Autodesk University 2009

It's hard to believe that Autodesk University is about a month and a half away. Deadlines are coming up quickly for handouts, datasets and much more. I have a very busy schedule this AU. Probably busier than most previous AU's. I guess that is a good thing.

Here is an overview of my schedule and if anyone ones to meet up while I am at AU please feel free to shoot me an email and hopefully we can meet up and talk all things Autodesk.

Sunday November 29th
10:25 am - Arrive at LAS, proceed to Mandalay Bay, unpack and finish preparing for AU Virtual Class.
4:45 pm - Arrive at the Studio to record the Virtual Session. Recording will be from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm.
7:15 pm to 7:30 pm - Business Trends and Visions Interview with Autodesk University. (will be posted on the AU website later.)
7:30 pm - tbd, Free. - I hope to meet up with some other friends that are coming in early.

Monday November 30th
6:00 am - Breakfast, and emails from the office.
8:00 am - ADN Conference
Evening - Bloggers Social or ADN Event (haven't decided yet)

Tuesday December 1st
6:00 am - Breakfast and emails from the office.
8:00 am - 9:30 am Attending class - CAD Geeks Inside: Starting, Maintaining and Enabling a Company User Group. (Presented by a former colleague Kevin Robinson)
10:00 am to 11:30 am - Keynote - AU Keynote and Welcome Address with Carl Bass
11:30 - Lunch
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm - Attending Class - Real Life Applications: Practical Engineering Purposes for AutoCAD Electrical (It's not just for Drafting)
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm - Presenting - AutoCAD Electrical Power Tools for Power Users
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm - Attending Class - Hands-on Jigging: Creating Jigs using VB.NET

Wednesday December 2nd
6:00 am - Breakfast and emails from the office.
8:00 am - 9:30 - Lab Assisting - A Quick Spin on AutoCAD Electrical 2010(Presented by a friend and fellow AutoCAD Electrical Consultant Randy Brunette)
10:00 am - 11:30 am - Attending Class - Create the Magic Like Disney Does with Tif and Tiff(Presented by two former colleagues, Tiffany Tucker and Tifani Weisbrod)
11:30 am - Lunch
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm - Keynote - Industry Keynote: Manufacturing
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm - Attending Class - AutoCAD APIs: The Right Tools for the Job
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm - Lab Assisting - Finding the Logic in iLogic: Hands on Lab
6:30 pm - Dinner then finalize presentations for Thursday Morning

Thursday December 3rd
6:00 am - Breakfast and emails from the office.
8:00 am - Presenting Unconference - AutoCAD Electrical 2010 Unplugged
10:00 am - Presenting Unconference - Consulting Concepts Unplugged
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm - Broadcast of Virtual Session
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm - Attending Class - Hands on Introduction to C#.NET
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm - Attending Class - Human Management: A Non-Technical Approach to CAD Management
6:30 pm - Dinner event then.

Friday December 4th
6:00 am 11:00 am- Breakfast and emails from the office, wrap up any other loose ends for the week.
11:00 am - noon - Broadcast of Virtual Session
noon - Lunch
Open for Networking (and finishing up anything I didn't get finished in the morning.

Saturday December 5th
Open most of the day, flight leaves for home at 11:ish PM

You can email me at robert.stein@yourrealsoftwaresolutions.com if you have any questions or want to meet up. As you can see it will be a busy week but I hope to make time for as much networking as possible.

Thanks
Rob Stein

Bitter Sweet

As many of you may remember I had a difficult time making the decision to leave INCAT where I spent over 5 years of my life. I really enjoyed my time with the organization and I just wanted to comment on today is my 1 year anniversary of my last day at INCAT. This past year has been an interesting change in my career which has led to some new skills, and friends.

Cheers

Autodesk enters the iPhone app arena

Check out this video for Sketchbook Mobile, an app created by Autodesk for the iPhone.

Remembering that day.

I don't think I will ever forget that September day so many years ago. I was working at Orchard Design in Romeo Michigan. I remember hearing about it on the radio and thinking wow, this sounds like an intense movie. No one at the office thought it was real. I proceeded to call Kim, my girlfriend at the time and ask her if she had heard about it. By this time we realized it was real. I remember going home at lunch and bringing back a TV so we could watch the breaking story.

