First and foremost, Happy New Year to everyone! I hope all of you had a great holiday season!
Two weeks from tomorrow, I leave for SolidWorks World in San Diego, CA. Needless to say, I can’t wait! This year’s event is shaping up to be quite a show. Tonight I sat down and started hammering out my schedule which is sure to be tweaked and updated probably right up till the start of the conference.
I have listed a few pre-conference highlights which I am especially looking forward to. If you are going to be around on Sunday, the CAD Manager’s Boot Camp is an information packed event. Don’t miss the welcome reception Sunday night at the Partner Pavilion. There is sure to be some great food and lots of REALLY COOL booths to visit. This is also a great time to catch up with some friends from around the SolidWorks Community. The kick-off opening session on Monday is ALWAYS GREAT! Everyone is all charged up and ready to get the conference REALLY rolling! Who will be the “surprise” celebrity guest this year? Will we see them on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday? Monday’s Technical sessions include some very well know names around the SolidWorks Community such as Gerald Davis, Rob Rodriguez, Matt Lombard, Ben Eadie, and Matthew Cummins. If you are a member of a SolidWorks User Group, I highly recommend that you attend the 9th Annual SWUGN Summit from 4:30pm to 6:30pm.
After Tuesday’s General Session, you don’t want to miss the Stump the Chump session! I can promise you that this will be both an informative AND entertaining session! If you want a sampling of this event, make sure you check out the Countdown to SolidWorks World Podcast for Stump the Chump. I will be up on stage for this event along with Matt Lombard, Ben Eadie, Rob Rodriguez, Josh Mings, Lou Gallo, Jeff Mirisola, and Lenny Kikstra. Tuesday night is the Special Event Block Party in the Gaslamp District. This really sounds like a blast! I’ve heard many people who are familiar with San Diego say this will be a hit with all the attendees.
Get your paper and pen or laptop ready for Wednesday’s General Session. Not only could this be the day that the surprise celebrity drops in (like last year in New Orleans), but this is commonly reserved as the day where we get to see a sneak peek of SolidWorks 2009! (And who said Christmas was over?) I will be scribbling down as many of the new features announced as possible and posting them here. I have a feeling that Wednesday night there will be quite a few folks from the East Coast still at the hotel due to flight schedules, so I’m sure there will be plenty of time for some lively SolidWorks or non-SolidWorks related discussions!
Whew!….That’s just SOME of the highlights and I have probably missed a few things I shouldn’t have. Then again, that is typical for an event like SolidWorks World. There are simply too many things going on to possibly list them all. My favorite one phrase description of SolidWorks World is “Information Overload”. Anyone who has ever attended will surely agree.
Over the past year and a half I have communicated with a tremendous amount of great people through this Blog. If any of you are in the Partner Pavilion on Monday January 21st from 11:30am – 12:30pm, stop by the SWUGN Booth and say hi! (The SWUGN Booth is part of the main SolidWorks booth.) If you see me walking around the conference, stop me and introduce yourself.
Well, that’s all for now but as I always say, stay tuned for much more to come!