2014 BE Conference

Will there be a conference this year?

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  • 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!

      

  • 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.

    Thanks,

    Shawn

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  • Speaking from the perspective of a company owner from the UK, I agree with everything Michael and Shawn have said. I have budgeted for both AU and BE (or whatever it's going to be called year on year) and if I had to choose one now I'd choose AU every time. Why?

    1. Consistency. The date, the location, the format is consistent. You know what you have to plan for and can sign off the budgets in December a year ahead,

    2, It's a conference (including BIM Management, CAD Management, Design, and peripheral subjects which might not seem directly relevant but can hold incredible insight) not a direct sales pitch. Note the emphasis on "a" conference (single).

    3. Most of the classes are led by users and are not software demos. I want a demo I can call up local sales guys and get them to come in without having to travel.

    4. It's relevant. Steve makes a good point. BE doesn't have the relevance any more - we haven't even known what the agenda is until it's too late the last few years.

    5. It's entertaining - gone are the days when we had evening events at the BE conference. There's no feeling of community any longer.

    6. Keynotes are inspiring. This last year we had Mars missions, Bot & Dolly, guitar designers. It's not directly relevant no, but it inspires. (Remember Nordstrom & Ridderstrale anyone? We still talk about that keynote now!)

    6. It's a community of international users. I see people at AU that I don't see otherwise. I need to meet those people to keep up with developments and understand my industry. I can't do that at local user groups - I'll go to those for free here in the UK, thanks - unless I travel to every event.

    That's why numbers are down at BE and why attendance AU increases year on year. It will take a couple of years to get back to "the glory days" as confidence has been damaged, but changing the format, the name, the location(s) again isn't the way to solve this.

    One event. One date. One location. Relevant. User-biased.

    Thank you and see you in 2014 (in Vegas if not, hopefully, before).

    Nigel

  • Amen!! So much for Bentley listening to users. Go through these communities and you will see many comments about how frustrating it is that information comes out so late, how many times the name changes, remember Learn and the Star rating??? Consistency is the key and Bentley moves support and planning around so much, it is impossible.

    Thanks for your comments and hopefully I will run into you at AU.  

  • My posts were not a knock on the individuals...my posts were in the spirit of full disclosure and to clarify what happened at that meeting as an attendee.

    Thanks,

    Shawn

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