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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Thanks to everyone who attended today’s EECast and to all those who registered but were unable to attend.

We will present this same topic, Get Smart: Intelligent Grading with Civil 3D, next week in an encore presentation. If you missed it or had technical difficulties this week, please join us on July 16 at 12pm EDT.

Register for free by following this link.

Enjoy!

I spent the earlier part of this week at an Autodesk Developer’s Camp. For portions of three days, we were presented information on working with different Autodesk product API’s (Application Programming Interface). During the process much about the future of software development was discussed. Would you like to know more?

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Part of a new occasionally recurring series, my friends Dave Simeone and Dan Philbrick have agreed to answer five interview questions from the Civil3d.com audience. Submit your best question as a comment, and we’ll edit and pass them along for their written answers. This might take a while to get back, but we hope to see future versions with other members of the Autodesk (and other CE industry folks even) team that perhaps you’re less familiar with.  Be nice and be professional if you want your question used! This doesn’t mean you have to throw softballs, but don’t expect flames to be passed along.

Follow the jump and post your questions!

The EE CivilAccess calendar of training classes is now online and available to all CA clients. If you’re looking to train your staff all year long for less than a single class would cost at the usual sources, shouldn’t you look at CivilAccess too?

Check out the schedule by clicking the Training page above, and visit this page to see the full scope of CA services and get a preliminary cost. Less than $595 per person, live unlimited training from the people who wrote the book on Civil 3D, ready when you are.

What’s not to like?

In case you don’t read Between the Lines, Shaan Hurley’s superior blog on Autocad and all thing related, he’s been promoted (lateral moved?) to the position of PSEB Evangelist. In his words, “This means I get to concentrate more on the customers, the products, and solutions in the design world.”

Guy Kawasaki was one of the first tech evangelists in his role with Apple. His ability to communicate what the company was up to and relate to the everyday user made him an important part of their success, and in my opinion, really contributed to the Cult of Mac that exists today.

There are few people really up to the role of evangelist. To succeed, they have to have the respect of the user community, the ear of the development team, the backing of management, and the tech chops to play with the best. I’ve known Shaan for a decade plus now, and his honest enthusiasm for Autodesk and their products backed with his role in the community makes him the perfect candidate. Congratulations again, Shaan.

So next week, it’s AE migration to the Anatole in Dallas for Autodesk Tech Camp 2008. Since Sybex publishing loves to see you guys using Mastering for classes, they were kind enough to send me a box full to distribute to some lucky campers. Have one already? Take it home anyway, give it to a client!

Here’s the deal: Wander by the Anatole’s tequila bar, La Esquina, when you’re done with class on Tuesday. Hang out, have a drink, answer some C3D trivia, you’ve got a book. Don’t need a book? Don’t like tequila? Come watch your peers try to answer some devious trivia, and enjoy the fun! See you there!

From PK’s blog, posted without comment:

Pete Kelsey’s contribution over the past two years at Autodesk as worldwide evangelist for Civil 3D has provided him a unique perspective on customer needs and the transition challenges to model-centric workflows. He contributed mightily to the success in building worldwide awareness of Civil 3D. In his new role as AEC Key Accounts Technical Manager Pete will focus on the top AEC firms within North America. With the adoption rate of Civil 3D really accelerating it is clear that Pete’s focus should now shift from evangelizing Civil 3D to helping some of Autodesk’s biggest customers maximize their return on investment.

What’s your take?

I’ll be teaching a pre-conference workshop on Tuesday April 22, 2008 at the DE GIS Conference in Dover, DE. The Conference itself is on Wednesday, April 23, and is always a great program. I’ll be attending the conference as well. If you hustle up and register by April 4, the conference is only $90, and add $20 for the pre-conference workshops. I’d say that’s a STEAL, wouldn’t you?

I’ll be giving away two (2!) copies of Mastering AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008. So bring your business card!

GIS for Civil Engineers and Land Development Professionals in the CAD Environment (Dana Probert, Engineered Efficiency)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 1:00pm - 4:00 pm

Learn more about the Pre-Conference Workshops here:

http://www.degis.org/workshops.html

Read below for my agenda (which is also on the Workshops page)

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Yep, some things are near certain. It’s February, it’s World Press Day, and it’s release time. Over the next few weeks and months as we get close to the actual release of a Civil 3D 2009 Product, we’ll be bringing you the highs and lows of the 2009 version. We got at least pseudo clearance to WRITE about Civil 3D 2009 today, but I’m still not convinced we’re allowed to TALK about it. Yeah, it’s a confusing mess, but hey, since I have it in writing from someone that should know, we’re rolling with it. Read on past the jump to get the good, the bad, and the ugly highlights of Civil 3D 2009.

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