Now that SolidWorks WORLD 2011 is upon is there is a common question that everyone asks every year. What will be this years big news and/or big focus?

Last year at SWW 2010 all of the talk was focused around the SolidWorks on the cloud announcement.  Since last January I believe that this topic has been beat to death other than the fact that no one outside of SolidWorks really has a clue as to what this will look like.

However, one thing that we will be able to see this year in action is SolidWorks n!Fuze.  SolidWorks n!Fuze is the product that was introduced last year at the Wednesday morning general session as SolidWorks PDS.  What is n!Fuze?  Well it is SolidWorks’s first cloud based application that will work as a data management tool.  Earlier this week The SolidWorks Blog released the 1st screenshots of this new application and announced that the attendees at SolidWorks WORLD 2011 will get the chance to test drive it in the Partner Pavilion.  Here are a few screenshots of the new SolidWorks n!Fuze.

So that brings be back to my original question.  What will be this years big new and / or big focus?  I personally feel that we will be hearing a lot about the relationship of SolidWorks Corporation and their parent company, Dassault Systemes continuing to get closer and closer.  Another big topic this year will be the change in leadership that was announced a few weeks back.  This will be the first year that Bertrand Sicot will be in charge.  I am sure there will be a lot of talk about how Bertrand carries himself compared to what the SolidWorks community has become accustomed to with the past few CEO’s.

All in all know one really ever knows what to expect until it happens.  No one saw the big preview of SolidWorks in the cloud coming last year.  What do you think will be the big announcement this year?  Will there be a big announcement?

Only time will tell.  However, stay tuned for coverage if it does come!

SolidWorks WORLD 2011 is officially under way!  Registration is open and they are attendees milling around almost everywhere you look.  The Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas has officially been taken over by SolidWorks users!

I arrived yesterday around 11:00 AM CST and took some time wandering around aimlessly in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.  While walking through the convention center I quickly decided that this is going to be a great venue for SolidWorks WORLD.

One of the best things about SolidWorks WORLD every year is connecting with other users from around the world that you have not seen in a year.  Last night I have the pleasure of having dinner with a bunch of people you will see of frequently in the forums and on twitter.  It was great to finally meet some of these guys in person rather than in the virtual world.

Beginning tomorrow there will be an over abundance of information and updates flying around on Twitter (hashtag #sww11) and on the blogs.  If you aren’t able to attend this year I am sure you will still be able to have almost instant access as to what is happening here by following these social media outlets.

So stay tuned and take a moment to mentally prepare yourself for the barrage of information that will be coming your way these next 3 days. 

In my continued series of why you should make a point to be in San Antonio, Texas in January 2011 for SolidWorks WORLD 2011, I want to discuss the General Sessions that are held each morning of the conference.

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 8:30 – 10:00 AM a General Session is held for all of the attendees at SolidWorks WORLD.  On Monday and Tuesday, this usually consists of some big name speakers.  In the past, these speakers have included Richard Branson and James Cameron among others.  These speakers do not always have a direct tie to SolidWorks but often have a connection to the engineering field or at least can give inspiration to the designers in the audience.

On Wednesday (and portions of Monday and Tuesday) you also see a preview of technology to come.  Specifically, on Wednesday you get a sneak peak at the next release of SolidWorks.  So in January, you will get a chance to see SolidWorks 2012 for the first time.

All in all, these general sessions are AWESOME!  There is really too much to write here without boring you to death.  I feel that the general sessions alone are worth the price of admission.

If you have any other questions about what happens in these general sessions feel free to comment here or send me an email.  I would love to give you more information.

So you have been using SolidWorks now for a number of years and haven’t had any training since you first started using it.  Is this correct?  For most users this is an accurate statement.  Once the initial training investment is made it is not really revisited again because you know how to run the software and you know what you need to do your job.  But what this doesn’t take into account is continuous improvement which is a common phrase thrown around many companies in today’s world.

So where do you go to get additional training?  For some of you it is local user groups which usually consist of a couple of technical presentations.  For some others it may by the blogs or websites that are available.  But what if you could have solid 3 days of user group presentations done by some of the top users.  This is what SolidWorks WORLD offers to its attendees.  No other place can you find this type of training.  In fact, there is so many sessions crammed into 3 days that they could easily spread out the conference to 5 days and still have a good selection of sessions during each time slot.

The sessions that are available cover almost everything you could imagine in regards to SolidWorks so no matter what your forte is, there is probably a breakout session that will help you.

For a complete list of the sessions that will be available click here.  If you haven’t done so already, you need to make a point to get to San Antonio in January.  Remember, it’s continuous improvement!

With each passing day we get closer and closer to SolidWorks WORLD 2011 in San Antonio, Texas.  The 1st Early Bird Discount is already done and the presentations / presenters have been selected.

So again, you might be asking.  Why should I be spending the time and money to head to Texas?  This reason might be the #1 reason overall but I will let you judge for yourself.  How many times have you been working in your favorite desktop email, spreadsheet, or word processing program and had this thought…”why can’t this do it like this”?  At SolidWorks WORLD you have the opportunity to address some of the types of questions by talking to the people that actually write the program.

Usually by the end of the 1st general session on Monday morning you will know what the employee shirt style is for the year and for the rest of the conference you will notice these shirts / employees EVERYWHERE.  The one thing that really stuck out to me the 1st year that I attended was how open all of the employees were.  They were more than happy to talk to you if you stopped them in the hallway, sat with them at lunch, sat next to them in a technical training session, etc.

Here is your chance to make your voice be heard.  Do you have something that you want to tell the developers?  SolidWorks WORLD 2011 is you chance!

As I mentioned a few weeks back, SolidWorks WORLD 2011 is right around the corner.  If you have attended a previous SolidWorks WORLD you probably don’t need a lot of convincing on why you should attend again but for those that have never been able to make it to one, let me just say…you don’t want to miss it.

So why attend?  The 1st reason I am going to highlight in this series is the ability to network with other users from all over the world.  If you are thinking about attending SolidWorks WORLD 2011 you have probably already attended a local user group in your area and know what the networking is like at these groups.  Now multiply that networking atmosphere by about 100 and you have what you see in San Antonio this year.

SolidWorks WORLD offers many opportunities for networking with fellow users.  You will be rubbing shoulders with others from Sunday night at the Welcome Reception in the Partner Pavilion until Wednesday’s last technical training session.  They usually hold a “birds of a feather” lunch which breaks tables either into industry and / or into job titles.  Have you been struggling with that tricky design that is unique to your industry?  The “birds of a feather” lunch is a great time to ask some other users who might have experienced this exact thing.  Have you been struggling with an installation setting?  This is a great opportunity to ask other CAD Administrators from around the world for help.

My personal feeling is that the networking opportunity alone is almost worth the price of admission.  You will not get this many users (around 5,000) in one place other than at SolidWorks WORLD.

If you have any questions please feel free to shoot me an email and I would be happy to help.