So I had four sessions today covering various topics; Advanced Curtain Wall, Adaptive Components, uing BIM in construction documents and BIM and interiors.
One session I was completly lost on what they were talking about. They did a survey months prior to the session and it revealed that a lot of people are not familiar on using adaptive components. This sessions went through very quickly and had, what I thought, some pretty advanced examples. The concept of what you can do with them is incredible - but it was not presented well.
I'm starting to see a few trends across a number of the courses so far. 1) Use a BIP (BIM Implimentation Plan) and define what level of detail you need in your model. 2) If you have a number of repeating rooms, do one room using 3D components for visualization and coordination - remainder of rooms can be 2D or 2.5D. 3) Define what is considered a clash. Are a bunch of 2" pipe penetrating a slab a clash when in reality they wouldn't sleeve them but core them after the fact? This comes full circle in using a BIP and defining your expectations.
Tomorrow is a new day and I'm hoping for some stellar presentations.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
AU 2010 - Day 1
First up was the General Session Keynote. Let me tell you Autodesk can put on a production. After breakfast we followed the herd (think lemmings) to the Event Centre. This is a mini stadium inside the hotel - which easily held the 6000+ attendees. I'm sure it could max out close to 10,000 people. I felt I was at some rock concert.
Lynn Allen did her usual cheerlead to start things off. For those that don't know who she's is, I believe her title is "Technical Evangelist" for Autodesk. Carl Bass, president and CEO of Autodesk then introduced a number of keynote speakers that don't use Autodesk products per say, but are innovative leaders. My inner geek screamed when they showed a prototype trailer of Tron used to get stakeholder buy-in. There was also Tesla's completely electric car, no wonder I couldn't hear the thing drive into the stadium. There was also a couple of speakers using 3D on civil projects and how they "test drive" (literally) the roads before construction.
Two speakers that really stood out for me was the "shop teacher" (her self appointed title...) really, she created the company Project H Design. She started off by telling 6000+ attendees that her first project was a disaster, complete and udder failure. It wasn't the failure she focused on, but the opportunity to learn from that failure. Without failing she wouldn't have been as successful. Which begs the question... are we failing enough to create success. Are we pushing as hard as we can as professional? Babe Ruth, one of baseball's homerun legends is also one ofbaseball's leaders in strikeouts.
Scott Summit of Bespoke Innovations, industrial designer of prosthetic limbs followed the Tron trailer. Poor guy. He did one hell of a job all things considering. The limbs they create don't look real or try to imitate the real thing, instead they showcase the beauty of the design - essentially social objects. His gallery really doesn't speak for the quality of the designs he showed at the Keynote.
I'm glad the keynote session took a different spin on innovation and showcased innovative leaders outside of the Autodesk world. Yes, the world doesn't revolve around Autodesk and it was a great start to what ended up being a medicore day.
Lynn Allen did her usual cheerlead to start things off. For those that don't know who she's is, I believe her title is "Technical Evangelist" for Autodesk. Carl Bass, president and CEO of Autodesk then introduced a number of keynote speakers that don't use Autodesk products per say, but are innovative leaders. My inner geek screamed when they showed a prototype trailer of Tron used to get stakeholder buy-in. There was also Tesla's completely electric car, no wonder I couldn't hear the thing drive into the stadium. There was also a couple of speakers using 3D on civil projects and how they "test drive" (literally) the roads before construction.
Two speakers that really stood out for me was the "shop teacher" (her self appointed title...) really, she created the company Project H Design. She started off by telling 6000+ attendees that her first project was a disaster, complete and udder failure. It wasn't the failure she focused on, but the opportunity to learn from that failure. Without failing she wouldn't have been as successful. Which begs the question... are we failing enough to create success. Are we pushing as hard as we can as professional? Babe Ruth, one of baseball's homerun legends is also one ofbaseball's leaders in strikeouts.
Scott Summit of Bespoke Innovations, industrial designer of prosthetic limbs followed the Tron trailer. Poor guy. He did one hell of a job all things considering. The limbs they create don't look real or try to imitate the real thing, instead they showcase the beauty of the design - essentially social objects. His gallery really doesn't speak for the quality of the designs he showed at the Keynote.
