Did Craig Beat Tom in the 3DXW24 Session Rankings?!
Over the past several years one or more of the ACS team has been invited to give a presentation regarding PDM or SOLIDWORKS at 3DEXPERIENCE World (and its predesessor SOLIDWORKS World). Every year we wait (im)patiently for our rankings, that tally of your votes that tell us if we were successful in presenting our material. We read through the comments, hope for encouraging words, and take constructive criticisms.
This year the ACS crew was part of three different sessions at 3DEXPERIENCE World 2024. We always enjoy these opportunities to connect with people and pass along some of the things that we have learned along the way. As we have said on many occasions, we aren’t here to take anyone’s job. We are here to make you as successful as possible in this very competitive business.
Making the Grade
The scores were all great! Although they no longer give an overall rating for each presentation, they do give us a breakdown of the questionnaires given to the attendees. The breakdown includes an average rating of the scores given to each of the seven questions asked of each attendee. It also gives us a list of the comments made on the questionnaires.
We will admit that there is a little bit of competitiveness when it comes to the scores…and a touch of ribbing from the one who won the higher result. This year was no different. This week we wanted to share with you those scores and let you know who “won” this year!
So, with no further ado, here are the scores! Here’s the list in order of lowest score to highest:
A Town Meeting of PDM Admins
Our “SOLIDWORKS PDM Roundtable” was a rousing success! Although it received the lowest score, it wasn’t too shabby! We received a 4.73 out of 5…not too bad! Many of the comments were very positive. The only negatives in the group were comments about the size of the room in comparison to the large number of people that attended (the third highest-attended Meetup session at 3DX24, by the way).
Roundtable sessions are inherently difficult. You can have a few people who will really engage with the material and unintentionally dominate the conversation. Conversely, you can have a room full of exhausted attendees that don’t give much feedback. That was NOT the case for our session. We had a lively conversation that included hand-raising polls and a variety of speakers from many different companies. Some enjoyed the open forum with many topics, while others wished for a few topics to have been covered in a presentation at the beginning of the session. Our favorite comment was: “Great initiative and fun with an open discussion on many topics.”
Herding Cats: User Management in PDM
OK, it’s not really like that…except for when it is.
The next highest score was for the session on “Effective Strategies for Managing Your User Base in SOLIDWORKS and PDM”. This session was presented by Tom Cote and our good friend Marty Ohnemus. This was a fun presentation with Tom discussing user management from a consultant perspective while Marty brought insights from implementing those management methods in a live environment. We personally enjoyed that interplay as we walked through the theory as it meets reality. It gave us an opportunity to help people understand the implementation of user management at Marty’s company (Knapheide) and at other companies we have worked with.
Tom and Marty enjoyed the next highest score, ranking 4.92 out of 5! We really thought that the presentation went well, but getting positive feedback from the attendees was amazing. The comments sections repeated the appreciation attendees had for the information we presented and how it was presented.
License to Thrill
Craig had a great group of people join him for his Wednesday morning session at 3DXW24 entitled “SOLIDWORKS License Essentials: A Comprehensive Guide”. This presentation was geared toward the PLM or CAD Admin tasked with managing the SOLIDWORKS and PDM licenses.
Anyone who deals with software license management knows that the topic is at best headache-inducing. However, it is critical for administrators to understand how different licensing works. There is a lot of information out there, but most people need someone to help them cut to the chase. That was the thought behind this session, to help people better understand SOLIDWORKS licensing and its management. Craig Lalumiere spent hours studying to add to his already extensive knowledge. The result was a presentation that was meaningful and helpful to all who attended!
While licensing can be a difficult subject, attendees were thrilled with this presentation! This presentation received the highest marks that a presenter can get: a perfect 5 out of 5! Don’t think that Craig wasn’t quick to give Tom some grief about that! Never mind that his score is only 0.08 points higher than Tom’s. Craig received kudos on the timing and organization of the presentation and the content.
Getting Ready for Next Year in Houston
We really enjoyed the 3DEXPERIENCE World 2024! It had great sessions, and the ACS team got the chance to connect with amazing people. It is always good to connect with our colleagues from around the world as we all work to improve this awesome community of technical experts.
We hope that those of you who attended the sessions presented by Tom and Craig got a lot out of it! The feedback on our sessions was great and will help us to continue to bring relevant and informative presentations to 3DEXPERIENCE World and our user groups.
We look forward to being a part of the 3DEXPERIENCE World 2025. If you haven’t attended one yet, start planning to join us in Houston next year. You will NOT regret it!
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