it to the end of this post, I’m surprised. *I* stopped reading two paragraphs ago…

Remember to watch for my review of the SpaceExplorer and your chance to win it or a SpaceNavigator!

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