I'm glad the keynote session took a different spin on innovation and showcased innovative leaders outside of the Autodesk world. Yes, the world doesn't revolve around Autodesk and it was a great start to what ended up being a medicore day.
What happens at AU stays at AU!
My apologies for being a day late on my blogging responsibilities...was having technical difficulties with my Mackbook Pro (yes, i'm a MAC person).
So where do i begin? Hmmm...i guess i'll start with a quick blurb about my journey to Las Vegas. Oh lucky me for living in Toronto. I thought that waking up at 5am would give me enough time to get to the airport and make my flight departing at 10am. Boy was i wrong! 1 hour waiting in line to check in, 1 hour waiting to go through US customs and another hour waiting in line to be frisked by a US customs agent as well as have my hands swabbed to check for gunpowder residue! I barely made it to the plan on time!!! My advice to anyone trying to fly to the US in the near future-DON'T. Perfect way to start the perfect week! I didn't even mention the cab driver that thought that Pearson International Airport was in Scarborough...yes, he drove me to Scarborough while i was busy writing emails on my Blackberry and didn't notice what direction he took. Grrrrr...another reason why i almost missed my flight.
So i get here and grab another cab from the airport to our hotel, crossing my fingers the entire time in hopes that he knows where to go and doesn't take the scenic route to my hotel. He got me there just fine, but what made the cab ride so interesting was that my driver was wearing a hat and scarf and a heavy jacket. He had the heat pumped up in the car so high, i thought i was in a sauna! First you must know that the temperature here is about 10 degrees (C) so being from Canada, i thought that the weather was so warm! He kept saying how cold it was there...i just laughed and thought of all my fellow co-workers back home (especially in Alberta).
Our Hotel: Amazing. I'm staying at the Venetian. My bathroom is bigger than my entire Condo. I have 4 Flat screen TV's in my room...even one in the bathroom! I have nothing bad to say about where we are staying...i feel like a movie star! The only negative thing i have to say about where we are staying is that it is sooooo far from the Convention Hotel! AU is at the Mandalay Bay convention centre and the Venetian is at the other end of the Vegas strip! There is a shuttle that brings you to the convention, but the line ups are so long that you're better off taking a cab to the conference, otherwise, you'll end up being late for breakfast or for your first seminar! Next years DIALOG team to AU should book really early to avoid getting put up in the furthest hotel from the conference AND to ensure that you get the classes you want because they fill up quick. I was only able to register for 60% of the classes that i really wanted.
Checking into AU was pretty painless since we were there a day before the conference actually started. We got these really cheap laptop sleeves and a wired mini mouse. Standard cheap give aways for this type of conference. Meh...
Opening remarks by Autodesk: Felt like i was at a Tony Robbins motivational speaking conference. I was not expecting it to be this HUGE! We were in this giant arena and they had the CEO of Autodesk welcome us and a few other guest speakers. They had a huge projection screen, 2 video screens and flashing lights. Quite the production. Kinda felt like i was being programmed or brainwashed..."must use Autocad....must use REVIT...." haha, guess i've seen too many movies :)
Breakfast was pretty good, but it just felt weird being herded like cattle into this giant convention room/dining room. I must admit, coordinating 10,000 people is quite a task and the autodesk staff/helpers are doing a pretty good job at it!
Lunch was pretty good too! Lots of food. Lots of variety. Good quality!
Which brings me to now. 1 day down, 2 to go. It's tiring, but all in all, it's a great experience. I'm not happy about some of the content of the classes and some of the 'teachers' should not have been chosen to give lectures. I keep forgetting that the people teaching the classes are not teachers/instructors. They are just people in the industry that have submitted a 1 hour seminar to Autodesk hoping to be a presenter. Kinda like the Wikipedia for Autodesk products. Taught by the people and edited by the people! I'm still learning things though, which is a good thing!
