Posted by Jason on November 13, 2008
I posted a summary of our November 11, 2008 West Michigan SolidWorks User Group meeting.
You can check it out here: www.wmswug.com.
If you have any questions about the West Michigan SolidWorks User Group or User Groups in general please feel free to contact me.
To find a group in your area click here or to see a calendar of scheduled upcoming meetings click here.
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Posted by Jason on July 8, 2008
Next week Tuesday, July 15, 2008, we will be having our bi-monthly West Michigan SolidWorks User Group meeting. This meeting will start at 5:30pm at the Colonial Clock Building in Zeeland, Michigan.
We will be having Jeremy Regnerus from SolidWorks Corporation doing a presentation on 3DVia Composer and Mike Garvelink from Gentex Corporation doing a presentation on Customizing the Toobox.
For full meeting details check out the new WMSWUG website. If you are planning on attending please RSVP to Fred Egge (fred@wmswug.org) or myself (jason@rocksolidperspective.com) as soon as possible.
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Posted by Jason on June 20, 2008
The West Michigan SolidWorks User Group has a new home for its website. The new is address is wmswug.com. The new site for our local user group will now follow a blog style format (guess who is behind this). This way you will be able to subscribe to the RSS Feed so that you can always stay updated on what is going on at the WMSWUG.
So add this address now (http://wmswug.com/feed/) to your preferred RSS reader and always be on top of all the exciting information and news that comes from this user group.
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Posted by Jason on May 12, 2008
Sorry for the late notice but if you are going to be within driving distance of West Michigan tomorrow night please plan on attending the WMSWUG meeting that will be held. If will be a fantastic time of learning and networking! See the details of the meeting below!
MEETING DETAILS
When - Tuesday 5-13-2008
Time: 5:30pm –
8:30pm
Where: Gentex
Corporation
58 E Riley
St
Zeeland, MI 49464
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&q=58+E+Riley+St,+Zeeland,+MI+49464,+USA&z=16&iwloc=addr
The
door will be the North East side of the building
and we will have a sign near the door along with someone directing
people to the
room
AGENDA (Presenters)
SolidWorks API Demystified
by Leonard Kikstra from RITE-HITE
Presentation Level: Intermediate
Benefit:
This presentation is for any
SolidWorks user that whets an introduction to the SolidWorks API and learn how
it can improve their productivity. It also identifies many of the resources that
are available to learn more about writing macros for SolidWorks.
Abstract:
Get an overview of the
SolidWorks API in this introductory session. Attendees find out how the
SolidWorks API can improve their productivity, and discover the many resources
available on writing macros for SolidWorks.
Biography:
Lenny Kikstra is a Product
Designer and CAD Administrator. He has been working in the engineering field
since 1981, been a CAD user since 1990, and a SolidWorks user since 1998. Lenny
Kisktra has been involved with the SolidWorks Milwaukee Area Resource Team
(SMART) since 1999, and has presented on a number of SolidWorks related topics
at various user group events. Lenny runs the website “Lenny’s SolidWorks
Resources” and has a SolidWorks related blog.
Customizing the Toolbox
Mike Garvelink, Gentex Corporation
Customizing the Toolbox for multi user environments and the Pro’s Cons of
mapping Drives. This will be a real world presentation based on Mike’s personal
experience while implementing and maintaining solidworks in a corporate
environment.
________________________________________________________
Feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions!
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Posted by Jason on March 28, 2008
Yesterday I made the just under 3 hour trip to the east side of Michigan and attended the EMSWUG meeting in Troy, MI which is just north of Detroit. Dan Bovinich, the group leader and honorable mention for User Group Leader of the Year at SolidWorks World 2008, did a wonderful job setting this event up and keeping it moving on schedule. There was roughly 50 attendees at this meeting which was held at the beautiful Automation Alley building. Attendees were treated to great lunch, a lot of networking opportunities and 2 presentations that were given by an AE at each of the 2 resellers here in the Wolverine state.
Dan led the meeting off by doing a quick 8 picture slide show of some of the things that were featured and seen at SolidWorks World 2008 in San Diego, CA. This was good as it was a quick way to possibly wet the appetite of some users that may be interested in attending the event next year in Orlando, FL. Next, Dan did a brief polling of the attendees as to which version of SolidWorks they were running and what operating system they were running it on. I found it very interesting how many people where still using SolidWorks 2007 as their #1 CAD program and had not upgraded to SolidWorks 2008 yet. Dan then introduced the first presentation and presenter of the afternoon. Jon Benavides from Fisher/Unitech did a presentation titled "90 Tips in 90 Minutes". This was a presentation that he had taken and modified from someone that had presented it at SolidWorks 2007. His presentation offered a lot of information in what seemed to be a short amount of time. There were definitely things that were shown however that peaked a lot of peoples attention because I noticed quite a bit of note taking during his presentation. The tips and tricks style presentations in my eyes are always good because they are easy things to take back the workplace and start using the next day.
