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Viva Las Vegas!

I just got back from Las Vegas. Aside from the terrible air travel problems which resulted from freezing rain in Iowa when I left, to dense fog in Chicago on my return, it was a good trip. It was one of those "kill 2 birds with one stone" trips where I was able to accomplish a couple goals. The main reason for traveling to Las Vegas was to attend a PLM World board meeting. It was held at the Rio where our 2011 and 2012 Connection events will be held. It also coincided with the International Builders Show held at the convention center of which Pella is an exhibitor.

I spent one day walking the builders show, seeing an amazing variety of products. One thing that really sparked my interest was an architectural CAD software product that could interface with a engineered structural wood software product resulting in plumbing and HVAC penetrations being pre-cut in the engineered wood products at the factory. Now the cool thing about this is, the cuts are made efficiently and intelligently. What this means is you no longer have to worry about a plumber or HVAC installer destroying the structural integrity of a beam or set of joist, nor are you paying them to spend a large amount of time to use a bayonett or hole saw to cut the penetrations by hand.

The following day and a half was spent with the PLM World folks discussing issues relating to our user group and the upcoming Connection event in Nashville on May 24-27. A great group of individuals, mostly volunteers like me, who care about providing all users oppurtunities to "connect" with one another and share information and ideas, not only at the annual conferences, but also with local/regional user groups and electronically as well.

I would definetly encourage all users of Siemens PLM software to check out the following 2 links. One is the PLM World main site and the other is specifically about the May event coming up. Be sure to sign up as a PLM World Citizen which will give you access to the forums and other stuff and it will give us a way to contact you to ask your opinions about things as well as inform you about upcoming events. If you're already a Citizen and it's been a while since you initially signed up and you've had e-mail changes, check your profile and make sure your contact information is up to date.

Oh, and I also had a great time in the evenings :) There is a lot to do in Vegas, and the Rio was a fun hotel to stay at. I'd love to tell you more, but as they say: "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!"

Hope to see you in Nashville this May as well as in Vegas the next couple of years!

Ken

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