I guess that's it for now. Going to meet up with the DIALOG gang to have an evening out. Hopefully something epic happens...like find a tiger in my hotel room or find an abandoned baby or even get Andrew Fowler married at the Little White Chapel. It's his first time EVER in the United States of America and he chose Las Vegas to be his first time??!!!?! Oh boy...i'll make sure to have my camera ready!
The Keynote
AU's keynote started with Lynn Allen firing up the attendees. She through out a challenge... Pass 8 or more certification exams at AU this year and Autodesk would send you to AU next year for free. We shall see if any of our group will be brave enough to try.
The theme this year, Impact.
Some of the highlights included a presentation of a designer turned school teacher who teaches the design concept to high school students in one of the poorest counties in the US. The students learn how to design on projects which have a direct impact on their community. They, then, spend the summer building the design, while earning university credit at the same time.
We saw the Teslas model S car, an electric car which can travel up to 300 miles on one charge and can be charged in 45 minutes. I will see if I can get photos.
My favorite part, the TRON preliminary demo reel. In one word, cool.
The keynote completed, we scrambled to our classes. First up for me, Conceptual Massing in Revit.
The theme this year, Impact.
Some of the highlights included a presentation of a designer turned school teacher who teaches the design concept to high school students in one of the poorest counties in the US. The students learn how to design on projects which have a direct impact on their community. They, then, spend the summer building the design, while earning university credit at the same time.
We saw the Teslas model S car, an electric car which can travel up to 300 miles on one charge and can be charged in 45 minutes. I will see if I can get photos.
My favorite part, the TRON preliminary demo reel. In one word, cool.
The keynote completed, we scrambled to our classes. First up for me, Conceptual Massing in Revit.
Tuesday morning
After meeting this morning, we headed to the conference hotel for breakfast. At our table, we meet 3 programmers from he UK, and some designer from the southern US.
Although the other guys didn't believe me that we were beating the rush, we joined the crowd heading to the main keynote assembly hall.
Reggie: "This is bananas!"
Chris: "what do you mean? This isn't the rush?"
Although the other guys didn't believe me that we were beating the rush, we joined the crowd heading to the main keynote assembly hall.
Reggie: "This is bananas!"
Chris: "what do you mean? This isn't the rush?"
Monday, November 29, 2010
Live From Las Vegas... it's AU 2010!!
The pre-AU day has come to a close - finally.
My day started at 5am, which is like any other day for me - except I was off to the airport instead of the C-Train. Security screening at the airport was painless. There was only one 3D scanner and it wasn't in the line I got sent to so I didn't have to decide if I should get an abnormal dose of radiation or get groped by some disgruntalled security guard. Believe me, that is a great start to your day when it's 7am.
Mike briefly touched on how ridiculous getting the DIALOG group together was. After a half hour, I felt that herding a room full of cats would have been quicker. Let's put this into perspective - I don't have a cell phone, Andrew has a cell phone but it's not a Blackberry, and Reggie has a Blackberry but the only person who's met him previously is Mike.
After walking for what seems like eternity at the Mandalay Bay, we arrived at the AU regstration area. I was quite impressed with the registration process and thought it was painless. You hop onto one of a dozen laptops available and punch in your email adress you signed up with. Hit go and the next thing you know, your picking up your badge. One more line and we're getting some free Autodesk swag. If it wasn't for Mike holding us up, we would could have easily been done in 5-10 minutes.
The rest of the day involved some shopping, good food and lots of laughs. This will be an interestng week - we'll see how it turns out.
My day started at 5am, which is like any other day for me - except I was off to the airport instead of the C-Train. Security screening at the airport was painless. There was only one 3D scanner and it wasn't in the line I got sent to so I didn't have to decide if I should get an abnormal dose of radiation or get groped by some disgruntalled security guard. Believe me, that is a great start to your day when it's 7am.
Mike briefly touched on how ridiculous getting the DIALOG group together was. After a half hour, I felt that herding a room full of cats would have been quicker. Let's put this into perspective - I don't have a cell phone, Andrew has a cell phone but it's not a Blackberry, and Reggie has a Blackberry but the only person who's met him previously is Mike.
