Will there be a conference this year?
jluko said:Will there be a conference this year?
Your question is very timely. Yes, we are working on some things that will be most interesting... not just "a conference", there will be multiple thematic conferences this year. Public announcement, registration page, etc. is forthcoming, so stay tuned!
FWIW, check out this article regarding the topic.
I do love the unique Bentley worldview:
"Best of all, registration is complimentary as a benefit of your Bentley LEARN subscription".
"Don’t have a Bentley LEARN subscription? You can purchase one for $1,495 (USD) during registration."
Unknown said: I do love the unique Bentley worldview: "Best of all, registration is complimentary as a benefit of your Bentley LEARN subscription". "Don’t have a Bentley LEARN subscription? You can purchase one for $1,495 (USD) during registration."
Of course we all have $1,495 (USD) just lying around!! Barmy.
The sad part is that Bentley convened a group at the last BE to discuss what the users wanted. Bentley went in with their minds made up and wouldn't listen. These conferences are NOT what the users want. What we are hearing is the agenda for the Civil conferences are still 70% or so focused on MicroStation and not Civil. Plus classes will be trained by Bentley learn instructors instead of actual Civil Development employees as has been the past experience.
I sure miss the old Geopak conferences that were customer centric and relied on input from users and not some management folks that never use the product but think they have their finger on the pulse of users....
Hi Steve, I sat in on those meetings in Philadelphia (and the pre-meetings with Bentley management). Management actually did make quite a number of changes in what they were planning based on the input from the head of users groups in Denmark, Kansas, Nor Carolina, California and Sweden. The only thing that was in concrete going into the user meetings was that the big, central meeting in Philadelphia was going to go away as it had become way too expensive for 1000 attendees. The goal was to reform the meetings to at least double attendance at Bentley events while not disturbing the great user sponsored events like the mid continent meeting, NC's great annual event, the California BASHes and the big events in Europe and elsewhere. It is planned that there will be BSW attendees and Bentley executives at the upcoming meetings which were both requested at the Philadelphia meetings. Also, the input from the user heads was that there be some of all disciplines at each meeting because of the value of synergy. That is being accommodated as well. We have been involved in the California Bentley BASHes for 6 years. Bentley sends top, knowledgeable instructors like: Samir Haque for MicroStation, Steve Rick from Pro services, Jerry Flynn for rendering, Civil instructors from Huntsville, Ramir Legacion for plant and AECOsim, Dr Crawley for energy simulation, Bill DiGregorio for ProjectWise etc. I am sure these new regional, discipline flavored conferences will be even better. Click on the link in Phil's article above. We will be going to Phoenix since that is the closest. It will keep our travel costs way down from going to Philly (although I do enjoy the philly cheesesteaks) Best Regards, Tom Lazear
Unknown said:Management actually did make quite a number of changes in what they were planning based on the input from the head of users groups in Denmark, Kansas, Nor Carolina, California and Sweden. The only thing that was in concrete going into the user meetings was that the big, central meeting in Philadelphia was going to go away as it had become way too expensive for 1000 attendees.
Tom, I was at that meeting, and that was NOT a concrete item based on my recollection of the meeting. It may have already been decided behind closed doors that it was a done deal, and you were judging reaction, but I distinctly remember George and Shar saying "Nothing has been decided yet."
Thanks,
Shawn
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Per my recollection, the main points that came back from the user table were:
1) KEEP the central conference as we all end up going to other areas outside of our primary discipline. Without the other tracks, we don't have an opportunity to learn from others outside of our primary industry.
2) Get the conference out of Philadelphia, as per industry studies I have seen...Philly is the most expensive city to hold a conference in (all things taken in with hotel, travel, conference center fees, etc.)
3) Put it in smaller, centrally located city with a big hotel where we can all be in one place. US centric locations we suggested included Charlotte, San Antonio, St. Louis, Denver, Nashville, etc. History shows that thousands will fly to Huntsville, Alabama.
4) Keep a consistent schedule of events. Changing every year makes it hard for us to determine value, and to budget.