Autodesk University 2019 - Back from Las Vegas!
Back from Autodesk University 2019, November 19-21 - Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Well I am back from Vegas, survived another AU! This year was a busy one, with three class presentations - one class was an instructional demo on AutoCAD tips, and I also had 2 roundtable classes on CAD Management. My focus this year in addition to my presentations was to establish networks with other CAD Managers, Autodesk software users and to meet many of you face-to-face whom I/we have connected with digitally. This was my seventh AU (consecutively since 2013) and my third year in a row as a presenter. I also contributed once again to the AU Speaker Mentoring Program as a mentor to first time speakers.
According to my Garmin Fenix Smartwatch, I walked a total of 111,000 steps; works out to 96 kilometres (or just over 60 miles)! I didn't have to break up any fights in Walgreen's this year which is awesome, however I walked in shortly after a 'yogurt mishap' occurred (busted glass door, huge mess) - yep Vegas....
Absolutely enjoyed chatting, meeting many of you, networking was HUGE at this year's AU for me and I value all the communication opportunities that were had this year. Many of you I have accepted/or requested invites via LinkedIn and on Twitter (Cadologist). Looking forward to future discussions!
For the past two years, I have been named as one of the 'Top Rated AU Speakers' and, with my class survey results so far (higher than previous years), so the potential to three-peat, an 'AU Turkey', for those bowling fans out there, awesome, fingers crossed!
My highlights from this year's AU:
- My Classes (third time speaking at AU) all went extremely well and the class feedback and comments have been great! I thoroughly enjoyed my roundtable sessions, and I want to thank all the attendees who participated in the discussions, great times and it was impressive to see the attendees solving each other's programs or answering each others questions!
- Expert Elite Events were amazing, thanks goes out to Katinka and the entire EE team, cannot wait until next year! I'll be sure to book a later flight so I can attend the windup event! Front row (basically) at the keynote was amazing! Thank you as well for the EE cinch pack, made great use of it through the conference!
- Networking opportunities a plenty at this year's AU once again. Was a pleasure chatting with many of you about CAD Management, CAD Standards development and workflows, plus catching up with many of the AU 'regulars' that I see each year.
- Mentoring was once again a huge interest and it was amazing to see my mentees present absolute home-runs for classes, you all did great! Wonderful to meet you in-person as well and I no doubt anticipate long lasting connections!
- Autodesk Feedback Sessions were a big chunk of my AU this year. I contributed to about a half dozen during the conference, always a highlight!
- AU Dog Lounge is always a welcomed break from the hectic conference. This year my wife and I lost our English Bulldog (Rosco) and it was incredible to not only hang out with some doggies, but no kidding, a therapy English Bulldog named Mikey was there!
- KaDe King it was so nice to meet you in-person, such great discussion (thank you very much for your time) and I look forward to staying in touch! Congrats on the multiple certifications!!!
- Frank Mayfield your an icon man, great seeing you and I absolutely loved the Happy Hour with the Autodesk Account Teams/Feedback session that you organized with your team (thanks Christie McAllister and Bre Arder)! Great work on the 34 AutoCAD Tips book!
- Mike Thomas' CAD Management When You Don't Have The Time - Part 2 class was outstanding! Definitely look up Part 1 from AU2018 as well!
... and to the many others that I crossed paths with, Sam Lucido, Paul Munford, David Butts, Jarod Schultz, Deepak Maini, Ravi Wood, Jacob Marquez, Jason Peters, Darren Behner, the entire AU team, way way way too many people to list! Of course the Associated Engineering staff that attended (Stuart, Jeanne, Stephen, Brennan, Mark, Chadx2 and Francois... where is Bill?) first picture down.
My classes from this year's AU:
6 AutoCAD Productivity Tips for Success (Instructional Demo)
- Class Time: Thursday, November 21st - 9:15am til 10:15am
- Number of Attendees: 148
- Class Feedback: "Yes, I'd recommend this class" = 98.25% so far
- Class Link: CLICK HERE
Selling the Standard: A CAD Managers Guide (Roundtable x2)
- Class Time: Wednesday, November 20th - 1:00pm til 2:30pm
- Class Time: Thursday, November 21st - 10:30am til 12:00 noon
- Number of Attendees: 25 and 20 respectively
- Class Feedback: "Yes, I'd recommend this class" = 90 and 100% so far
- Class Link: CLICK HERE
If you have not completed your class surveys, please do so. They provide valuable feedback to Autodesk as well as the speakers themselves!!
For those that are enrolled in my classes, my handouts and presentations are both AVAILABLE via the AU app and online. My AutoCAD tips class was recorded and will be made available via the Autodesk University Online website later this year.
For those that have any questions pertaining to my classes and any of the respective topics that were covered, feel free to contact me! I would love to compare notes and workflows on anything CAD Management related. My email address is cadologist@gmail.com.
For those that have any questions pertaining to my classes and any of the respective topics that were covered, feel free to contact me! I would love to compare notes and workflows on anything CAD Management related. My email address is cadologist@gmail.com.
Au2019 Summary:
Another amazing AU for the history books! I look forward to future opportunities to speak at Autodesk University again and will be submitting several class proposals for AU2020 next year! Until next year.....