After walking for what seems like eternity at the Mandalay Bay, we arrived at the AU regstration area. I was quite impressed with the registration process and thought it was painless. You hop onto one of a dozen laptops available and punch in your email adress you signed up with. Hit go and the next thing you know, your picking up your badge. One more line and we're getting some free Autodesk swag. If it wasn't for Mike holding us up, we would could have easily been done in 5-10 minutes.
The rest of the day involved some shopping, good food and lots of laughs. This will be an interestng week - we'll see how it turns out.
Registration
After meeting up with the rest of the group from DIALOG, a process I am certain I made more difficult than it had to be, we headed over to the Mandalay Bay for registration.
For those of you who have never been to Vegas, from the Venetian/Palazzo, the hotel where we are all staying, the Mandalay Bay may seem only a few blocks away, about 6 blocks, I think. But this is Vegas, and those are some huge blocks. My GPS pegged the distance at about 2 miles. All I know is that walking it the night before sure got me warmed up for all of the walking required in the days to come.
We took the Deuce, a double decker bus which I remember being substantially cheaper the last time I was here. The Deuce dropped us off "in front" of the hotel. After meandering our way to the main door of the casino, some 5 to 10 minutes of walking later, we eventually found ourselves in the casino looking for the conference centre. Thanks to Chris' keen yes in spotting the signage, we found our way.
The other three had few problems checking in. I, meanwhile, proceeded to spell my last name repeatedly. This is something I am very used to. Finally, badges in hand, we proceeded to the next line-up to pick up our materials. The materials, this year, consisted of a miniature USB mouse and a very much maligned bag (I think they called it a sleeve.)
Having finished registration, and after some interesting comments regarding some of the more prominent architecture, more on that later in the week, we headed out to see more of Vegas and have dinner.
Interesting fact for the day:
The Palazzo at the Venetian, according to this fancy room card I have here, is the largest LEED silver Building in the world. The hotel is trying to update the Venetian to become the largest LEED certified resort in the world.
For those of you who have never been to Vegas, from the Venetian/Palazzo, the hotel where we are all staying, the Mandalay Bay may seem only a few blocks away, about 6 blocks, I think. But this is Vegas, and those are some huge blocks. My GPS pegged the distance at about 2 miles. All I know is that walking it the night before sure got me warmed up for all of the walking required in the days to come.
We took the Deuce, a double decker bus which I remember being substantially cheaper the last time I was here. The Deuce dropped us off "in front" of the hotel. After meandering our way to the main door of the casino, some 5 to 10 minutes of walking later, we eventually found ourselves in the casino looking for the conference centre. Thanks to Chris' keen yes in spotting the signage, we found our way.
The other three had few problems checking in. I, meanwhile, proceeded to spell my last name repeatedly. This is something I am very used to. Finally, badges in hand, we proceeded to the next line-up to pick up our materials. The materials, this year, consisted of a miniature USB mouse and a very much maligned bag (I think they called it a sleeve.)
Having finished registration, and after some interesting comments regarding some of the more prominent architecture, more on that later in the week, we headed out to see more of Vegas and have dinner.
Interesting fact for the day:
The Palazzo at the Venetian, according to this fancy room card I have here, is the largest LEED silver Building in the world. The hotel is trying to update the Venetian to become the largest LEED certified resort in the world.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
DIALOG at Autodesk University
Welcome to the blog of DIALOG at Autodesk University. We started this blog as a way for Andrew, Chris, Mike and Reggie to share their experience at AU 2010.
The group will be blogging from the hallways, the escalators, even the lunch room, as they learn from the best in Las Vegas. We're hoping to hear about some of the fun they have also, just no tigers!
We'll be transferring the posts to the internal BIM Blog once they're back. Check back often during the week of November 29 for more news!
The group will be blogging from the hallways, the escalators, even the lunch room, as they learn from the best in Las Vegas. We're hoping to hear about some of the fun they have also, just no tigers!
We'll be transferring the posts to the internal BIM Blog once they're back. Check back often during the week of November 29 for more news!
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