Community, community, everywhere

Community to the right of me, community to the left of me, community as far as the eye could see. Although you should never confuse an event with community, it was hard not to equate the two after 6 days in the bowels of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas at Autodesk University (AU) 2010, the annual gathering of many of our most committed Autodesk software users.

Communities of designers, architects, and engineers. Within the community of architects, communities of industrial, commercial, and residential architects. Within the community of residential architects, communities of high rise residential, single-family dwelling and residential institutional architects. The list  of differentiations is virtually endless. All using Autodesk design products but each tribe differentiated by its domain, expertise, and ways of solving their particular problems, in many cases, in their own language and unique cultural workflows and best practices.

Events are a way for communities to come together and continue and deepen relationships formed at previous events and maintained online. Events are a way to cement relationships out of conversations started online. Events are also a way to begin relationships with those elusive people,  people  “just like me,” to be continued long after the event has ended. Events might be expensive and time consuming, but what better way to start, cement, and celebrate community.

And only 352 online days to AU 2011!