Archive for July, 2008

In last week’s post we discussed how to build a good committee.  Now that you’ve got your best folks together, how do you ensure that progress is actually made at your meetings?  Find out after the jump.

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Dana called me yesterday with some exciting news.

She has accepted a full-time position with Autodesk as a Technical Marketing Manager!

She starts August 11. (Her last EE duty with be the EECast on 8/6).

Autodesk seems to have a penchant for liking what EE has, as this is the second time they’ve hired from the EE ranks! Should I be angry with them for lessening our team? I suppose I could, but I’d rather take it as a compliment that they recognize EE as the best in the industry. If someone is leaving EE, Autodesk is the place to go.

Of course Dana has been a great partner over the years, and her contributions to EE have been outstanding. I could go on about how talented she is, how much she loves sharing what she knows, and how she has helped so many people get to know Civil 3D . However, nearly all of you have read one of her posts here,  attended a class she taught, or read the Mastering Civil 3D book and there’s nothing much I could say that you don’t already know.

I will share one tidbit. Way back when the Civil 3D Implementation Certified Expert (ICE) program was first started, Dana was working for a reseller and was a student in one of ICE classes I was teaching. At the time, she, like everyone else in the room, knew so very little about Civil 3D. Unlike everyone else though, she was full of questions, digging in and trying to truly understand not only the product but how implementation impacts the end users. At one point she asked me about how the Implementation Process jived with 6 Sigma business management strategies and I knew then that this was no ordinary AE.

My how things have changed since that day. From total newbie to one of the most-read, most-talented sources of info on all-things Civil 3D, Dana truly is one of the best.

Even though there will no longer be a formal relationship between Dana and EE, the personal relationships we’ve developed should and will endure. Please be sure to wish her well.

Congrats and good luck Dana!

Mark Scacco

As the end of July nears and we move toward August, many of us begin to think about AU. What will it be like this year? What about the classes?

Would you like to get a sneak peek at the classes??

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Have a blog related to C3D? I’m teaching a class called, “The Best of the Blogs,” at AU. Think your blog has the chops? Then I want to make sure you are in there! Drop me an email, james.wedding@ this domain. See you in Vegas!

Oh, and thanks wordpress for making an iPhone client.

In last week’s post we arrived at the conclusion that a standards committee is a necessary evil. In next week’s post I hope to help you discover that standards committees really don’t have to be evil at all and can actually be quite helpful and essential to the process. For now, though, lets talk about how to build a good committee.

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The next three EECasts are now open for registration.

Corridors Can Be Pretty Too 
2008-07-23 12-1 EDT

Creating Better Sections: Using Styles to Reduce Tedious Tasks 
2008-07-30 12-1 EDT

Rules of Parcels Explained 
2008-08-06 12-1 EDT

Check out these upcoming free presentations as well as recordings of past session by following this link.

Enjoy!

I frequently receive requests to label coordinates in Civil 3D. This can be done, but only with a point label or with an alignment label. To add in the surface elevation requires reference text. Follow the link to see the style that I created to do this as well as an image of the style.

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For those who missed Wednesday’s EECast Get Smart: Intelligent Grading with Civil 3D, the recorded version is now available and can be found here.

Thanks to all who attended and thanks in advance to all who view the recording.

In last week’s post we finished up our discussion on company support, top to bottom.  If you’re certain that you have the backing of management, and at least most of your users are on board with the concept of standardizing your company, it’s time to get started building your new company standards.  Before we go on, I just have to emphasize the importance of this one more time.  DO NOT PROCEED without this support.  It will be an exercise in futility.  If you spend months building company standards only to have a PM dismiss them for personal preference, then it was all in vain.

So you’re at a crossroads.  It’s time to start compiling and building and refining your company standards and you have two choices.

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In my first post in this new Engineering 101 series, I talked about determining runoff rates (Q) using the Rational Method. That post ended like any good summer blockbuster, leaving open the possibility for a sequel. We’ll, unlike the years you spent waiting for the new Batman sequel, this next post in Rational Method Saga arrives only a couple weeks after the first post (sorry, I was our of town last week!). Read the rest of this entry »