What happened in Chicago...

A brief postscript to my recent visit to Chicago, where I attended the inaugural KA-Connect Knowledge management conference. The team at Knowledge Architecture have been posting some of the presenter videos recorded over the two days, onto their website.

Here is mine: http://ka-connect.com/talks.php?vdx=48.

The funny thing about my presentation was that I had the very last slot on day 2. It's fair to say that of my Pecha Kucha session - 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide - about 75% of what I had to speak about, had already been covered at some point during the previous 35 talks! So much of what you see here is delivered on the fly. :)

There were some terrific presenters during the course of the 2 days. Here are some of my favourites:

Laurie Dreyer, head of HR at US design firm Anshen + Allen (34 mins long, but frankly unmissable viewing!): http://ka-connect.com/talks.php?vdx=40.

John Moebes, Director of Construction at Crate+Barrel, with a fascinating insight into what owners expect from their design, engineering and construction partners:
http://ka-connect.com/talks.php?vdx=2.

Michael Kilkelly, Associate at Gehry Partners, gives us a look behind the scenes of one of the world's leading design firms: http://ka-connect.com/talks.php?vdx=57.

KA-Connect 2011 takes place in San Francisco, in April 2011.

R

EYC CAD Managers Forum - summer 2010

I'll be joining the EYC team at this summer's CAD Managers Forum in London, later this month.

See link for full details: http://www.eatyourcad.com/resource.php?resource_id=1676

The meeting takes place on June 30, at Buro Happold's Newman Street offices, from 10am to 4.30pm.

There are two main topics on the agenda; I'll be talking about the effects of the recession (isn't it over yet??) and what lessons we may have learned. The afternoon session looks at BIM contracts, technology and deliverables.

All in all, it promises to be an excellent forum. Tickets are just £50, to cover EYC's costs, so be sure to book your slot - and I look forward to seeing you in London.

R

Coming up in KS..

Just back from a very enjoyable few days in Philadelphia, attending an excellent Bentley conference, Be Together. The keynotes were thought-provoking, the seminars plentiful, the after-hours activities stimulating and the live zone format worked a treat. Slightly earlier promotion of the event next time, coupled with a bit more time between sessions, and it's a winner.

Anyway, I digress. The point of this post is to shed some light on what's coming up on the KS dev side over the summer period. Our technical roadmap has always been, I think it's fair to say, a somewhat fluid affair. We regularly receive tremendously bright feedback from our user-base, which has a direct impact on our delivery schedules. (Especially the really good ideas, when I ask the team, 'Why didn't we think of that!?' ;) ).

So, here's what we're working on over the next 2-3 months, in rough priority order;

System architecture

- Options for admins to deploy test files locally.
- More searching fields in the results look-up area of the dashboard.
- Additional charting options and export of results feature.
- Individual dashboard login for users to track their own test history and results, training recommendations and coaching notes.
- Improved content management tools, for accounts with large question libraries.
Additional benchmark data and statistics for OTS (off-the-shelf) tests.

We're currently working on the following test modules, which will be going live between June and September;

Test Libraries

- MicroStation v8i 2D for occasional users
- AutoCAD 2D for occasional users
- MicroStation v8i 3D fundamentals
- Design Review
- Bentley View
- 3ds Max 2011 (4 modules; Fundamentals, Rendering, Modeling and Maps & Materials)
- Revit MEP (1st of 3 modules)
- Bentley GEOPAK (1st of 4 modules)
- Bentley InRoads (1st of 4 modules)
- Rhino
- Adobe Photoshop
- Google Sketchup
- Bentley ProjectWise
- Bentley Navigator (1st of 2 modules)
- Bentley Structural Modeler
- Civil 3D (1st of 4 modules)

Towards the end of the year, we'll be turning our attention to analysis tools, including; Navisworks Manage, Ecotect, GBS, Hevacomp and IES VE. Bentley RAM and Bentley Map are also coming up more in conversation, so we'll endeavour to squeeze those two in somewhere as well!

As with all technical wish-lists, it's a constant juggle of time and money. With respect to our content libraries, I fear we might have a job for life in attempting to deliver quality test material across such a broad product base! Our challenge is principally that of, 'do we go wide or deep?' i.e. do we attempt to add a wide number of test topics with relatively small question libraries, or do we offer less topics, with greater numbers of questions for each? In truth, there is no right or wrong answer, hence the perpetual juggling act. As in all things we do, the answer ultimately lies with our customers; 'What do they want us to do?', is the question which shapes our ultimate roadmap.

As anyone who develops software or learning material will attest, the job is never truly finished. There will always be a new product update, or a change in technology, or a change in industry direction, or a change in vendor strategy, or yet another acquisition, the list goes on.

Whilst we're pleased with the progress we've made in the arena of CAD, BIM & engineering software skills testing, over the past 7 years or so, I sometimes feel that we're just getting started! The industry has changed rapidly over the past couple of years, impacted in considerable fashion by the twin effects of BIM adoption and economic hardship. And so, inevitably, the technology roadmap for AEC firms has been impacted.

As always, if you have any suggestions, ideas, requests for test content or general feedback, we'd love to hear them. Our own roadmap is, after all, in your hands! :)

R

KnowledgeSmart sponsors Be Together

KnowledgeSmart have signed as Associate sponsors at the Bentley Systems' user conference, Be Together, which takes place in Philadelphia next month.

