SWW09 Monday General Session (Part 1)

The General Session hall filled up quickly.  As I mentioned, excitement was in the air.  Over 4300 people filed in quickly to take their seats.  This was well over this year’s goal (something like 3500 {unofficially}).  The music started and then we were greeted by Jeff Ray’s enthusiastic and confident entrance on to the big stage.  He presented us with a report card about how well SolidWorks is doing.  Despite his cheerful presentation about the progress SolidWorks Corp has made over the past year, he gave the company suprizingly low markets on their progress.  Of course, there are likely some people that felt he was being too generous.

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He stated that customer satisfaction is now 91%, with very satisfied now at 43%.  Customer Portal had 1.2M visits last year with 10M hits.  SolidWorks now supports 16 languages, up from 12 last year.

Ray then revealed that according to customer feedback, SolidWorks is running 65% faster on large assemblies and drawings, giving 8x the time savings with new tools such as Speedpak.

Customer interface has been a focal point of improvement, along with giving a more consist user experience by providing wide screen and multiple monitor support.  He announced that 50% of users now spend 70% of their job time within SolidWorks. 

Ray gave a shout out of sorts to the SolidWorks blogging community and even discussed Twitter’s role in the SolidWorks general online community; even to the point of announcing the SolidWorks World 2009 twitter hash #SWW09! (More about this later.)

He stated that the areas where Solidworks needs to improve are installations, upgrades and managing SolidWorks design data.  The phrasology he used was that they needed to “obliterate” each of these.  I think he meant that they will work on obliterating issues with these.  For example, they want to make it easier to access the design data so that users can focus on why they have SolidWorks (designing) instead of hunting for files.

He then showed appreciation for all attendees, noting that some are here dispite the fact that they are recently out of work or had expense cutbacks at their company.

SWW09: Morning rush

The morning rush was on, and excitement was in the air.  The crowds gathered outside of the hall.

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As the anticipation builds, an alarm sounds to announce the opening of the hall. I had to join the stampede. The question on many people’s minds is if Sir Richard Branson would be speaking today.  Of course, some of the insiders knew that Sir Branson flew in last night.

SWW09: CAD Management Bootcamp

At four hours, Greg Jonkowski’s CAD Management Bootcamp is a major presentation that is too large (long) to fit into the regular SolidWorks World days.  It is full of information about computers (server and workstation), data security and safety, graphics cards, OS’s, and what some would consider controversial advice. 

Greg discussed the benefits of properly managing the workplace CAD environment.  When it comes to establishing or improving the CAD environment, he suggests it is good to always critical. 

  • There is always room for improvement. 
  • Focus on allowing engineering to actually engineer. 
  • Simplify processes to improve efficiency. 
  • If some “improvement” makes the task harder, the project will fail. 
  • He also suggests that CAD management means that stakeholders are involve in the processes.

At most organizations, there is usually one or two SolidWorks power users.  Greg makes it clear that these individuals should be recognized and utilitized for there skill set.  These individuals can also be leveraged to implement mentoring programs to help others become stronger SolidWorks users. 

Many other points were comprehensivesy covered to provide a good level of detail regarding issues that a CAD Manager may encounter.

“Urban legends” 

He covered many topics.  However, of note is his two more controversial recommendations regarding computers and installation. 

He made it clear that anti-virus software should be used and that it should not be deactivated when installing SolidWorks or its add-ons.  I know many sources contradict this.  However, this appears to be the company-line from SolidWorks Corp now.  It should be noted that he made this statement very clearly and authoritatively, yet caveatted his comments with unelaborated “I don’t knows” and “problem with one anti-virus”.  I found this to be frustrating.

The other comment that might turn some heads is his stern statement to not use the /3GB switch to give applications access to more of the computer’s RAM.  There are risks associated with using the /3GB switch.  As he puts it, using this switch is “robbing Peter to pay Paul”.   Instead of using this switch, Greg recommends simply upgrading to Vista and 64-bit computer systems.  I say “simply” with sarcasm.  In the current economic environment, advice like this is a bit unrealistic for many.  There is a balance that must be reached, where the risks have to be weighted against the advantages. 

Ok, I still haven’t eaten.  I seriously am going to get some lunch now.

SWW09: Sunday lines

One advantage to arriving at SolidWorks World on Sunday is the short lines for registration.  I will dutifully document the lines tomorrow to establish a contrast. 

Short Lines

Granted, there is no free breakfast or lunch, but registration is open until 7:00PM, so arriving in the afternoon or evening will actually save time and let one rest up for the full day of activities on Monday.

SolidWorks World 2009, Pre-day and the pre-preday

There are officially four days for SolidWorks World 2009, Sunday through Monday; though, sometimes Sunday is sort of considered a pre-day even though its called “Day 1“.   However, activity begins even before Sunday.  I guess Saturday can be called the pre-preday.

Saturday fun

My Saturday was mostly spent flying from San Jose, CA to Orlando, FL, with a layover.  I met up with Alex the SolidWorks Geek in our Houston stop.   This is his first, and my second SolidWorks World.  We made it to the Swan & Dolphin resort in Orlando just in time to catch the tail-end of a secret meeting.  After that, many of us Twitters converged at the lobby bar for some drinks for a tweetup.  It was great meeting up with a lot of the bloggers and consummate SolidWorks users from around the country.

Sunday so far

So, Saturday was indeed a very long day.  Though I prolly should have a hang-over right now, I don’t (never really get those).  My Sunday started bright and early with attendance to some focus groups for SolidWorks sheet metal functionality at 8:30AM and drawings at 10:00AM.   These are sessions where SolidWorks users from various industries meet up with SolidWorks employees in face to face open discussions.  The fact that these sessions happen is a sure sign that (despite the appearance otherwise sometimes) SolidWorks does put forth significant effort to improve their software based on customer input.  These focus groups are good because users give first hand accounts about how they are using the software, including their likes, like-to-haves, frustrations and such.  I may go into specific details about these focus groups later.

It’s lunch time now. I hunger.

SolidWorks World 2009 here I come

It’s one day before my trip to Florida begins.  Actually, it’s almost exactly 24 hours, as my flight takes off around 6:00am or so tomorrow.  Am I excited?  A bit.  Am I worried?  A bit.  Why?  Well, as soon as I’m off the plane, I have my first schedule event (for which I will be an hour late since getting from the MCO to the Swan and Dolphin is no skip across the pond).  Then right after that event comes another that will likely stretch my day out well into jet-lag zone; then I hafta get up early on Sunday because that is when convention really begins!  Maybe I’ll get some sleep Sunday night?