It may seem premature to begin thinking about Autodesk University this soon in the year, especially since the conference doesn’t begin until November 19,2019, but that’s precisely what time it is. Like the outside temperatures, planning for this year’s conference is heating up. More than 1,100 hopeful speakers from nearly 50 countries submitted over 2,400 class proposals for consideration. As always, the strength and diversity of the proposals was strong.
Although the conference is more than five months away, the Autodesk University team must sift through all those proposals to select the 600-700 sessions for this year’s event. Part one of that process is where you come in. From now until June 25th you can vote on the sessions you would like to see offered.
Among the 2,400+ proposals submitted are seven of my own. My proposals range in topic from AutoCAD, to Civil 3D with Revit, and CAD/BIM Management. Similarly, some are brand new ideas, others are sessions I’ve taught in the past, and others a re-imagination of old sessions I’ve presented.
Please participate in the community voting if you’re evening thinking about attending AU this year. Participating in the community voting is not a commitment to attend, so I’d encourage you to participate even if you haven’t received approval to attend just yet.
The descriptions for each of the proposals I submitted are below. You can find those and the other 2,400+ proposals on the Community Voting page now. Although you can only vote for a class once, you can vote for as many classes you find interesting.
AutoCAD Tips, Tricks, and More Delightful Drafting Techniques
If you want to master AutoCAD, join Autodesk Expert Elite member Donnie The CAD Geek, Gladfelter as he shares a plethora of power-user tips acquired from writing six books on AutoCAD and blogging for more than a decade. Donnie will take you through a powerful collection of proven productivity techniques that are certain to improve your everyday drawing life. From simple to advanced, you are sure to discover new ways to remove tedium and boost your ability to meet project deadlines.
- Complete common AutoCAD tasks in fewer steps.
- Harness recently added features to improve productivity.
- Leverage AutoCAD across platforms (desktop, web, & mobile) to improve collaboration.
- Use secret tips AutoCAD software veterans and gurus know.
Building Effective User Groups: What does it take to be successful?
Build it and they will come. Or will they? Are you a user group leader interested in building a more effective user group? Drawing from more than a decade of user group experience; this round table discussion will study what makes groups successful, what limits their success, and what resources are now available to user group leaders as part of the new Autodesk Group Network. During this conversation we’ll study where leaders of top performing groups find success planning, hosting meetings, and managing their groups. Come join the discussion to learn best practices for leading an effective user group.
- Identify best practices of top-performing user groups.
- Develop strategies to plan, host, and manage a successful user group.
- Leverage resources available as part of the Autodesk Group Network.
- Connect with fellow user group leaders on the Group Leader Hub.
Overcoming The Seven Deadly Sins of Corporate Training Programs
Are you a glutton for good training? Do you lust over other company’s effective education technology? Bad training programs can leave your employees full of wrath, so don’t be slothful, come check out this session that will outline the issues many companies see when building up or overhauling their own training programs. Your competitors will be green with envy when you pridefully show off your skilled employees – just don’t get greedy. This session will focus on overcoming the seven deadly sins of training and put your program on a righteous path. We’ll explore the process of defining education mission statements, align curriculum with student learning styles, and methods to reinforce learning. You will benefit from the unique experience and knowledge shared by two instructors who have built successful training programs in firms of more than 350 people, designed Autodesk Official Press curriculum, and who continue to build training programs for firms across the nation today.
- Identify the internal and external factors affecting professional development.
- Overcome common mistakes that limit the success of corporate training programs.
- Establish a training mission statement, and methods for program reinforcement.
- Build a training roadmap based on a proven framework.
The Seven Deadly Sins of CAD and BIM Management
Are you a glutton for the perfect CAD/BIM standard? Do you lust over other CAD/BIM managers who have the authority to get things done? Do project teams become greedy of their own standards, wrathfully rejecting the standardized and more efficient ways you pridefully implement? You need not become slothful, as this class will focus on ways to put you into the enviable position of having users who listen to you. Combining over two decades of CAD, BIM, and IT support and management experience plus years of working with numerous companies to help support their technical managers and staff, this session talks about the things nobody likes to talk about – the sins CAD and BIM managers commit while doing their jobs. What sins might you be guilty of, and what’s the path to righteous? Join this session to learn some of the common pitfalls, missteps, and misconceptions that come with the job and the how and why to avoid them.
- Learn common missteps that CAD/BIM Managers often take.
- Understand the importance of looking at the CAD/BIM Manager job from multiple points of view.
- Discover strategies to avoid falling into traditional traps.
- Find out how not to be that, support guy.
Predictable Non-Compliance: Discovering Why Users Ignore CAD/BIM Standards
Although most CAD/ Building Information Modeling (BIM) managers are responsible for creating and maintaining CAD/BIM standards, few have the authority to enforce those standards. Despite project teams insisting they could be more productive if the company had a standard, the imbalance between a CAD/BIM manager’s responsibilities and his/her authority almost always incubates a culture of noncompliance. This session will feature an open discussion on ways to achieve the seemingly impossible dream of developing a willfully used CAD/BIM standard that’s self-enforced throughout an organization. By understanding the reasons users typically ignore standards, you will learn ways to overcome the most common behaviors that lead to noncompliance, and how to develop standards designed for compliance.
- Recognize how standards enforcement practices affect compliance.
- Establish a CAD/BIM standardization plan designed for compliance.
- Determine methods to develop CAD/BIM standards based on the internal constraints of an organization.
- Establish strategies to successfully implement CAD/BIM standards without the authority to enforce their use.
A Rematch in Coordinates: Aligning Revit Projects with the Real World of Civil 3D
Projects typically start life in two corners; one coordinated between Revit disciplines, the other grounded by survey data in Civil 3D. With the project already underway in Revit and Civil 3D, these worlds often collide in a less than perfect way. After a tumble, it’s time to get up for a rematch in coordinates. During this rematch we’ll study how to establish shared coordinates between existing Revit and Civil 3D models. Co-presented by a Revit specialist and a Civil 3D specialist, you will gain an understanding of the expectations for each platform and how to configure them. Collectively, they’ll council you through best practices for aligning coordinates despite the less than ideal circumstances. Capitalizing on the full potential of each coordinated design model, you will also learn how BIM 360 Design can assist with the exchange of data between Revit and Civil 3D.
- Establish shared coordinates between existing Revit and Civil 3D projects.
- Develop strategies to overcome common mistakes when realigning projects.
- Apply the Autodesk Shared Reference Point tool to real-world projects.
- Leverage BIM 360 Design to seamlessly exchange data between Revit and Civil 3D.
Tiny Training: Achieving Big Results with Microlearning
From Baby Boomers to Post-Millennials (Generation Z), today’s professional workforce is more diverse than ever. This comes at a time where the diversity of the workforce is rivaled only by the sophistication of the design tools they use. Combined, the modern workplace has rapidly changed, but what about your training strategies? A plurality of today’s workforce are digital-natives; individuals who expect knowledge to be bite-sized, searchable, and available on-demand. Microlearning provides a way to reach these learners, but where do you start? How does microlearning vary from traditional learning, and what strategies are necessary to implement such a program? Join this session to learn what tools, technology, and instructional design methods are required when developing and delivering microlearning content to teams.
- Differentiate existing training programs through microlearning.
- Implement critical microlearning instructional and curriculum design strategies.
- Select the tools, software, and technologies necessary to develop microlearning content.
- Deploy microlearning content across an organization.
