It’s like it’s the day after Christmas; all the toys have been played with, food and drink consumed and the relatives have left. Now, I just have this weird empty feeling. Not as bad as losing your best friend, though. Close, but…

As I’ve come to expect, SolidWorks put on a great show. I really liked the layout of the Anaheim Convention Center. I didn’t feel like I had to walk miles to get to wherever my destination was. Which isn’t to say I didn’t do a lot of walking, ‘cause I did. I’m quite confident that I lost a couple of pounds. Well, extremely hopeful anyway. As has become the norm these past few years, I spent more time observing than attending with most of my observing taking place in the Vendor Fair. It’s here that I thank those companies that have given me the opportunity to try out their products, while meeting with new companies. The amount of partner products out there is pretty impressive. There are times when I want to say “there’s an app for that”, then look over my shoulder to be sure the Apple police aren’t coming after me for copyright infringement. This year’s Vendor Fair was well attended by vendors from all segments of the industry: rapid prototyping, CMM, CAM, PLM, PDM, etc. Need a model of a human body for your Weird Science experiment? Zygote has your back (and front…left foot). Design automation? DriveWorks or TactonWorks will duke it out for your business. How about a new computer? Boxx, HP and Dell will regale you with stories of why there PC kicks the other guys’ butt! What about a cool 3D model of your completed Weird Science experiment? Zcorp, Objet or Solido would be more than happy to impart their wondrous knowledge of all that is 3D printing upon you.

One of the greatest things about SolidWorks 2010 was the arena where the general assemblies were held. Rather than a large conference room where the people in back had to stand to see, the Anaheim convention center had an arena with 2^nd and 3^rd level seating. I think this helped to get everyone “close” to the stage. It also seemed to lessen the running of people to get to the front of the venue. A lot of people seemed quite happy to sit in one of the upper levels. James Cameron was a great choice as the keynote, too. Much better than Wozniak a few years ago.

I’d say my biggest complaint was the Tuesday night event, a complaint that is being voiced by many. It was held in the same huge room that we ate breakfast and lunch in and was really a step down from previous years. An Aerosmith cover band was the entertainment and BBQ was the food. For a 3D software conference event, it was rather one dimensional. Too loud, too dark, too few seats, too few food choices. I’m trying to find out why there was such a deviation from years past. If I get anything, I’ll let you know.

Would any of the above stop me from going to San Antonio next year? Hell no! I think the plusses way outweigh the negatives and wouldn’t miss it for anything. I hope to see you there.

Wow, what a day it’s been; not that it’s actually over yet. I just returned to my room to relax a little bit before heading over to Jon Hirschtick’s room. He was kind enough to invite the Twitterverse over and I’m not one to turn down such an invitation.

Right now, this is turning out to be the best SolidWorks World I’ve been to yet. Why? Honestly I can’t put my finger on why. Maybe it’s the venue. Maybe it’s the people. Maybe it’s James Cameron. Maybe…
All I know is that I’ve woken up each day raring to go. Looking forward to seeing what the day has in store. Part of it could be the fact that I’ve remained sober every night, but I think that’s a small part of it. I’ve just felt really comfortable this year, almost like I’m at home. Whatever it is, I’m lovin’ it!

Let’s get into the nitty-gritty, shall we? Today was the day for James Cameron. Much like Sir Richard Branson last year, Jim was interviewed instead of just speaking to us. Jon Hirschtick had the honor and did a damn fine job. I was simply amazed at Cameron’s grasp of engineering, among other things. The guy is brilliant. We got to see an 8-minute behind-the-scenes video of the making of Avatar. I was really impressed with the technology they used. Each actor had a small camera, attached to a small boom, recording their every facial move. I remember talking about how realistic the facial expressions where after seeing the movie, now I know why. The innovations that were created before, and during, the making of Avatar will probably change movie-making, as well as TV. I think it will be a good thing. Imagine being able to feel immersed in every show like you did when you saw Avatar. If you haven’t seen it, what the hell are you waiting for?

I spent more time in the vendor pavilion, lining up more products to review for all of you. Coming in the not-too-distant future will be DriveWorks Solo and ElecWorks. I’ll be meeting up with SolidNEST tomorrow to, hopefully, line something up with them as well. I’ve had conversations with the guys from igetit.com and will be loading up their software soon as well. I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that Dell might be sending toys my way, too. All-in-all, the review cycle looks to be heating up.