This is a new format for Bentley, with multiple session tracks, covering a variety of AEC and Infrastructure topics; www.bentley.com/en-US/Community/BE+conference/Agenda.htm.

Sponsors find themselves in new territory this year, in the form of a series of exhibitor 'Zones', each focusing on a different area of technology. These are; Modeling & analysis, Visualization, Intelligent Deliverables, CAD Management, Technology Futures and Knowledge Resources. All zones are linked by the Collaboration zone.

KnowledgeSmart will be featuring our new online skills testing tools for CAD, BIM and Engineering software, situated in the Knowledge Resources zone.

In particular, we'll be presenting tools for skills testing across the following Bentley Systems' products; MicroStation 2D fundamentals, MicroStation for occasional users, MicroStation 3D fundamentals and Bentley Architecture v8i fundamentals, plus a preview of our new Bentley InRoads and Bentley GEOPAK assessments, which go live in the Fall.

Come and say hello to the team, if you're planning to attend. We might even treat you to a Philly Cheesesteak!

Rory

KA Connect - a new kind of Tribe

Just back from an enjoyable trip to Chicago, where we sponsored and presented at the inaugural KA Connect, knowledge management conference.

Thanks to Chris P and the team at Knowledge Architecture for hosting what was the most enjoyable and useful conference I've been to in a long time.

What set KA Connect apart from most events was the format. Taking Seth Godin's theme of creating a Tribe (http://www.sethgodin.com/) and combining it with Derek Sivers' 'Shirtless Dancing Guy' discussion on TED.com about how to start a movement;(http://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement.html?awesm=on.ted.com_8EPn).

The event, over 2 days, zipped along at a fair old pace. With 36 presenters, covering a range of KM angles, there was a smorgasbord of good ideas.

Particular highlights for me were;

- John Moebes from Crate & Barrel, discussing a new process for design-bid-build. This is the future of construction clients.

- Justin Quimby from Quimby Heavy Industries, with insights on how the AEC industry can learn lessons from the gaming sector.

- Michael Kilkelly from Gehry Partners, showcasing the way model-making impacts on their high-end designs (plus a bit of AutoCAD :) )

- Darren Rizza from Satellier, on why it's OK to whack a sacred cow with a stick once in a while!

- Pete Walsham from Axomic, comparing most architects to peasants (from a digital asset management pov).

- John Soter from ZweigWhite, with some parables about monkeys.

- Laurie Dreyer from Anshen + Allen, who brought the house down with her 'dinosaur lessons' and hilarious take on life from a HR & Learning professional's perspective.

Chicago was a perfect venue for this event. The Architecture is breathtaking, the weather was surprisingly temperate and the evenings were a blast (thanks in part to some rather stunning Russion Imperial stout!).

Next year's KA Connect event is already being lined up to take place in San Francisco. Keep an eye out on http://www.ka-connect.com/ for news of what's happening next. This is the beginning of a Tribe which is going to bring tremendous value to the AEC sector..

R

And the winner is...

I'd like to thank my parents, my wife, my kids, my agent, my fans...

KnowledgeSmart has been nominated for an award at this year's SWBE Awards, organised in partnership with Constructing Excellence. Here's a bit more background: http://www.buildsw.org.uk/awards.

There are 9 categories. We've been shortlisted down to the final 3 in the 'Leadership and People Development' category. They're looking for a company that 'clearly defines improvements resulting from leadership and training interventions... entries should show respect and win respect from the workforce and the community through workforce development, skills and training, benchmarking, equality and diversity... and improvements to the working environment.'

The awards dinner is in Bristol in June. We're shortlisted alongside two much larger organisations, in Bath & North East Somerset Council and Wilmott Dixon Construction. However, it's not the winning, darlings, it's being recognised for ones art, right? :)

Will keep you posted of the outcome...now where did I put my dress shoes...?

R

KnowledgeSmart sponsors KA Connect Conference

Our friends at Knowledge Architecture are organising and hosting the first knowledge management conference for the AEC industry - KA Connect - and KnowledgeSmart are proud to be sponsoring the event.

This is a fascinating conference, with a superb lineup of leading AEC figures presenting on a range of topics. With a general theme of, 'Short Talks, Big Ideas', this promises to be one of the key events of our calendar year. With influences like TED (http://www.ted.com/) and marketing guru Seth Godin (http://www.sethgodin.com/), KA-Connect promises to be breath of fresh air.

A format tailor-made to stimulate fresh ideas and original thinking, boasting a blend of blue sky talks with Pecha Kucha (20 slides, 20 seconds per slide), expert panel discussions, video and breakout groups.

The speaker lineup is diverse, sharing emerging trends, new ideas, best practice and lessons learned for building knowledge-driven firms. The goal is to empower leaders in AEC firms to engage in, 'the process of systematically creating, capturing and sharing knowledge assets to leverage (yourself and) your organization'.

The conference organiser is Knowledge Architecture (http://www.knowledge-architecture.com/), a knowledge management and information systems consultancy, based in San Francisco.

The show takes place in Chicago on April 8 & 9, at theWit Hotel. (http://www.ka-connect.com/). Maybe we'll see you there.

Rory