After a short 15 minute break Dan introduced the 2nd presenter of the afternoon which was John MacArthur from DASI Solutions. John is also known for his 3rd place finish in the reseller category of Model Mania this past year at SolidWorks World. John did a presentation titled "Die Design Using SolidWorks". John showed how he created a fully functioning progressive die in SolidWorks and he also highlighted the many different aspects of die design during his presentation. After he gave a brief overview of the different areas included in die design he showed a fully animated movie of his progressive die in action. He accomplished this by using many configurations in his assembly that highlighted each step in the forming process. John did a nice job with this presentation and I saw a lot of nodding heads and could see some wheels turning for different people when John began to show how he created the animation of his die. John finished his presentation by showing some of the different animations that he has created over the years, going as far back as 2001.
One thing that I love about the SolidWorks software, user group meetings and SolidWorks World is that you can watch a presentation that is the farthest thing away from the industry that you are in but there is a good chance that if you are really paying attention you will still pull something from that presentation that can be implemented in your area of expertise.
So now I guess I have to wait until May to attend my next user group meeting which will be the WMSWUG meeting on May 13, 2008 in Zeeland, Michigan. Lenny Kikstra and Mike Garvelink are currently on tap to present at this meeting so if you are in the area make sure to mark it on your calendar as a must attend event.
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Posted by Jason on March 16, 2008
Well, the weekend is finally here (and nearly done already) but after the past week any little break in the action is loved. The past week included 3 family birthdays (one being my own), a user group meeting that I helped plan and presented at, an all day meeting (that was more than worth it) and the other typical activities that find their way into your nightly activities. Oh and all of this is on top of working 10 1/2 hour days.
The WMSWUG held their first meeting since February of 2007 on Tuesday night with a turn out equal to or a touch greater than the last meeting. We had roughly 30-35 in attendance to hear my presentation "Tips for Creating a Smoother Workflow" and Matthew Cummins presentation "Beginner to Expert: Top Ten Assembly Modeling Tips and Tricks". It was an awesome night that included a lot of attendee interaction which is what a user group is all about in my opinion. I think it is a failed user group meeting if none of the people in attendance say anything all night and the only people talking are the ones that are doing the presentations. I had the chance to meet a few people that I had communicated with on the phone and through emails but had never actually met face to face before. This is one of the things I love most about these type of meetings, the ability to finally put faces to names. I already am getting fired up about our next meeting which is planned to be on May 13, this one will feature a couple of more presentations that will be worth every attendees time. I want to thank all of those that attended Tuesday’s meeting for coming out and making this meeting a success and I look forward to hopefully seeing all of you and more at the next one.
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Posted by Jason on March 6, 2008
MEETING DETAILS
When - Next Tuesday 03-11-2008
Time: 5:30pm – 8:30pm
Where: Colonial Clock Building
201 West Washington
Zeeland , MI 49464
AGENDA (Presenters)
_____________________________________________________
Tips for Creating a Smoother Work Flow
Jason Raak, RockSolid Perspective
Does your wrist ever feel like Jell-O at the end of the day because you are moving your mouse from the top of your screen to the bottom to left then to the right? This presentation will help you create a smoother work flow using SolidWorks 2008. It will cover how to completely customize the new user interface so that you are more productive and feel better at the end of the day; this presentation will be all about YOU! You will also receive a sneak peak at the new SolidWorks 2009 features that were announced at SolidWorks World 2008.
_____________________________________________________
Beginner to Expert: Top Ten Assembly Modeling Tips and Tricks
Matthew Cummins, Tacton Systems
Assembly modeling in SolidWorks… it’s a love-hate relationship. Love the benefits of having a robust representation of your complete assembly; hate the tedious process of browsing for parts, adding mates, setting up configurations, maintaining relationships when components change, updating file references, etc., etc. This presentation explores ten favorite tips/tricks for reducing the hate and sharing the love. They will range from simple shortcuts you can start using the next day to system wide strategies that can profoundly affect your entire company. There should be something for everyone, regardless of skill level or industry.
_____________________________________________________
Feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions!
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Posted by Jason on February 14, 2008
After much observation at SolidWorks World of the SWUGN leaders I have decided to become a co-leader of the WMSWUG (West Michigan SolidWorks User Group). I am extremely excited for this opportunity to be a part of this type of networking opportunity. I observed an absolute joy, excitement and overall passion for their groups from all of the user group leaders that I had the opportunity to meet last month in San Diego. I want to thank Fred Egge for accepting my offer to become a co-leader and I look forward to working with him to make this group the absolute best it can be.
For anyone that is interested in coming to our next meeting it is going to be March 11, 2008 and is currently planned to be at the Colonial Clock Building in Zeeland, Michigan (subject to change).
Posted in SolidWorks Community, WMSWUG | 4 Comments »