My very first solo presentation went well, I believe. I’m optimistic that SolidWorks Crashes & Slowdowns was well received. I was damn nervous at the beginning, and admitted as much to the audience which, by the way, was much larger than I’d thought it would be. The session was also on a live feed, so there were people watching me that I couldn’t see. (Hmmm, that’s actually kind of creepy when you think about it.)The bonus to it being broadcast is that I’ll get a recording of my session. I’m sure my boys will love watching it with me once I get it. It’ll provide plenty of material for a “pick-on-dad” session.

Next came Stump the Chumps II. So far, we’ve been hearing nothing but good things so far. However, I’m waiting for Mr. Doyle to weigh in. We’re also thinking of a format change for STC III. It’ll involve coolers of beer and the movie Animal House. I don’t want to give up all the details though. Just keep an eye out when they release next year’s agenda.

Every year there’s plenty of shwag to bring home to the kids. I have to say, though, that this year’s haul is the best yet. First, I’ll never be short handed again thanks to Solido:

Next, from Julie at Z Corp,  is my new friend, Jane:

Today is the last day of SolidWorks World 2010. Bummer.

That’s right, SolidWorks World 2010 is right around the corner. Like so many other SolidWorks addicts, I can’t wait! Thousands of SolidWorks users from around the world all converging upon hapless Anaheim for an orgy of learning, networking and, yes, partying.

This year marks a milestone for me, too. It will be my first time presenting at SolidWorks World outside of Stump the Chumps I 2 years ago. I was nervous enough about it, then I was informed that my session, SolidWorks Crashes & Slowdowns: It’s not always the software’s fault (read: it’s your fault), was going to be streaming L-I-V-E live! Great, now not only can I make a fool of myself in front of a room 1/4 full of people, but potentially hundreds of people online. Great. Just great. I wonder if it’s frowned upon to have a cooler under the podium. You can find out more about all four available webcasts on the SolidWorks World website. I’m willing to bet that the other three are completely worth it.

Thankfully, after that stress inducing session I get a bit of a break before getting together with the rest of the chumps for Stump the Chumps II. (We really should have come up with some sort of cool sequel title. Well, maybe next year.) This years panel may be a bit more subdued than its predecessor, though Mr. Mings is a bit of a wild card. If that doesn’t help to relax me, there’s the big bash that night.

It’s going to be an incredible week. I just wish you could all be there with me.

As I mentioned in my last post, Stump the Chumps II is on! Also, there’s a couple of more chumps that have joined us. I guess it would make sense to introduce you to everyone:

• Matthew Lorono
  Matthew’s experience with SolidWorks starts in 1998 with a strong focus on streamlining drafting activities.  He has worked in the industrial mass flow, semiconductor and medical devices sectors since 1991.  He is the owner and primary author of SolidWorks Legion blog. He has also presented at SolidWorks Technical Summit and has attended three SolidWorks Worlds.
• Rob Rodriguez
  Rob is the owner of Axis CAD Solutions LLC. A CAD services company specializing in rendering and animation of SolidWorks data. A CSWP since 2004. Rob is a regular speaker at SolidWorks events nationwide. Visit his website at www.robrodriguez.com
• Lou Gallo
  Lou is the SolidWorks HEARD! blogger and a podcaster on everything SolidWorks and CAD related tech. Visit his site at http://solidworksheard.com. Twitter: @gol10dr or @solidworksheard
• Josh Mings
  Josh smells of woodchips and writes about SolidWorks, Product Design and related Tech for Solidsmack.com
• Ben Eadie, A.E.T.
  Ben is an Aeronautical/Mechanical designer, Web designer, Social Media developer, Podcaster and blogger. He’s the brains behind SolidJott.com and the talent in front of the camera for Mechanicalmashup.tv.
• Alex Ruiz
  Blogger for The SolidWorks Geek and SolidWorks Geeks. Alex is also the author of SolidWorks 2010: No Experience Required.
• Bill Briggs
  Bill is a Sr. Technical Support Engineer at SolidWorks, working primarily with the SolidWorks PDM products. Bill enjoys writing custom applications using the SolidWorks API and developing innovative tools to assist with the daily tasks of technical support engineers.
• Ricky Jordan
  Ricky is a Senior Mechanical Engineer and the author of rickyjordan.com, a SolidWorks blog. Ricky has been active in the SolidWorks community for years as a user, blogger, group leader and a speaker at numerous SolidWorks Worlds. He’s also married to Christy Jordan, author of SouthernPlate.com, which makes him the most well-fed member of the panel.
• Joy Garon
  Joy, a Certified SolidWorks Professional, has been involved in the CAD industry for over 25 years. Joy currently serves as Sr. Training Specialist at SolidWorks and has many years of experience in product data management (PDM) software product management.
• Phil Sluder
  Phil is mechanical engineer, owner of TriAxial Design and Analysis, Certified SolidWorks Instructor, Certified SolidWorks Professional, a longtime member of the SWUGN committee, leader of the San Diego SolidWorks User Group.
• Jim Wilkinson
  Jim is the Director of User Experience at DS SolidWorks Corp. Manages groups within SolidWorks doing interaction/UI design, UI development, end user documentation, and localization of software/documentation into 13 languages. Previously managed product definition and technical support groups at SolidWorks. Has been at SolidWorks since January 1996 and was first technical support engineer for the product and first CSWP.
• Charles Culp
  Charles is a Design Engineer for Essex Industries, a St Louis based aerospace and defense manufacturer. I design ergonomic hand controls for fighter and commercial airplanes, and graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Missouri-Rolla.
• Jeff Mirisola
  Then there’s me, the ultimate chump. My pedigree is nothing compared to my fellow chumps. I’m a CSWP, a former SolidWorks AE and currently employed as a CAD Administrator/Designer for Ultimate Survival Technologies in Monroe, Washington. I’ve been using SolidWorks since ‘98. Not to state the obvious, but I also write this blog. This will be my 5th SolidWorks World, first as a presenter.

