BLAUGI Blog of Autodesk User Group International

2008 Top DAUG Winners got Free Passes to AU2009

The 2008 Top DAUG "Free Passes to AU2009"  have been awarded.  Autodesk provided two free passes last year to the winner of the competition and the winner of the T-shirt design.

In 2008, AUGI introduced the T-shirt design shown here. The winning design, submitted by Ken Chenault, was printed on the t-shirts that were distributed to all AU attendees who tried their hands at the challenge. 

When Ken received his award he commented, "AUGI is “Top DAUG” for sending me to AU for FREE! "

The 2008 challenge introduced a new "in-product" feature. With the help of CADLearning and CADsmart, AUGI was able to design a challenge that tested both knowledge and skill, resulting in a group of well-rounded finalists.

The finalists then competed in the second stage, a head-to-head shoot-out. This portion of the contest took a unique twist in 2008 as well, presenting the finalists with the challenge of creating a drawing from the command line only; they we not able to see their drawing screen until the end of the contest.

While no one got it perfect, the drawing submitted by Charles Prettyman was the most accurate.

As the 2008 Top DAUG, Charles received an HP GPS and a free pass to AU 2009.  Ken had the winning design and also received a free pass.

We look forward to the T-shirt design competition and the Top DAUG challenge at AU2009.

AUGI 2009 Special Election Results

The AUGI Board of Directors is pleased to announce the election results of the 2009 special election.

After 14 days of voting and a flurry of votes in the final days, the official results of the AUGI Board of Directors Election are available.  Each of four candidates were considered and voted on individually. The two candidates with the highest number of positive votes were elected to serve on the AUGI Board of Directors 2009/2010.

We are happy to welcome a returning director and one new board member to the Board.

Mark Kiker and Dario Passariello.

This election cycle resulted in more than 57 countries voting via individual members for their favorite candidates. It is no surprise that this International organization has once again elected an international representative to the board of directors.

Following in the footsteps of current director, Bill Adams, and former director, Mike Perry, is our newest internationally based director: Dario Passariello from Italy. Please join us in welcoming Dario to the board.

Receiving the highest number of votes is our current President, Mark Kiker. Please congratulate Mark on his reelection to the AUGI Board of Directors.

Departing Members:

Now that the elections are completed, we bid farewell to two board members. We wish them well, hope that they stay connected and thank them for their years of service.

Chris Lindner - served for over 6 years of collective time as he served several terms and appointments for the AUGI Board. His dedication to seeing member programs expand was seen as he oversaw the ATP program, Top DAUG and others.

Steve Stafford - served for one term and completed it with a flurry of activity crowned by the publication of AUGI AEC Edge. Steve's skills and network of industry leaders allowed AUGI to create the newest publication. If you ask him, it was a long process, but rewarding for our members in the AEC industry.

Chris and Steve served extended terms until the elections addressed the ongoing makeup of the board.

We are glad that they served, worked and became friends to all the board members and many of you. They will be missed.

AUGIWorld Magazine - Issue 3 - 2009 - Published!

In this issue of AUGIWorld:

Beyond the Base: Extensions and Third-Party Applications - This issue of AUGIWorld features a number of articles devoted to extensions and third-party products available for popular Autodesk products. You'll get usage tips and learn how these products complement the base Autodesk software you use every day.

A Boost from Google SketchUp - For users of AutoCAD Architecture, Google SketchUp allows for easy 3D model creation, editing, and sharing. Import and export of files in AutoCAD Architecture is a snap. Melinda Heavrin reports.

Destination CAD - The CAD Manager, Mark Kiker, leads you on a journey to the ideal CAD environment. See CAD Standards, Learning and Training, Software Tools, Upgrades, and other elements perfected..

Making the Leap to .NET - Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is aging. In this article, Lee Ambrosius shows you how to transition to VSTA and .NET.

Revit Structure Extensions - Author Robert Coutu describes the extensions available for Autodesk Revit Structure and shows you how to use them. More productive project work is just around the corner.

Click Here to download the AUGIWorld Issue 3 / 2009 issue.

Archived ATP Courses

Three months after the ATP courses are completed, course materials are posted on the Archived ATP Courses page.

Here you can download the course segments. Because the courses posted in the ATP Archives are completed and closed, course instructors are not available to answer questions about the course work.

Maybe you just joined a team using an older release or just moved to a newer release that is not the 2010 version.

We have the classes all the way back to 2004. You can still download classes from older versions of the software like:

ATP 188 - What's New in AutoCAD 2008
Start Date: Monday, April 9, 2007
Have you been wondering what's new in AutoCAD 2008? This class will introduce the new and improved features of AutoCAD 2008.

Or maybe you just missed a prior class and were wondering where to download the course. Sort by the dropdown list and check out the archives.

Check it all out here.

Special Election Polls Closing...

The AUGI 2009 Special Election Polls are closing soon!

We have four candidates on the slate. Only two seats are open for the Board.

Just a few days remain to cast your votes for candidates running for open positions on the AUGI Board of Directors. Become familiar with the candidates and cast your vote. The ballot is a Ranked Ballot. Each person on the ballot is voted on individually. The two candidates with the highest number of YES votes will be elected to the Board.

NOTE: You must have been a member of AUGI for at least 30 days prior to the close of nominations (May 24, 2009) to be able to vote in this year's Board of Directors election.

Voting closes at 12:01am (U.S. Central timezone) on July 12th.

Your Vote Counts!

Vote Now

Review the Candidates perspectives on the AUGI Board Candidates Discussion Forum