The last day of AU started, once again with me checking out the Sphere. I have to say that since the Las Vegas Grand Prix has been getting really close the quality of the content has become a bit meh, at least from my perspective. (I think I really like the AI-based art rather than endless commercials for brands I don't care about.)
The expo opened earlier on Day 3 - at 10am - and with no general sessions to compete with the flow of people to the stand - and the participation in the study - was very steady throughout.
A nice surprise was being able to catch up with Bill Gordon. Bill works for a market research company but when I first met him he was Autodesk's country manager for Africa. He welcomed me to South Africa back in 1997 (I know this because Tony Blair was elected during the course of the trip) to deliver a WorkCenter API training in Midrand. Bill took really good care of me (and actually got me out of a scrape or two… I was young) so I'm very glad to get to thank him in person, all these years later.
I don't have photos from my class with Pete Storey - which seemed to go well, and was very "intimate" with only 15 attendees - but I did snap the board outside.
Back in the exhibit hall there were a few interesting presentations on the Design & Make stage. I always love seeing Tandem presented - given how heavily it was inspired by our work on Project Dasher - and Bob Bray showed off some really interesting new capabilities such as search and systems analysis.
Fernando Malard also presented about OFCDesk, a longtime friend and partner of Autodesk.
I stopped by the most colourful stand in the expo to say hi to the Slantis team and pick up some voxelised socks.
They really did set the bar for stand design, I have to say.
All too soon it was 4pm and time to tear everything down ahead of the AU party.
I regret not taking a photo of the whole Autodesk Research team who manned the booth - which fluctuated throughout the 3 days - so here's a photo of the last remaining folks once everything was packed ready for shipping.
And so we hopped onto buses to get to the Palms for the closing party.
It was by the poolside, which must have created some interesting health & safety issues - but surprisingly most people only got wet from the rain.
Aside from the - very good - 80s covers band, there were a number of other entertainers working away.
There was a very cool drone show - it was a great way to experience the 3D version of the Autodesk logo!
We danced in the rain, which was really a lot of fun.
We stopped by Yardbirds for a few last drinks and snacks, and then headed to bed after an exhausting - but, as ever, energising - week.
My flight home wasn't until the afternoon on Thursday at 3:30pm, so I had time to wander around a but before heading to the airport. I'm currently writing this from Frankfurt airport - waiting for my connection to Zurich and then a train to Neuchatel - where I'm really excited to see my family and (of course) our puppy.
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