Unlike the session two years ago, we’re taking questions prior to the session. This will serve two purposes:
1 – It will allow us to, hopefully, answer more questions than two years ago.
2- It will allow us to answer obscure/difficult/impossible questions without getting bogged down.

Yes, we will be taking live questions, but we’re still working on the ‘how’ aspect of it. So, for those of you who would like to have your question answered by the chumps, simply send your question to stumpthechumps@gmail.com. Obviously, the more detailed the better (pictures, files, etc.)

If you have any general questions regarding the session, outside of ‘how do I…’ questions, feel free to post them here.

You read it right, Stump the Chumps will be returning to SolidWorks World. I, for one, couldn’t be more excited! Who is going to be on the panel? Wouldn’t you like to know…

Ok, ok, I’ll let you know who has committed (should be committed?):

• Rob Rodriguez
• Josh Mings
• Alex Ruiz
• Ben Eadie
• Charles Culp
• Mike Puckett
• Me
• An un-named SolidWorks employee

Outside of myself, it’s a good panel. I want to make it better though. So, who else would you like to see on the panel? I’m not sure how many more we’ll add, but I’d love to know who you’d like to see.

Also, we’ll be changing the format up a bit. For starters, it’s going to be a 90 minute session this year. Also, we’ll be answering some pre-submitted questions, along with live questions. There will also be a time limit so that we can answer as many questions as possible. More details to follow.

Oh, the session is currently scheduled for Tuesday, 2/2 from 4:30-6. Hope to see a good turn out!

If you’ve spent years longing to go to SolidWorks World but haven’t made it yet, this year may be your year. SolidWorks is giving away a free pass (an $895 value) to the SolidWorks World virgin with the best “first time” story. Go to the SolidWorks blog and post your story in the comments section, as well as to read the complete details of the contest.

If  you think you have what it takes to be an industry reporter, I suggest you head over to the SolidWorks blog and throw your hat in the ring to be the SolidWorks World 2010 Official Internet Correspondent. If you’re looking for a way to get yourself to Ananheim on the cheap, this may be the way to do it. I know I’d be all over it if I weren’t already going. There are only a couple of people who have entered, so you’ve got pretty decent odds.

Good Luck!

Back in January, I put up a post about SolidWorks certification being free and how I thought it cheapened the whole exam. At SolidWorks World, I interviewed Jeremy Luchini and we discussed my thoughts. He explained why they’d made the changes and it seemed reasonable, though I wasn’t fully convinced. About a month ago I took the Sheet metal exam, which I figured I’d pass with no problem. I’m ashamed to say that wasn’t the case. Though I made the mistake of taking it at work, complete with interruptions, the test was definitely more difficult than I thought it would be. I hate humble pie, but I’m chewing on it right now.

Jeremy, and his team, have really done some great things with the certification program. They now offer five different certifications:

• CSWP – Core Modeling Specialist (8,329 world-wide)
• CSWP – Advanced Sheet Metal (457 world-wide)
• CSWP – Advanced Surfacing (61 world-wide)
• CSWP – FEA: (35 world-wide)
• CSWA (8,086 world-wide)

You can get complete info on each of the exams here.

