My article, “Collaboration in a Multi-Disciplinary/Multi-Firm Environment,” goes in depth on different methods of saving, exporting, modifying, and sharing Civil 3D files with other software users such as older versions, vanilla AutoCAD (and AutoCAD LT), AutoCAD WS for the web and mobile platform, and Navisworks.

There is a small discrepancy in the article. In a set of images comparing two different file sizes, the same image was used twice where there should have been over a 50% increase in file size. Not a big issue, but it certainly doesn’t properly illustrate the concern I was trying to represent. Give it a read, soak it all in, and come back here to leave a comment and let me know what you thought of it. Thanks!

All the content from last year will be available again. However, if you took part in it, you’ll know that I added several bonus exercises to the course forum. Not only will that bonus material be posted, but I’ve created even more exercises and will offer them as well. In addition to the course material, though, I stay pretty active on the forum threads in order to answer any questions you might have during the run of the ATP course.

This extra material and Q/A opportunities will only be available on the AUGI ATP forum for the course and you’ll have to register in order to access it. If you are interested (and I hope you are), please follow this link to the AUGI ATP registration page in order to sign up for the ATP 259 “FIELD of Study” class. Also, if you aren’t a member of AUGI, register now for free here.

There is a lot more content to soak up than just results from the Salary Survey (although you could spend half a day going through the statistics of it).  Take some time to read through the issue and gather the great information AUGI offers.  Also, don’t forget to remember that AUGI is a volunteer organization and show some appreciation for the people who wrote the articles.  They did it on their own free time.  AUGI is always looking for new talent, too.  So the next AUGI World could include an article you wrote.

You can find the latest issue of AUGI World for download here.

There is a lot of great content in the issue and it was created and submitted, at least in part, by other drafters and designers like yourself.  If you feel you have something to offer for the next issue, don’t hesitate to contact AUGI and create your own article to be considered for inclusion.  You may not get paid anything for writing content for them, but you get a lot of industry visibility, gain experience in writing for a widespread publication, and receive some recognition and consideration that could help attain other endeavors such as technical writing opportunities and instructing at AU or at AUGI CAD Camps.

I hope you enjoy the read and you consider helping out AEC/EDGE with some content of your own.  It is a new resource from AUGI and I’m sure they would appreciate the help in making it a long-lasting success.

Maybe there was something you wanted to change or improve about the CAD software you’re using and you either didn’t know about the AUGI Wish Lists or just never got around to submitting it.  Well, now you know and count this as your reminder for the next submission cycle (that is until I actually put up a reminder closer to then).  Don’t let this opportunity go to waste, though.  Take the time to review the current ideas that your fellow drafters and designers have come up with.  Just remember, this stuff does matter, because Autodesk has implemented a very high percentage of these requests and made our lives just that much easier.

Make sure you review the submissions before voting so that you know exactly what features and improvements you are voting for.

AutoCAD Submissions:
http://forums.augi.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1033

AutoCAD Ballot:
http://www.augi.com/autocad/ballot.asp

Inventor Submissions:
http://forums.augi.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1035

Inventor Ballot:
http://www.augi.com/inventor/ballot.asp

Civil 3D Submissions:
http://forums.augi.com/forumdisplay.php?f=968

Civil 3D Ballot:
http://www.agi.com/civil3d/ballot.asp

Revit Submissions:
http://forums.augi.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1032

Revit Ballot:
http://www.augi.com/revit/ballot.asp

Voting ends early in the morning on Monday, November 23rd at 12:01 am, so make sure you gets your votes in before then.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Sep 03, 2009 – AUGI is pleased to announce an agreement that sets the stage for the 2010 AUGI CAD Camp season.

“We are very excited about our relationship with the team at AMI/Burns because of their extensive knowledge of technical events. They are based in San Francisco and
Loveland, CO., and have developed events for Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Nvidia, Oracle
and dozens of other high-tech companies and associations” says Mark W. Kiker, AUGI President. “We look forward to a vibrant renewal of our CAD Camps next year.”

CAD Camp has had a significant impact on the level of understanding of the Autodesk tools. They are one of the best training event values and are open to members and non-members alike. Each event promises to be innovative, invigorating, educational and spawn great ideas and relationships.

Tim Bostwick of AMI/Burns adds “We are excited about the brand recognition that these events already have. We expect 2010 to be a banner year for AUGI CAD Camp.”

Some of the immediate goals are to:
• Maintain affordable tuition levels at the 2008 level.
• Finalize the 2010 schedule to include prior cities and expand to new ones.
• Continue to offer world-class content for the camp series including national and local subject-matter experts.
• Revamp the augievents.com web site so that it serves our attendees better. The site will look better, contain a lot more information, and leverage the latest social media.
• Create a sustainable financial model for the camps that will insure their continued operation. The arrangement with AMI/Burns insures that AUGI management will have detailed financial and logistical information about how the camps are managed.
• Develop an expanded brand for the camps and extend the AUGI brand even further in the CAD marketplace.
• Increase the number of sponsors and exhibitors at each camp.

Read the rest of the press release.

Dario Passariello and Mark Kiker

I am impressed with the turnout from the International members of AUGI in getting Dario elected.  Although I didn’t know a whole lot about him, he had a lot of active participation on the Special Election Discussion Boards and seemed to have some good ideas on where AUGI needs improvement.

However, I am a little disappointed that my favorite to get elected, Ken Leary-AUGI’s current ATP Coordinator, didn’t get the votes necessary.  Good luck in you ongoing participation with the ATP crew, Ken.  I look forward to working with you again on another ATP course.

You can find the “formal press release” for the election results here.

When you are ready to vote, go to the elections pageand make your choices. They have some basic instructions on the page in case you had any questions about how the election was being handled. Get to voting and get involved in shaping the future of AUGI. We can’t all be on the board, but our choice for who should be a part of it affects the developments and involvement of AUGI.