No, I don’t mean it’s a deeply emotional experience, however true that may be for certain CAD geeks (who will remain nameless to protect the dorky). What I mean is that it’s moving in the fourth dimension, and possibly the other three too. This will be no news for several hundred of you, but it might be handy to know for those of us who need to plan things like this well in advance.
A couple of months ago, when I was pondering the possibility of speaking at Autodesk University 2008, I registered using the on-line form and was intrigued to see that there was a question that revealed that AU 2009 is planned for late June 2009, rather than the usual November/December timeframe. The location was TBA, rather than Las Vegas. Although anybody could fill in that form and obtain that information, and although I can’t recall any secrecy provisions in the form-filling process, I decided to keep this inside information to myself anyway. That probably makes me a pretty weak investigative journalist, but I can live with that. Anyway, I have since seen it discussed in public, which makes it fair game to reveal here.
How does holding AU 2009 in late June work for you? Do you think it will be held in Las Vegas again? Bear in mind that the sheer size of this event limits the number of suitable locations. Where would you like it to be held?
In related news for the long-term planners among us, the schedule outline of AU 2008 has been posted here.
I thought it was at Vegas for the next few years. Since I generally combine it with a holiday I’d like to see it move around. I suppose it has to be in the USA so maybe (based solely on places I’d like to visit);
New York, Chicago, Hawaii, Seattle, Washington.
I’ve never been able to attend AU because of the timing. Late November/early December is one of the busiest times for my company; so moving it to June, when I might actually be able to get away from the office for a week, would be much better for me.
Hi Steve,
We added the question to the speaker form to gage interest for moving AU to June. Response has been very postive to the new date. However, turns out Vegas is in high demand in June and the cost would go up be several hundret $$ per attendee. At this point, location and date for AU 2009 are not confirmed.
BTW – Nov 5-6, 2008 – We will have AU China // Shanghai
Joseph, thank you for the clarification.
NOT Orlando again. What a disaster.
I’ve been to AU several times and I thought Orlando was great. Much less walking and you didn’t have to walk through trashy casino cocktail waitresses to get to class. Orlando is my first choice. If you like the Vegas atmosphere, what about Lake Tahoe? Similar Vegas experience but much much nicer. Or maybe meet somewhere in the middle…Dallas, TX maybe? What if they broke it up, one on the west coast and one on the east coast?
I used to atttend AU often, but not so often now that it has been held in Vegas. I, too, would like to see it at a different location for 2009. I have enjoyed attending in Dallas, San Francisco, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and other locations in the past. I also would opt for a date during the summer, probably in late June, rather than so closely on the heels of Thanksgiving and during the preparation for Christmas.
Whom cares were The University is held. In my book, education comes first and fun is not an option when spending someone elses money for training. When attending the University at San Francisco, I found I knew more about MEP then the instructors. Prior attending, I had re-written their pipe data sets to real world west coast Pipe manufaturer specifications with sizes up to 144″. DIP, HDPE, Steel, Conc-Reinforced, Spirolite, Victaulic glass lined, just to mention some. Talk about disappointed to find these people new less about their own product than I did. Also some of the fittings are bolgus to this day. When asked a question the answer was, “It will be taken care of in our next release” or “I’ll get back with you later”. So, you see, location is not an issue to me. Finding a class that suits my needs and finding people that can answer questions without side stepping or himhawing is the ticket for me.
Orlando, definitely. Cleaner, no gambling, no smoking – still very “grown-up” friendly.