Through the Interface

Introducing DevLabs

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My team is trying out a new concept over the coming months, something we're calling DevLabs. The idea is that we schedule a period where members of my team are available in a particular Autodesk office to sit down with people working on their development projects. (The concept is new for us, at least: I know Google does something similar with their Hackathons.)

Attendees can plan on dropping in for a just a day or for longer – even the whole week, if they so choose - to spend time working through development issues with members of my team. This is not a replacement for API training, of course, as people in the room will each have their own requirements, although we will try to send enough members of my team to each location to make sure the people attending get enough attention (assuming they're not expecting us to focus on them exclusively).

You will need to bring a portable computer with your development environment on it (up to you whether you bring a netbook, notebook, desktop or smart-phone – the main thing is that you have access to your code and whatever compiler is needed for it 🙂 and as you code you can ask members of the DevTech team how to solve certain problems, get them to review your code or to make suggestions for alternative implementations. You may even get input from other DevLab attendees, too.

There's no charge for attending, one of the reasons we're holding the events in Autodesk offices where we have local staff. Attendees will only need to make their own arrangements for travel, accommodation and meals. And during this trial period we're keeping the DevLabs open to all: there's no requirement to be a member of the Autodesk Developer Network, for instance.

Here's the date, location and product focus for each of the trial events:

  • San Francisco, USA
    • June 22-26, AutoCAD APIs
  • Farnborough, UK
    • June 1-5, AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor APIs
  • Bangalore, India
    • September 8–11, Geospatial and Revit APIs
    • September 14-17, AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor APIs
  • Beijing, China
    • August 17-21, AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor APIs
    • August 24-28, Geospatial and Revit APIs

If you have any questions about these DevLabs or would like to register, please email us at dev-consult@autodesk.com.

5 responses to “Introducing DevLabs”

  1. Dominic Barker Avatar
    Dominic Barker

    Is this going to suitable for beginners Kean?

    Reply
  2. Kean Walmsley Avatar
    Kean Walmsley

    Yes, it's open to all levels, although - as mentioned - you should not come along expecting to get training.

    If you are fine with getting a modest amount of attention/guidance - and not dedicated mentoring - during the period you're with us, then that's fine.

    Kean

    Reply
  3. Bernd Avatar
    Bernd

    That sounds great (and generous - free as in free beer?), as it certainly can help people get their problems solved - you'll need large conference rooms for those DevLabs.
    You do not happen to plan for opening an office in southern Germany? 😉

    Reply
  4. Rob Stein Avatar
    Rob Stein

    Kean,
    Will there be any plans to do one at the office in Novi, Michigan where a lot of the development and design is done for the MSD product line? I think you would have a great turn out there. I would be there for sure.

    Reply
  5. Kean Walmsley Avatar
    Kean Walmsley

    Bernd/Rob -

    We're certainly open to the idea of doing these at different Autodesk offices, assuming these first ones prove successfully and we can manage the costs to a reasonable level. Neither Novi nor Munich are out of the question, by any means, for future DevLabs.

    Another reason we're running the trials where we have local staff is that we can more easily adjust our attendance (adding or removing members of DevTech depending on the number and profile of attendees). Once we've done a few we'll hopefully know enough to hold these further afield.

    Please keep the suggestions coming!

    Kean

    Reply

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