It's Friday!

And what could possibly make it better?

That's right! RTC North America is next week! We'll be indoors during 90 degree highs. But a few evening events will be outdoors in pleasant 70 degree lows. So feel free to pack your shorts and t-shirts. Start here for the latest / greatest registration info if you're still on the fence!

Could that possible be all the good new? What? No?

Wait! There's more!

We've just found out that the FLAT TIRES entire discography has been accepted by Pandora:

It's not as easy as you'd think - and they don't just accept any / all music out there. So we're really pleased to have make the cut. Go here to get started! http://www.pandora.com/flat-tires

See you at RTC!

Put Your Pencils Down

 

Thursday, August 9
Sonar
Baltimore, Maryland

Friday, August 10
The Iron Works
Pittsburg, PA

Saturday, August 11
The Grog Shop
Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Sunday, August 12
Mohawk Place
Buffalo, New York

Sunday, August 13
TBD
TBD

Tuesday, August 14
Metronome
Burlington, Vermont

Wednesday, August 15
Chameleons Nightclub
Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Thursday, August 16
The Dover Brickhouse
Dover, New Hampshire

Friday, August 17
Rocks On Concert Cruise
Boston, MA

Saturday, August 18
Rocks Off Concert Cruise
New York, NY

 - Bonus -

 Here's a link to download a six song sample of FLAT TIRES music across their past three albums:

http://db.tt/MGVckpp6

Enjoy! :)

Facts and Figures

 

Two weeks from today RTC North America gathers at Stone Mountain Resort for the 2nd annual conference. What better time to rattle off some interesting facts and figures for this year's event. This is a great opportunity to get kick started with the latest and greatest in the BIM ecosystem. We have a full schedule of events - but plenty of time to discuss best practices, cross discipline workflow and more - including: 

• 24 Sponsors and Exhibitors (and climbing!)
• 95 Sessions
• 80 Speakers
• 13 Delegate Countries
• Australia
• Canada
• Denmark
• Lithuania
• Japan
• Spain
• Sweden
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• United Kingdom
• United Arab Emirates
• USA
  
• 12 Published BIM Authors
• Scores of Bloggers and Industry Experts
• 2 Fully Operation Cloud-based BIM Labs
• Special Vasari goodness compliments of Matt Jezyk and Zack Kron
• Keynote Speaker Dick Morley
• Complimentary airport shuttle to Stone Mountain Resort

And in addition to being the premier North America BIM-centric conference, Stone Mountain Park is a wonderful, family friendly environment. Consider bringing your spouse and children for a relaxing getaway. Let them play while you work!

For registration start here.

There are still a few exhibition and sponsorship opportunities available. For the full prospectus start here.

Full conference schedule and information is available at http://www.rtcevents.com/rtc2012us/.

Before and After

First Day of Kindergarten vs. Last Day of Middle School

Still Great Friends. :)

 

Are You an “Intrapreneur?”

Thanks to Mike Plotnick (@SomeChum) for tweeting this link. Different than entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or Mark Zuckerberg; intrapreneurs are people who have an entrepreneurial streak in their DNA, but choose to align their talents with a large organization in place of creating their own. I like to think I fall into this category, albeit on a much smaller scale than people mentioned in the article from Ford, Intel, Dell and others.

“Move Over Entrepreneurs, Here Come The Intrapreneurs”
By David Armano, executive VP, Global Innovation & Integration at Edelman.

On a similar note, in my time with HOK, I have always been impressed with the somewhat low-profile business within the firm that designs their own products. HOK Product Design was founded in 2009 and is an “independent business that engages designers who use design thinking to create innovative products for the built environment.” It has the “unique ability to draw on the knowledge, research and evidence-based data available within HOK as well as the firm’s leadership in strategic planning, workplace consulting and sustainable design.”

Some of the innovative products that have come out of this group include Full Circle^®, a continuously curved luminaire concept manufactured by Winona Lighting, Balance Beam, a grab bar with touch activated LED lights manufactured by Cooper Lighting IO division, and Gather, a collaborative furniture line manufactured by Allsteel.

There are many other products ranging from recycling systems, to coping, to wall/curb rain gardens – all designed by talented team members working on HOK projects! Please hop on over to their website and peruse the product offerings. You can even submit your own idea.

Three Weeks from Today!

RTC North America begins three weeks from today! Last year's inaugural event in Huntington Beach, CA was extremely successful and we're expecting even more during this years conference! Here's just a few highlights to look forward to:

• LEADERSHIP. RTC North America is attended by many of the most well known names in the BIM-universe! This is a unique ‘for users, by users’ event, where experts and leaders in the field of BIM share their knowledge and experience. You'll have plenty of time for one-on-one discussions with well known industry leaders. 

• PROGRAM. RTC North America caters to a broad range of interests and skill levels with seven simultaneous streams - providing a comprehensive program for everyone. Detailed presentations, lab sessions, showcases and more create a lively mix of learning opportunities, while the expanded social functions allows for relaxation and an opportunity to keep up to date with industry peers.  

• INSPIRATION. During the inaugural RTC in North America, over 90% of the attendees indicated that they would return for this years event. Register now! With limits on attendance numbers, each conference will continue to bring the relaxed and friendly RTC atmosphere to its attendees, with innovative, thought-provoking and informative presentations and discussions.

• ENTERTAINMENT. Following the Gala Dinner, the award winning alt-bluegrass Packway Handle Band (http://www.packwayhandle.com/) will be providing this year's entertainment! After three days of intense learning and knowledge sharing it's time to relax and enjoy some great music in the scenic Georgia outdoors!

• FAMILY. Stone Mountain Park (http://www.stonemountainpark.com/) is a wonderful, family friendly environment with numerous indoor and outdoor activities! If you're within driving distance of the conference bring the family! Children young and old will have fun-fill days and rest well at night.

For registration start here.

Full conference schedule and information is available at http://www.rtcevents.com/rtc2012us/.

What? A blog post?!?

So, as you might have noticed (the two of you still looking at these posts) we haven't posted a lot of anything lately. We offer an enlightened explanation:

We've been busy with other stuff.










Sorry.











That said, I'm also here to tell you that because of our decline in blog-based enthusiasm and our desire to reach out to the social media / new millennium generation, we're moving things around a bit. Not that you'll be seeing a lot more blog posts - well, you will be, but..... in an effort to basically get current, we're moving book-related items to Facebook. Yeah, it was bound to happen.

So, if you want to follow the zany antics of Phil, or hear about childhood memories up for sale, or about the latest Flat Tires tour dates, you can still find them here. If you're wanting to know about some cool tool for Revit, what's current with the book, or what we're presenting on at AU, please look to Facebook.

To that end, we're doing a bit of archiving. In the Mastering Revit books, we've gotten some great people to so some great chapters and essays for us in years past and we're going to be digging those out in the next few weeks and posting them via Facebook online - free for you to read and distribute. It'll be some seriously cool stuff, so keep your eyes peeled.

So, check Facebook but remember: There's a safe way to check and Phil's way to check.