Category: SWW13

SolidWorks World 2013: What’s in Orlando, FL besides Walt Disney World Resort?

Dothan, AL is the Peanut Capital of the World.  Salinas, CA is the Lettuce Capital of the World.  Alma, AR is the Spinach Capital of the World.  Though Orlando’s nickname is The City Beautiful, some might call this sprawling area in Florida the World Capital of Amusement Parks.  There are so many, it’s hard to think of other things to do there.

Guess what!  There are other attractions too!

And, other stuff to do too, depending on your interests.

If you are staying an extra few days after the end of SolidWorks World 2013 with or without kids, there’s plenty to do for all sorts of interests in the greater Orlando area.

SolidWorks World 2013 just weeks away

Register to attend

There’s still time to register to attend and save $100 on the Full Conference Pass with the Early Bird Special.  But, the deadline is literally a day or so away, Jan 4th, 2013.  Even if you miss the final Early Bird special, there’s still plenty to gain from your attendance to SolidWorks World 2013.  Check out the video highlights from SolidWorks 2010, 2011 and 2012.

CAD Manager’s Boot Camp

Don’t forget you can also attend the CAD Manager’s Boot Camp to explore a wide range of topics and issues to help you effectively deploy and manage SolidWorks software to learn methodologies to reduce the total cost of ownership and maximize your investment in SolidWorks software.  (Pre-registration required; first come, first served.)

SolidWorks World 2013 Top Ten Ideas

If you are current on your subscription, there is still time to have your say by voting for SolidWorks World 2013 Top Ten Ideas.  Login to the SolidWorks Forum and goto the Ideas tab of the SolidWorks World 2013 and the Top Ten area.

——

As a matter of a discloser reminder, the author of this article is a DS SolidWorks employee, though this article does not represent an official work of DS SolidWorks nor was it reviewed by DS SolidWorks.  Please note the FTC 16 CRF Part 255 notice in the right menu of this website for further details.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

Getting ready for the new year

It’s that time of year again. You know, the end.  2012 had a lot of changes in my life which happen to coincide with changes in SolidWorks in various forms for various reasons, some of which I control, much of which has nothing to do with me whatsoever.

I moved from California and from industry to take a job as a Definition Product Manager for SolidWorks drawings In Massachusetts.  As I write this, I’m snowed into my home, or at least my car is.  I can get outside and leave a trail of 2 foot deep holes anytime I want.  I just won’t get to anywhere useful very quickly.  Contrary to popular conceptions, there is snow in California.  The difference is that the snow is limited to the hills and mountains.  Great for skiing and for going about your daily life without weather getting in the way very often at all.  I will say that I prefer to be walking about in light snow rather than light rain.  It’s the blizzards that are annoying.

Surprize, suprize, the world didn’t end 5 days ago.  The next prediction for the end of the world has already been floating around and was being promoted in the weeks leading up to December 21, 2012.  Sir Isaac Newton predicted the end of things to be 2060 based on his interpretation of Bible prophesy.  We cannot get more creditable than that!  Here’s some others: Yup, there’s others.

2012 was particularly busy for me, with all the changes and the fairly new job.  Can you believe that I’ve already been in Massachusetts about 1 and a half years?  Still seems like yesterday.  A very special Thank You goes to my wife for being a good sport and indulging me in this grand change.

I do have a prediction for 2013.  It will continue to be very busy for me.  There’s a lot of cool stuff going on right now.  I’m very proud of my role in SolidWorks 2013, eDrawings for iPad, and eDrawing Pro for iPad; not to mention all the new stuff planned for 2013.  Keep an eye out at SolidWorks World 2013.

SolidWorks World 2013 Top Ten voting is open!

Over 300 Ideas have been submitted for the SolidWorks World 2013 Top Ten list!  It’s now time to vote for your favorite enhancements!  If you are a user with a current subscription, you can vote (even if you aren’t attending SolidWorks World).  The more users that vote, the better the results will be.  Just sign in once you go to this link: SolidWorks World 2013 Top Ten.  Vote for the items that you want to see in SolidWorks and related products.  Be sure to view the entire list.  There are some gems that were submitted early (near the end of the list) that need your attention.

Tip: to see more Ideas at once, set the number of Ideas per page to be 50 (set in the bottom left corner of each page).

Have fun with it.  Feel free to leave comments on Ideas that particularly interest you.  If you vote down on a particular Idea, please leave a comment explaining your vote to help others understand as many perspectives as possible.

 

Guessing SolidWorks World 2013 Special Event

The SolidWorks World 2013 Special Event hasn’t been officially announced on the SolidWorks World website just yet (unless we are going to travel across time and space back to Feb 2012 in San Diego, which would be cool in and of itself). People are making a lot of guesses on the forums. Where do you think it will be? Post you ideas here.

Free Certified SolidWorks Associate or Profession exam when you attend SolidWorks World 2013

There are a lot of extra benefits to attendees of SolidWorks World 2013.  One benefit is that when you sign up to attend, you are given the option to take a free SolidWorks certification exam at SolidWorks World.  My advice is that if you do not yet have certification, take the exam!  It’s free with your full conference pass!

There are two entry points for certification on SolidWorks:

  • SolidWorks Certified Associate (CSWA) which covers basic SolidWorks skills.
  • SolidWorks Certified Professional (CSWP) which covers deeper understanding of SolidWorks skills.  This certificate is required to qualify for advanced exam modules as you work your way to earning CSWE.

I’ve heard that some people shy away from taking the exam because they are not confident in their skills.   I’ve heard this from some well experienced individuals.  If you have neither certification and are nervous about the exam, then attempt the CSWA exam.  If you are already a CSWA or have been in industry for awhile, than take the CSWP-CORE exam.   Preparation is still very important in either case.  There are plenty of materials that are available to help get yourself read for the exam.  There’s even a sample exam with which you can practice!

The exams are held on Sunday, January 20, 2013, the afternoon prior to the official start of SolidWorks World 2013 at Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Resort.