They’ve revamped the certification site, making it possible for you to see which exams you’ve taken and how you did. If you’re a manager, you can set up a test event for your team and track their progress. You can also export the info to Excel and see what areas to focus on for training.

I know what you’re thinking, “quit rambling and tell me how to win!”. Ok, here’s the deal; the first ten people to email me and a signed, and notarized, document stating that they will forever be a diehard Red Sox and/or Patriots fan will win.

Too much for you to swallow? Ok, I’ll make it more simple. The first ten people to email me the correct answer to the following question win: In what year was the CSWP program launched?

Each winner will get a free certificate for their choice of exam. Simply email me your answer and which exam you’d like to take. Once I have the ten winners, I’ll send them their codes.

The SolidWorks World 2009 Proceedings site is now up and running. You can see pics of SWW, videos of SWW, download podcasts and (drum roll, please) you can even download videos of the breakout sessions! Kind of like being there without all the walking.

The site is easy to navigate and chock full of great information. While it doesn’t fully replace actually attending (I mean nothing compares to getting your geek on with 4000+ other geeks), it will at least let you see what you missed. Plus, for those of you that did attend, you can now check out those sessions that you missed. Just click here and get your geek on!

Kerri Dunne

I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with Kerri Dunne during SWW ‘09 and spend some time interviewing her. Kerri is, by many accounts, the brains behind SolidWorks World. As the manager of the events team, she oversees all that goes into making each year’s SolidWorks World a success. However, believe it or not, SolidWorks World is only one of over 50 events that Kerri and her team, Liz Hamlin and Audrey McDowel, put together each year. Those events include nation-wide trade shows, incentive trips (I want in on one of those!), annual sales meeting and leadership events for resellers.
Kerri is a 13+ year veteran of SolidWorks. She started out in event planning, but moved into internet marketing for a while. When the Events Manager position opened up, she was compelled to go back to event planning. In her words, “When you’re an event planner, you can never get out of it, it’s in your blood. You just have to do it.” I’d say it was a good move on SolidWorks’ part to put her in that position. I have yet to hear of a bad SolidWorks event.
While Kerri and her team are the main people involved in the event planning, larger events mean they need additional help, so they’ll hire in contractors. For SolidWorks World, where the scale is so much bigger, even more support staff are needed. They bring in additional help for A/V, networking and additional event planning.
How do they plan an event as large as SolidWorks World? They’re able to estimate attendance based off of previous years’ data, as well as customer base growth. The thing is, they’ve already planned SWW ‘10 & ‘11. Kerri and her team are working on SWW ‘12. No, she wouldn’t tell me where ‘11 or ‘12 are going to be. Believe me, I tried. I actually interviewed Kerri before we’d found out that SWW ‘10 was going to be in Anaheim, and she wouldn’t even cough up that info.
When it comes to the planning of SolidWorks World, Kerri’s first concern is the facility. Are there rooms large enough to accomodate breakfast, lunch and the general session? Are there enough rooms, of adequate size, to accomodate all the breakout sessions? Is the layout conducive to good flow for the attendees? Are there enough hotel rooms? All questions that have to be answered before anything gets booked.
At this year’s SolidWorks World, over 50 countries were represented. Attendees came from as far away as South Africa and Australia. The event team has a small role in foreign traveler’s attendance as well. Many foreign attendees need letters from the company to obtain travel visas, which are indirectly supplied by SolidWorks.
When it comes to the special events, Kerri and her team turn to destination management groups with the city or venue. A “profile” is presented to the group outlining the general SolidWorks World attendee. From that profile, the management group provides a list of possible sites. The team will then fly out to view the various sites before any contracts are signed. Once everything has been chosen, the events team again flies out, a few months prior to SWW and makes sure all the preparations are taken care of and that there aren’t any glitches.
While there are those who label Kerri as the busiest SolidWorks employee at SWW, she was quick to point out that all the SolidWorks employees eat, breath and sleep SolidWorks World while there. She mentioned, too, the amount of employees that are working “behind the scenes”, making sure everything runs smoothly. That’s a sure sign of a good manager; one who gives just dues to those that deserve it.
I asked her, too, about SolidWorks World being held in a foreign location. She said that it was something that had been talked about but it was cost prohibitive. By keeping SolidWorks World in the states, SolidWorks is able to keep the conference fees down. To move it overseas would only increase the fees for the attendees.
I truly enjoyed talking with Kerri. As with most SolidWorks employees, her passion was out there in the open. As she spoke of SolidWorks World, you could almost feel just how much she truly enjoys what she does. If you ever have a chance to meet Kerri, be sure to thank her for a job well done.