Civil3d.com is the leading independent AutoCAD Civil 3D related blog on the internet. While some of the authors work for resellers, most are users, just like you. Since I’ve joined Autodesk in May of 2010, I’ve stepped back into an Editor role, merely keeping the bills paid and the lights on.
I’ve been asked a number of times how I wound up with civil3d.com, so here’s the Reader’s Digest version. At one of the earliest gunslingers for the product, a name hadn’t even been chosen yet. As part of the weeks activities, they ran a number of names by us, as they had been with focus groups and other members of industry. The product was simply called Vine at this point, and this was the 2004 release cycle.
On the last day of Gunslinger meetings, there is typically about two hours of open dialog, “What did you like? What didn’t you like? What’s still missing? What’s your favorite new tool?” type stuff. There have been some spectacular rants during these meetings, and some good smackdowns. It has never gotten ugly, but I think tense would be a fair assessment.
During this particular wrap-up session, someone comes in to announce they’ve chosen a name. Civil3d. I’m sitting at a computer, so my immediate reaction is www.civil3d.com. And what appears? A blank holding page? An Autodesk logo? Nope. This. Mining software. (Thanks Internet Archive!) Are you kidding me? Don’t you people Google? I was dumbfounded, but that’s the way it was.
Fast-forward to January of 2006. I’m telling this story to a Jason Hickey, laughing as I type www.civil3d.com, expecting the same thing. Instead, up comes a “This Domain for Sale” page. Done. Bought, and now blogged. And no, Autodesk has never asked for it back, or offered to buy it. Bentley on the other hand….
Over the past few years, this blog has seen it’s share of authors: me, Nick Zeeben, Jason Hickey, Dana Probert, Mark Scacco, Joshua Modglin, Eric Chappel, Matt Kolberg, Matt Anderson, Chris Fugitt, and now we’re adding more. Thanks for being part of the community, and let us know if there’s something we can do to make Civil3d.com better.
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