I'm a terrible blogger

Ok, ok.  so i've not been using this blog like I had hoped I would.  well, I'm going to try and change that.  Maybe all of my readers (all one of you) will be happy.  Now let me get on my soapbox for a moment.

Is it me, or are architects our own worst enemy?  We viciously fight and undercut each other to get jobs.  We disparage other companies that are "inferior" to ours.  We've even blackballed employees just because of disagreements (Note: I've personally done none of these, but have seen it).  Why can't we work together?  We're all wanting the same thing, right?  Money!!!  Just kidding.  We all want to deisgn great things.  We want to put our stamp on the world whether its a huge condo or a small, interior renovation to an ice cream shop.  We all want to make this place better through building.

Something else that irks me.  I've been searching for a full time job back in architecture for a while now (yeah economy!).  It seems like most other professions have some sort of specialized job searching engine/site, etc. that works for them.  In architecture, we've got so many different places that it'll make your head spin.  To top it off, some of the more general job search sites do not fully "police" the posting and now there are postings for information and systems architects mixed in with design architecture.  I seem to remember way back in my professional practice class in college that technically, it's illegal for one to call himself an architect, unless he is registered.  Why can't we apply that same idea to the computer/IT world.  Now, I'm not hating on the IT world, heck I play an IT guy on TV sometimes (actually, I've been a system admin for a couple of firms).  So lets get the to do something and either help centralize the architecture/building/design job postings or politely ask the computer infrastructure world to think about changing their terminology from architecture to something else.
 
(Steps down from soapbox) Ok I'm done ranting for now.  hopefully, this post will increase my readership to more than just me, my mom, and my dog (yeah, my wife won't even read this).

Autodesk University - Day 1

First off,  I'd like to thank Digital Drafting Systems for emailing out the blast for this blog and my twitter posts.  Jaime, Sandra, Raquel, and all those at DDS are a great reseller and sponsor for our AUGI group.


Also, sorry for the delay on the Day 1 update.  Tuesday started off well.  The early morning sessions were packed.  My first session was a class on transitioning into Revit.  I also attended a few classes on initiating BIM standards and how to be a good CAD/BIM manager.  

One great perk here at AU is that we can take any of the Autodesk certification exams for free while we are here.  I've already updated my AutoCAD certification and I'll be working on Revit and 3DMax later on Wednesday.  


The opening keynote by Carl Bass appeared to be a big hit.  Of course there was talk about emerging technologies and how Autodesk is involved.  Amory Lovins from the Rocky Mountain Institute was the guest speaker.  He came on and spoke about approaching design as a holistic approach.  His whole system design notion is pretty amazing.  Jeff Kowalski, Autodesk CTO, came on and showed how Autodesk is using point cloud technology to digitize real world environments.  It was pretty cool seeing a 3D laser scan of the Mandalay Bay converted into a digital, and very realistic environment.  He also went into the use of augmented reality in various aspects of the design process.  One neat example showed someone being able to point his smartphone at piece of mechanical equipment and the phone automatically pulls of the information on the equipment, including the installation manual.

The exhibit hall opened up after all of the classes ended.  Although it appeared smaller than last year, there were still many various exhibitors showing their wares.  I saw three different companies "peddling" their 3D printers, and all three were pushing their models as the best.  Of course some exhibitors brought some fun to AU.  NVIDIA had a martini ice sculpture/slide with their logo on it.  Needless to say, that line was long.  For those of you who attended the Miami chapter AUGI meeting in November on Reed Construction Data's SmartBIM Library, they were in attendance and I met Tom Lutz and thanked him for the webcast.


Wednesday should be a another great day.  The class that I am teaching is right after lunch, so that could be a good thing.  The annual AUGI address where the wishlist winners are announced and the beer bash occur on Wednesday evening.


Remember that you can follow me during the day on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/arkitect75


And for those who didn't see my pictures on my Twitter post, here's the link:

http://twitpic.com/photos/arkitect75

Autodesk University - Day 0

So I decided to blog about my experiences this year at Autodesk University so that my local AUGI chapter could get a feeling for what goes on here.  Well to start off, yesterday (Sunday) was in Cocoa Beach running a half marathon.  I recorded a new personal record of 1:53:49.  After I drove back the 200 + miles, did laundry, and packed, I got about five hours of sleep before I had to be up and at the wonder Miami International Airport.  I must point out that the new Concourse D looks pretty good (reminds me of the old British Airways Concourse A).  The flight to Las Vegas was uneventful, although comedian Doug Benson was in first class.

When I arrived in Vegas, I ran into a local reseller of whom I will not mention a name, although he is some whose button I do love pushing when it comes to a certain BIM software.  He talked my ear off for a while and we shared a cab to the Mandalay Bay.  Registration was a breeze.  Autodesk really does a good job with this.  In the registration space, there are various stations.  At the first one, there are laptops where you walk up, and enter your name.  The display then shows a line to go to in order to pick up your badge (picture later).  After the badge, you go and pick up the first of your swag, which this year is a rolling backpack.  Being on subscription, I also got a nice steel mug.

On my way to an AUGI Leadership meeting, I realized that the convention center at the Mandalay looks eerily similar to the convention center at the Venetian (site of AU 2008).  The AUGI Leadership meeting was a little bit smaller than all anticipated (we would have had trouble fielding a futbol squad).  Most of the current AUGI Board of Directors were there, and when the topic of managing a chapter came up, I specifically mentioned the problems with the local chapter pages on the AUGI website.  The board admitted the problem and did vouch that they are not only trying to come up with a quick fix, but also a long term solution.  So hopefully, the local chapter page will work once again.  

After the leadership meeting I attended a Local Chapter President's meeting.  This meeting was very similar to the first one (a lot of the same people attended).  More details were given about the website issues, and we discussed other ways to help out user groups.


Now I'm heading out to a few of the mixers before I pass out from exhaustion, and then tomorrow Day 1 begins.