Well, we are closing out the calendar year of the GCAIUG and looking ahead to next year. I want to give a special thanks to John Krause of INCAT for putting on the agenda for most (if not all) of these meetings. It was always very well organized and the topics were well presented.

Last night at our meeting (12-20-06) John asked for some new ideas for the format of the meeting and he proposed some himself. He suggested that the meetings start out with a presentation geared towards new users, then proceed to a presentation geared towards advanced users and close out with some user presentations which could consist of problems we have faced in our day to day work or maybe even a show and tell of stuff we've done (sort of like "Friday Pics" on the forums and news groups).

I, for one, like the format John presented. I will even volunteer to present some of the basic topics if so desired. I would encourage anyone out there who is "on the fence" for chiming in some input to go ahead and chime away. From what I've heard, there are allegedly some 500 plus users of Inventor in the Tampa and surrounding areas. This is a "plethera" of possible members and it would be nice to see more than an average of 2% of this user base at the meetings. The more we have the more networking possibilities there can be, the more we can learn from each other's mistakes etc. Hopefully with some more user interaction we can grow to a larger member base.

Ok, enough of my blabbering... anyone have any other suggestions for the meeting formats and / or topics? Chime in!!

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Brian Hall
"Good enough" isn't good enough for me.
Follow me on Twitter @Hallmanac

I think this is a great idea. I was going to propose more "sharing" by everyone, even if it's just a quick "what I do" talk by each person. I hate to admit it but there are some people there who's names I don't know.

John deserves a lot of credit for organizing this group. He's done a great job this year and hopefully we can make the UG grown next year.

BTW Brian I think you should get a special recognition for driving from Orlando for each meeting. That's quite a haul during rush hour.

Maybe we should provide small prizes to people who bring co-workers to a couple of meetings.

Of course if I can make the meeting I'm always up for a game of "stump the chump".

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Sean Dotson, PE
RND Automation & Engineering
Free 30 day trial of iPropWiz v5
Follow @seandotson & @mcadforums & @rndautomationon Twitter

Thanks you Sean! You know, my vote doesn't really count when you guys are looking to solidify locations. If I'm travelling that far to begin with, the exact location in and around the Tampa area doesn't really matter to me.

John had mentioned last meeting about maybe moving the meeting to the Nielson building. I don't know where that is, but he said that there is a very nice multimedia center there to hold our meetings.

The awards thing is a good idea. I think we ought to see about 3D Connexions providing some stuff again. Even if they simply give away one every other meeting or on random occasions. Maybe they could supply some to sell at the meetings. Who knows.. Also, INCAT gave out enough shirts last year, maybe they should start handing out pants to go with all those shirts.

Stump the Chump, eh... I can't think of any smart ass thing to say to that so I'll just stop now.

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Brian Hall
"Good enough" isn't good enough for me.
Follow me on Twitter @Hallmanac

Thanks for your input guys... It is very important to our success of the User Group. I also appreciate the 'atta boy". It does consume a bit of time putting the aganda together but it is gratifying knowing that you and the fellow members appreciate the work and find my silly topics somewhat useful.
I look forward to trying to grow the group this year with everyones help. INCAT can provide some give aways, but I'm not sure if I can get them to spring for pants or shorts. Where would we put the logo?

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John Krause
Applications Engineer
INCAT - Tampa