Wednesday, December 05, 2007

My Autodesk University 2007 Thoughts

My primary thought regarding last week's Autodesk University was how relatively smooth things appeared to have run. Place about 10,000 people anywhere and there is likely to be some mayhem. Not so, from my perspective, last week. Although I know some things went wrong (I saw one class closed due to too many attendees), things seemed to run smoother than in previous years. There were not ridiculously long lines for meals or traffic jams at the escalators. The class I taught went as smooth as I could have hope for (thanks to all who attended it).

AU is a great event for many reasons. First and foremost, let me mention the learning of tons of information. This is done with both lectures and hands-on labs. The classes are taught by arguably the best of the best across the globe. We get to see friends that we have not seen since perhaps the last AU. We get to meet new friends. We get to network with both old and new friends, Autodeskers, resellers, new users, and experienced users for tips, tricks, recommendations, and thoughts. We get to rub elbows with the Civil 3D development team. The Venetian is a top notch place. There is all the food you can eat and the drinks you can drink. There are socials and parties to unwind at. We get four nights of accommodations. There is entertainment. There is an exhibit hall with vendors selling things and giving things away. There were competitions and puzzles to solve and prizes to win. And if all that is not enough, oh yeah, you are in Las Vegas (I heard that there may be a thing or two to do and see around town ;^) ). No wonder I returned home so tired.

If we missed anything, afterwards we can download ALL of the handouts from ALL of the classes with AU Online. We can watch many classes that were recorded with AU Online.

At around $1500 for early bird registration this year's event was WELL WORTH IT.

So, if you were not able to attend this year. You may want to start planning for next year.

2 comments:

John Lowe said...

Well put. I think it is well worth it and it was nice to meet you there. I look forward to reading more of your blogs!

http://civil3dbeatle.blogspot.com/

Angel Espinoza said...

It was nice having met you as well John. I hope to be able to post a little bit more (Lots of thoughts, not enough hours in the day).

By the way, Good luck with your Wiki.