It's nearly Autodesk University time again!
Last year my trip to Autodesk University (AU) started on a dismal winter Sunday afternoon while reading the AU website, which had just sprung to life. I had heard AU was good and was thinking it would be cool to go, never having visited the USA. I even got as far as looking through the sessions, picking those I would do, what it would cost, and then…
….a few minutes of irrational madness with the credit card & I was on my way to Las Vegas!
Well, the same thing happened this year. As I look out the window at a dismal grey wet evening* it’s nearly time for this Kiwi to fly.
Autodesk have moved AU to Orlando, Florida. One reason mentioned was “less travelling” but they obviously weren’t thinking about the Kiwi AU’ers when they made that change. It’s 14,402km, about 20 hours flying/transit, this time but it will be worth it. That much I do know!
AU is the premier place to absorb all you can about Autodesk products you use everyday. Part conference, training & social… the common theme is among the 5000+ AU “community” is Autodesk CAD. There is so much talent is assembled in one place, if you are going for the first time prepare to be overwhelmed!
Another benefit was the chance to meet many people previously “known virtually” via discussion groups, email & of course all those damn CAD blogs
. I also got to meet lots of new people at AU and will soon be able to see many of them again. Once bitten by the AU bug, you seem to come back.
I did get a bit of flack for being hard to find last time. I didn’t even manage to meet a fellow Kiwi AU’er, Mike Burke, until AU had finished! It was odd that we had to go halfway around the world to meet in person, bizarre that our paths didn’t cross during the conference. I was there all along, honest, even have photos to prove it!
To solve that this time I’ve stocked up with our regulation issue company shirts. If you’re attending AU look out for a rather unsubtle Bright Red Polo Shirt with the logo (right) on the pocket: 5,500+ wear it in NZ but I suspect I’ll be the only one in Orlando!
If you see me say hello, at least I’ll know someone reads this rubbish!
I won’t be carrying a computer unless someone donates a nice lightweight Tablet PC before Thursday (Yeah right!). If I can find an interweb machine without 4,999 people lined up waiting to use it I will be blogging, hopefully during AU. If you are going, see you in Florida!
* To be fair the weekend here was awesome.
