“As we started planning the Fall SWUG tour of the Chicago area, no one could have predicted that for the first time in 70 years the Chicago Cubs would be competing for the World Series Championship of Baseball.
It’s been over 100 years since they have won a championship, so there is a fantastic electricity in the air that I felt as soon as I landed at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on Tuesday afternoon.
A great and proud time to be from the Chicago area and everyone was showing their Cubs pride!”
Chicago SOLIDWORKS User Group
“The Chicago SOLIDWORKS User Group met on Tuesday 25th October at Oakton Community college. While there may have been a baseball game on TV that evening, 20 people attended and we networked whilst eating Chicago style pizza.
Group leader Denny Bahl discussed the various SOLIDWORKS 2017 roll out events he had attended as well as the group meeting schedule for the next few months leading up to SOLIDWORKS World 2017.
It’s great when we have a chance to share who we are at DriveWorks and what we do. I presented about DriveWorks and DriveWorksXpress and it becomes much more than just showing folks how they can start to use the free design automation tool inside of SOLIDWORKS.
While the Chicago Cubs may have lost the opening game that evening, there were no losers in the room that night as they left after eating good food and having great discussions around the SOLIDWORKS Community.”
Chicago West SOLIDWORKS User Group
“The next morning I made my way to Aurora, Illinois to join the Chicago West SOLIDWORKS User Group who met at the Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove. This group is also lead by Denny Bahl – he leads TWO groups – what a dedicated guy!
We were a small group of about seven, but still had a very successful meeting. Getting my pizza fix for a second night in a row, we listened to the team from the Waubonsee Community College Workforce Development Group speak about the courses offered as well as local partnerships with employers that are working on connecting students with jobs, and vice versa.
Once again I had the privilege of speaking about the DriveWorks team and our products. Not only was the group engaged in discussion around DriveWorksXpress, but folks were taking a few of our ‘Activate to Automate’ beer mats back to their offices to share with others on their team!”
Rockford Area SOLIDWORKS User Group
“As I reached the end of my DriveWorks Fall SWUG tour of Chicago I found myself in Rockford, Illinois. Thomas Clark, group leader of the Rockford Area SOLIDWORKS User Group, hosted me at Rock Valley College to present once again on DriveWorks and DriveWorksXpress.
This evening there were no baseball games being played and I was thrilled to have a full room of around 20-25 attendees. A full room is always great as there is a lot of information sharing and it’s just a great, busy space to be a part of.
The meeting was a great success and the presentation on DriveWorks and DriveWorksXpress was met with great interest and lots of questions. I came out of the meeting with none of the “Activate to Automate” beer mats that I brought with me on the trip. That’s always a good sign and I promised to send along a few more for the leader to give out to those that didn’t get one.”
As I sat in the airport on Friday morning awaiting my flight home the place was buzzing once again. People were arriving back into Chicago to watch the next baseball game of the World Series, making their way out on vacation and students were coming and going to and from college.
Goodbye Chicago! It’s been a great trip and I’ll be sure to see you again in the future…..so many user groups, so little time!
