It’s the first day of classes, and we are all ready. There are about 8000 attendees, and they descend on the South Convention Center for Breakfast.
Breakfast
This year it’s muffins and coffee. ummm…yeah… We’ll push through this section with a few brief comments. First BRING BACK BREAKFAST!
The muffins were delicious, as most muffins are, although I have no idea what they were since they were labeled “assorted muffins”. Since this is not a culinary convention, we should not be expected to know what type muffin is which. I suspect those with basic food allergies were perplexed. We were told the first day to “go upstairs, they still have food up there”. You can figure out how well that went over.
Classes – Showcase
I headed off to my first class, which was ID104-2L Showcase Your Design by Stephen Gabriel. This was a great class. Not too difficult. I like high level classes, but I am new to showcase, so the level was just right. I had waned to meet Thomas Fitzgerald, one of the lab assistants, but I had other responsibilities, and figured I’d meet up with him later.
Fusion Lunch
Then it was time to head to the Inventor Subscription Luncheon. The folks from Grumman Shipbuilding let me sit with them, and I got a little feedback on Inventor’s use there, and some interesting limitations as well.
Kevin Schneider was giving an awesome demonstration of Fusion, and I really wanted to get over there and bug him for some journalistic content, and to thank him for his past AU contributions.
Certification
Some of the Grumman folks got me all in a tizzy about recertifying, so I headed off to certification to get my Inventor certification updated for free. That’s right, free. Last time between travel and accommodations, the 2009 certs cot me nearly 500 USD. This time nada…well, almost nothing. It cost me an interview with Kevin Schneider.
The folks handling he certifications were really supportive and great. I mean everyone, right down to the last proctor. If I could say that any group really went out of their way to be courteous and efficient, it was certification. I don’t know all of you, but I’d like to thank those that I do know, and include the remaining folks too. Barbara Bowen, Nancy Tremblay, and a few others that I will learn the names of as fast as I can. (check back for Thursday’s disaster article and when I didn’t recognize Nancy). I spent an hour getting my Inventor 2010 recertified, and figuring out where I should actually be. I never saw the Grumman folks again, but hope they did well on their exams.
Lackey Job – Making the Grade Lab
So I showed up for my first Lab assignment Making the Grade, by Ron Couillard, where I met first met Ron, who made me feel right at home. He put on a great class, and if you are a Civil 3D tech and were not there, you missed out. The lab went well, and the class seemed to stay right with him and his lab instruction approach.
I assisted with Felicia Provencal and Kevin Faraca, who kept things running smoothly in the trenches.
I missed the Civil 3D Visualization class, dealing with other responsibilities. I hope I did not miss out too much, and will be looking forward to reviewing it with the online content.
Reception
I headed back the half mile trek, and dropped my gear off, so that I could walk back again, and attend the International community reception, and see the exhibit hall for the first time. I wasn’t quite sure I had the right place until I hit the wall of people. Yeah, I’m at the right place. When they said 7 pm, they meant 7 sharp.
Once opened we were looking for FOOD. I found some, but got bounced over to some other location. Eventually I figured out that there were different kinds of food at different stations. I found the Italian line, and I was in heaven. Gnocchi!! I must say, that while confusing and sometimes not well organized, the quality of the food was outstanding. I can’t wait for these folks to make breakfast, it should be awesome.
Now BEER. The AEC mixer scared me, because they had 2 beers available. But all was well, as they had the 12 popular bottles available; and no plastic cups…The beer staff were light hearted and fun, and always quick with whatever I asked for (I tipped well, and that might have something to do with it).
Design Slam
I missed the Design Slam, making small talk with industry folks, but got to make some new friends, and I’d say that was worth it. As you will see in an article or two, I really missed out on a great time, and will likely never miss out on another Design Slam again. I’ll just drag my new friends with me.
We got kicked out at closing time, and headed home. No poker for me, I was dragging on limited sleep already, and headed home.