Category: SWW13

Smartphone and laptop strategy at SolidWorks World 2013

I wrote an article last year on the topic of keeping charged up and linked while at SolidWorks World.  I’ve updated this for SolidWorks World 2013.  There are unique challenges at the Swan and Dolphin.  Also, SolidWorks World is a big event with thousands of tech savvy attendees with tons of mobile and portable devices that hunger for power and connectivity.  Christmas being so close to SolidWorks World this year may further contribute to the number and variety of mobile devices at the conference.

Power

If you are using your smartphone to keep your schedule (like I do), you’ll be accessing it more often than you might on a normal day.  In addition, you’ll likely be text messaging and using other social media communication more frequently, too.  Normally, your smartphone’s battery charge may last a day or two without any worries.  No day at SolidWorks World is normal.  Even on the most battery efficient devices, you are likely to need power to recharge at some point during the day.

Have a spare battery or extended-life remote battery on hand, whether you are using a laptop, smartphone, tablet, or any combination thereof.   Wherever you happen to find yourself, be sure to scope out power outlets.  This is particularly important at the Swan and Dolphin because breakout sessions and events are split between the two buildings and you find yourself spending more time walking between the two hotels.  This applies while you are at the conference, and more so also after hours while you are out and about and when your device is most likely to be low on power.

During the day, if you have a smartphone and a laptop, you can charge your phone from the laptop via the normal USB connection.  Finally, the most obvious thing of all, don’t forget any of the charging cables.  Make sure they are on your checklist!

If you are plugged into a random outlet or loaning your charger temporarily to another attendee, don’t forget your charging cable by leaving it behind!  You will likely never see it again, for various reasons.  This particularly applies to breakout session speakers who may get distracted at the end of their presentation by people rushing up to the podium to introduce themselves and ask further questions.  Am I speaking from personal experience?  Maybe.

Staying Connected

Staying connected is the whole reason we carry around smartphones and tablets.  That means you always need an awareness of WiFi hotspots.  Those of us with smartphones may not be as tethered.  However, don’t rely on cellphone carrier signal for data connections while in a conference room.  Even smartphones on a free data plan may need to switch over to WiFi to access the Internet at some point to Facebook, Foursquare or Flickr.  SolidWorks provides several WiFi hotspots throughout the conference.  One of the main locations will be near the Partner Pavilion.  (Side note: Product Definition booth will be near the Partner Pavilion a hotspot, so feel free to stop by and tell us how we can improve SolidWorks.)

All this means that you’ll need to scope out the locations of these hotspots a head of time so you aren’t left without data connection at an inconvenient moment.  Keep in mind that there will be many other people accessing WiFi at the same time, so please avoid downloading big files or streaming videos.  I always recommend hitting the hotspots for specific connectivity needs, then quickly moving on.

Good luck and I hope to see you at SolidWorks World 2013!

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The author of this article is an employee of Dassault Systemes.  However, the material of this article is not representative of Dassault Systemes, nor is it reviewed by them.  Please see the FTC notice in the right side bar of this webpage for further details.

Gupta reviews the SWW13 floor plan

Due to priorities, there is no SolidWorks World 2013 app for smartphones.  Even still, there is an interactive floor plan link available for the Partner Pavilion.  I am able to use most of the functionality of the link on my Android 4.0 smartphone.  Deepak Gupta has a quick review of the SolidWorks World 2013 floor plan link in his article:

 

 

Solidworks World 2013 Floor Plan

 

Richard Doyle talks about CAD Managers Bootcamp at SolidWorks World 2013

A regular fixture at SolidWorks World each year is the CAD Managers Bootcamp.  This is a great presentation on how to get the most out SolidWorks from the CAD Manager’s perspective.  Richard Doyle gives a brief history of this event on his blog and discusses what to expect when you attend this year.  The bootcamp is held the day before SolidWorks World, so you’ll need to arrive a little early in order to attend.

 CAD Managers Boot Camp at SolidWorks World 2013

Fake Geek Girls vs. Real Geek Girls?

As we lead into SolidWorks World 2013, a land of geekdom if there ever was one, an interesting meme is making its rounds on the Internet.  There seems to be a bunch of hoopla about “fake geek girls”.  What’s a fake geek girl?  Apparently Urban Dictionary doesn’t have an entry for it yet (as of today, anyway).   Umm, I did find a definition at some site called Geek Feminism Weekly (whatever that’s supposed to mean…kinda sounds like random words thrown together that only vaguely represent what it really is, similar to California Pizza Kitchen.)  Anyway, their definition for fake geek girl is:

Fake geek girls – allegedly women who show up at geek events, possibly while hot, with not enough geek cred for you.

This all seems to have started with an article on Forbes (Really, Forbes?  Yes, Forbes.) called Dear Fake Geek Girls: Please Go Away.  In this article, the author talks about being a “geeky girl” growing up and how she now sees “pretentious females” now posing as geeks when they haven’t put the time in to justify the claim.

What’s with all the hate?  In fact, why are girls singled out as being fake geeks (especially by other woman) for being posers?  I think a commenter on a recent article by @Mikeynerd says it well (Fake Geek Girls),

The Fake Geek Girl thing bugs me. Because I do feel there is an underlying sexism at play.

If someone is a poser, then it doesn’t matter if they are a woman or man.  But, is it even bad to be a poser?  Isn’t a poser just someone whose trying to figure out what everyone else already knows?  Aren’t they really an outcast too?  As outcasts trying to fit it, doesn’t that make them more geeky (since being a social outcast is technically a major component of geekdom)?   The answers to this series of rhetorical questions are as follows: no, yes, yes, and yes.

I’m going to go out on a limb to reveal information about SolidWorks World 2013 ahead of time.  Don’t tell Dassault Systemes that I’m revealing this secret to you!  The secret: men will outnumber women at SolidWorks World 2013.  Not by a little, but by a lot!   I’m going to bet that most woman who attend this conference with a full pass are as geeky if not more so than most of the men who attend.  In fact, many of the men who attend this conference are prolly fake geek dudes by comparison.  But, that’s all OK!  We are all there to interact, learn, share, teach, and connect in a mutually supportive (and sometimes fun and exciting) environment to gain a higher level of geekdom (value).

SolidWorks World 2013 partner profiles on SolidWorks Blog

Over the past few weeks, SolidWorks Blog has been profiling several Partners that will be exhibiting at SolidWorks World 2013.  There is a lot of detailed information shared about each in the following recent articles.

  • Capvidia – A global company specializing in 3D data translation, data quality, validation, visualization, and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) for SolidWorks users. They’ve been working with SolidWorks since 1995 and are a Certified Gold Partner with four products.
  • Moldex3D – They provide a complete solution to help users simulate and validate their part and mold designs before actual production. Covering a wide spectrum of injection molding processes, they help part designers, mold designers, and mold makers detect potential molding problems in advance
  • ATR Soft -CustomTools for SolidWorks and EPDM offers Office-EPDM integration. They are a service partner for EPDM and SolidWorks. Their products let you focus on real design, and automate the rest.
  • Mastercam – Mastercam is 2- through 5- axis milling and routing, turning, wire EDM, Swiss machining, artistic relief cutting, 2D and 3D design, surface, and solid modeling. Also, Mastercam is fully integrated into SolidWorks with our Mastercam for SolidWorks product.

There’s plenty more profiles to explore on SolidWorks Blog as well, such as HP, Striker Systems and several others that have been profiled since October 2012.