By that night it was all over the news, everyone was talking about it. A very sad, angry and scary time in USA history. I remember hearing about people driving from all over the country to NY to help look for survivors. I wanted to go, but didn't. I wish I would have. It was kind of crazy how much this tragedy brought America even closer together. Everyone helping, sending food, water and resources to help clean up. I remember thinking why would anyone do this to other humans. It's sad that people don't view all people on this earth as humans. It's sad that it comes down to the color of skin, or the religion that we pray to.

I unfortunately remember thinking, when are we going to send the troops over to take care of this problem. I remember cheering when I heard that our fighter jets were on the way and bombs were being dropped. I was foolish to cheer like it was some kind of video game that we were about to win. War isn't a game that anyone wins, rather it is a necessary evil at times. If we stand by and do nothing, we are looked at as cowards, if we fight we lose even more lives. It's a lose, lose situation and it sucks.

The thing that saddens me the most is that we, American's, Patriots, wait until the anniversary of such a tragedy to remember our fallen friends that were killed in the 9/11 attacks. We wait until veterans day to pay our respects to lost soldiers, we wait until a specific day that has been set a side to remember, when we really should remember this daily. These tragedies are what have made our country what it is today, for better or worse. The soldiers that died in all the wars that have been fought deserve to be remembered every day. We take liberties every day that were gained by our loved ones who have fallen, those who have been injured physically or mentally for the rest of their lives. Yet we only remember on certain calendar days.

A few days ago my dad sent me an email saying that on September 11th all American's should fly their flag proud. I say (and unfortunately I need to take my own advice.) we need to fly it proud every day. This is a great country and many of us take our freedoms for granted.

Please remember our fallen hero's, loved ones and soldiers today and every day.

AutoCAD Electrical Unplugged (LinkedIn Group)

Come one, Come all. I have just created a group on linked in called AutoCAD Electrical Unplugged. Stemmed from my Autodesk University class idea we will discuss anything AutoCAD Electrical in this group. My goal is to build a strong user community that can openly share symbols, catalog entries, ideas, and whatever else we can think of.

Here is the link to the group. If you have any questions you can email me at mailto:robert.stein@zephyrtechnologies.com

Autodesk University Updated

As I mentioned in the previous post I have been awarded the great opportunity to present 4 courses at Autodesk University. Below are the links to the specific classes.

AutoCAD Electrical 2010 Unplugged

• Class ID: MA304-1
• Class Type: Unconference
• Expertise: All Levels
• Industry: Industrial Machinery
• Primary Track: Manufacturing
• Primary Software: AutoCAD Electrical
• 8:00 AM Thursday December 3, 2009 in Palm E

AutoCAD Electrical Power Tools for Power Users

• Class ID: MA118-4
• Class Type: 90-Minute Class
• Expertise: Power User
• Primary Track: Manufacturing
• Primary Software: AutoCAD Electrical
• 3:00 PM - 4:30PM Tuesday December 1, 2009 in Jasmine D

AutoCAD Electrical 2010 Ribbons unWrapped

Virutal Session, Information still to come.

Consulting Concepts Unplugged

• Class ID: MA2160
• Class Type: Unconference
• Expertise: All Levels
• Industry: Industrial Machinery
• Primary Track: Manufacturing
• Primary Software: AutoCAD Electrical
• 10:00 AM - 11:30AM Thursday December 3, 2009 in Palm E

I think this will be one of the best AU's to date. I am very excited about these classes and the opportunity to help people.

Autodesk University 2009

I am starting to ramp up for Autodesk University 2009. This year I have been awarded 4 classes. Below are my class titles, more details to follow in the next week or two.

• AutoCAD Electrical Power Tools for Power Users - 90 Minute Class
• AutoCAD Electrical 2010 Unplugged - Un-Conference (AU Unplugged)
• Consulting Concepts Unplugged - Un-Conference (AU Unplugged)
• AutoCAD Electrical 2010 RIbbons unWrapped - Virtual Session

I am very excited about the two unplugged sessions. It should be very interesting.

Stay tuned.