I attended the 10th Anniversary meeting of the San Antonio SolidWorks User Group last week, and while I have my own memories of the meeting, I think it was best reported by the group leader Jim Lowery.

So here it is, Jim's recap of this historic meeting:

At 5:30 the doors were opened and dinner was served; Fajitas from Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant, complete with Guacamole and all the trimmings.  Nadia Shea from MLC-Cad brought in two cakes plus cupcakes to join the small cake I had at the front of the room.  Let em eat cake, and eat we did.

At 6:00 Jim Lowery did a brief (1 hour long) trip down memory lane entitled SASUG History - The past 10 years flash before your eyes.  Every 5 minutes or so during the presentation a chime drifted down from the speakers in the ceiling.  This was the signal for another giveaway.  The prize wheel was turned and items were given to lucky attendees.  Beverage Insulators, Best buy gift cards, SolidWorks backpacks and a whole host of other gifts supplied by our Vars, Sponsors and SolidWorks.

A Special memento was given to each of our Past Presidents, Lila Theis, Anthony Gomez and Jim Lowery.  Richard Doyle presented the Group with a lovely engraved acrylic plaque congratulating our 10^th anniversary.  Tony Hargrove received the Outstanding Service award for his hard work making sure we all have plenty to eat at each meeting.  Our award for most presentations by a Reseller went to Chris Castle (formerly from MLC-Cad).  Our award for most presentations by a member went to Webb Schoenfeld.  Maybe it’s time for you to give a presentation.  Rapid Sheet Metal received an award for Longest Running Sponsor of our group.  They first sponsored our group in 1994.  Our final awards were for attendance.  If a presentation fell in the forest and no one showed up to hear it, would it make a sound?  Excellent attendance awards (20-29 meeting) went to   Lila Theis, Tom Lyons, Terry Morgan and Reggie Mckelvey.  Superior Attendance (30+ meetings) went to Tony Hargrove and Jim Lowery.  Reseller appreciation plaques were presented to the 3 resellers that do such an outstanding job supporting our group.  There was no red carpet but lots of awards.

At about 7:20 Jim stopped talking long enough to give everyone a break.  Time to dig into that cake and chat with friends in the SASUG group.

After the break Jim did a presentation for a new add in from Rapid Sheet Metal.  SolidQuote enables you to get an instant quote on a sheet metal part.  You can tweak the design to reduce cost and when you are ready it is easily converted to an order.

 For the final leg of the meeting Steve Darcey from Progression technologies took us through a detailed discussion of file management.

Please congratulate the winners of the 2012 SWUGN Awards!!

Michelle Pillers Community Award
Anna Wood - Phoenix Metro SolidWorks User Group

A long time member of the SolidWorks Community, Anna leads the Phoenix Metro SolidWorks User Group, is one of the top participants in the SolidWorks forums, and is owner/operator of RenderBay, LLC.  Anna's passion for helping others is quite evident, and she is very deserving of the award.

User Group of the Year
SolidWorks User Group of New York City

The largest city in the US (and one of my favorite cities in the world) was without a SolidWorks User Group until SWUGNYC was formed in February, 2011.  Since then, the group has grown in size with each meeting, has scheduled some very unique presenters and presentations, and has become a premier user group.  Group leader Matt Rohr is calm and laid back on the outside, but a ball of fire when it comes to SWUGNYC.

User Group Leader of the Year - Presented in Honor of Wayne Tiffany
Peter Fischer - Central Indiana SolidWorks User Group

Due in large part to the efforts of Peter, CISUG shattered attendance records in 2012 - not once, but twice.  A quite, unassuming man, Peter puts a ton of energy into the user group, and his interaction with his members is a sight to see.

Congratulations to all of our SWUGN Award winners, and thank you to all of the user group leaders and officers that help make SWUGN the best user community in the CAD industry.

Sunday at SolidWorks World just might be my favorite day.  Most of the attendees are showing up today - long time veterans and rookies alike.  The registration area is THE place to hang out on Sunday (at least until the CAD Managers Boot Camp), and the rotunda style lobby of the Dolphon hotel made for a nice place to meet and greet.

 
Sunday also means the CAD managers Boot Camp - 850 attendees signed up this year making it the fourth largest meeting at SolidWorks World (only the general sessions are larger).  Here's a before shot - I was elsewhere when the Boot Camp got started.

There are a lot of behind the scenes happenings on conference Sunday, but for me the day is one of meeting new friends, greeting old friends, and basking in the glow of what's coming up for the rest of the week.

On a side note - it looks like I will be getting a new phone.  My boss saw this one on the table as we prepared for a meeting, and politely suggested that it was a bit outdated.  Ya think?

SolidWorks Helpdesk - I'll be in touch.