I finish my recap of the events of Autodesk University 2009.

Thursday was the last and final day of Autodesk University 2009. Although it had a been a long week of being busy all day and meeting people all night I have to say that I was sad to see it end. Of course, that is not to say that the last day of AU ended with a fizzle. No, in fact it was definitely the height of activity for the whole week.

After attending two certification overview sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, I was very excited to go down and take my Autodesk Certification exams. I have to admit that had it not been for the support and encouragement of great instructors like Eddie Johnson, Steve Butler (both from COINS) and Nancy Tremblay (Autodesk) I probably never would have done the deed. However, Eddie, Steve, and Nancy were not the only ones working hard to get people certified. The organizers and proctors down in the certification lab were working hard also. These dedicated people were working long hours doing some thankless tasks to get as many AU attendees as possible certified. Since attendees were able to go down and take advantage of this hard work, free of charge, I decided that I had to take the plunge also. But more about that later.

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 ...

The last day of AU was not all about taking tests. I had the pleasure of attending some very informative sessions covering BIM in the world of Civil, GPS controlled machine grading, and drainage. Now that may not sound terribly exciting to the average person, but to a down-in-the-trenches AutoCAD Civil 3D user like me, that was just fine. I also found some time to go down to the Exhibit Hall and really get a good look at things and interview a few people on camera. If there is just nothing else going on at AU, you can always find something interesting at the Exhibit Hall. I plan to write a post soon concerning some interesting vendors I saw. In addition, I also have some video content I plan to post soon.

In the end, it all came down to the last day party. Whether you go to the main AU party or break off into one of the little side events to celebrate a week of CAD learning, everyone lets their hair down on the last night. Personally, I attended the main party. While I am not going to wax poetic on the planning of the event or the decoration, I will say that I love any party that has Chinese food on tap! Of course, there were many people to chat with and say goodbye to. It is somewhat amazing how many people you can meet in three days. After all of that it was a real treat to just sit for a while, have a drink and listen to some terrible karaoke. Well to be fair there actually were a couple of good singers. Well … one.

Visit our AU 2009 gallery for more photos ...

After the AU party, I decided to hang out with some great people that I had met over the course of the week. It is not too terribly often that I am feeling social, but how can you help but want to social in Las Vegas? I had a good time chatting with people at some of the bars in the Mandalay, the House of Blues, the Minus 5 bar and just hanging out in the casino. Everywhere you turned there was a friendly face with one of those silly, huge AU nametags on. It was definitely huge gather of CAD superheroes.

On Friday, my week in Las Vegas ended, as all things must. The week had been long and tiring but also terribly fruitful. I met so many people that I had a good bit of trouble keeping them all straight in my head along with the information from my sessions. In fact, I think I must surely have had to forget something in order to make room up there for it all. Even though it had snowed in Houston on Friday morning, I and my bag of AU swag were only slightly delayed.

I got certified, you should too ...

Just like AU’s before this and those yet to come, this year’s AU was fantastic. Good food, good people and a good reason to get together. These are the reasons that people come from around the world to attend this gathering. I left Las Vegas better for the sessions I had taken and the people I had met. From the great instructors to the crazy bunch of British people I met after the party they were all great and interesting people. I came away with from AU with great lessons, great memories and a certified AutoCAD Professional! Not to mention all the free stuff I was able to snag.

To everyone I met and spent time with at AU 2009, thanks for making my week fantastic. I will be seeing you all at AU 2010 …

 - KFD -