AU: Day 0, or Media and Their Briefs ...

It's Day 0 here at AU 2010, and it's already been great and busy!

When last I checked in my motto was "Las Vegas or Bust Baby!" Well I made it all the way to Las Vegas with only minor busts. In fact there was only one complication in the form of a snow storm in Flagstaff, Arizona. Never the less I arrived in Las Vegas around lunch time undaunted even if a bit tired. I think you will all be interested in my "In the car" content when I get it posted.

Yesterday I had planned to get checked in, register at the AU desk and then come back to the room and do work for the office back home. You know, because when I am away from work I always bring work with me. Luckily I took a shower before leaving the room so I wouldn't smell like 26.5 hours of driving because I ran into SO many people on the way to registration. Of course I ran into Shaan Hurley. I also saw Lee Ambrosius and Kate Morrical. Then I ran into my good friends from Digital School. Since I am working on a project for them I naturally hung out a bit. That got me in to see the Exhibit Hall early! It was awfully neat to see all of the exhibits being put together. Sure it was sort of like watching the sausage being made, but that has never stopped me before. I felt like such an insider.

You may think that I was a good little drafter and went back to the room to work. In reality what I did was go to dinner with the Canadians to discuss the product that they have come to launch at Autodesk University called "Global e-Training". I have to say that GeT is looking like a pretty well rounded approach to resource training. One of the team referred to it as a "Course that is a Resource". Nice wording. (That's why I just stole it.)

Finally I did get all the work done and uploaded, then it was off to the media briefing sessions. First off, it is so great to be thought of when the good folks organizing the event made the list. I'd like to thank each one of them. As for the sessions they were all fantastic. Too fantastic to go into detail (I have to get this done so I can hit the Blogger's Social).

One of the real standout was Brian Mathews from Autodesk Labs. I find that it is rare to meet a person who has a true visionary quality about them but is also capable of communicating with mere mortals. Yet this is what Mr. Mathews somehow manages. Some of the technologies he showed were pretty stunning as was the validity of his "7 Technology Trends" presentation content. This is a man whose session you want to be in. I am currently trying to wrangle my way into one now.

Naturally the Media and Entertainment division information was fascinating. Marc Petit and his team continue to create the tools creatives use to create the content we consume. Did I lose you? No, good. He spoke about the work that is being done in the movie and game markets as well as other entertainment fields. I was really impressed by the product called People Power that is used to animate crowds. Very interesting stuff. In fact I felt that Autodesk should combine HomeStyler with People Power to create some sort of Sims-like game for CAD and engineering professionals.

Along those lines was a tease we got from the Manufacturing group headed by Buzz Kross. What can get me so excited? Only an awesome little game/physics simulation app for the iOS called TinkerBox! This game/puzzler looked so good that I am nearly (nearly!) ready to get an iPad. That's how great it was. The basic premise is a situation in which you use building components to create an environment to achieve a goal. Vague much? Let's just say that I really think TinkerBox could be the next Angry Birds. Yeah, I said it.

It's really not fair to single some content or speakers out from the rest, they were all fantastic. Hey, I didn't even nod off. And if you know me, that is really saying something for me to stay awake in a dark room for a meeting/presentation of any kind.

Many thanks to the Autodeskers who made it possible for me to attend the media briefings. I've had a blast and have a little notebook full of great information for future posts. Now, off to the Blogger's Social ...

- KFD -