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Seattle ARCHICAD User Group — January 26th, 2017

Let’s start the year by meeting at DeForest Architects for our first Seattle ARCHICAD user group meeting of 2017. Thanks Geoff, John, and everyone else at DeForest for letting us once again invade your space.

Date:

Thursday January 26th, 2017
6:00 PM — 8:00 PM

Location:

DeForest Architects
1148 NW Leary Way
Seattle, WA 98107

Hosts:

Geoff Briggs, Thomas Bormann, and Jared Banks, AIA

Topics:

I’ve got four things I’d like to discuss at this meeting. They’re all topics that I think we’ll spend the next few months coming back to, as we all learn more.

  1. ARCHICAD struggles and triumphs from 2016. Have you found a way to make the permit process in Seattle easier because of how you’re using ARCHICAD? Is there something in ARCHICAD 20 that you’re still trying to tackle? Or an aspect that you now can’t live without?
  2. VR, Google Cardboard, and BIMx. I should have some Google Cardboard from GSNA for everyone to play with, and I think even take home. We’ll look at how BIMx works with VR and hopefully Geoff and Trevor can share some of their research-I know both have been getting deep into VR recently.
  3. Grasshopper-ARCHICAD Live Connection. I am teaching myself Grasshopper as we now have the Grasshopper-ARCHICAD Live Connection on Mac (here’s the press release) and I have a new laptop that can handle whatever I throw at it.
  4. MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar. I’m sure there are people in our group who are contemplating buying a new laptop this year. I’ll discuss the pros and cons of the latest Apple laptop; I got one in early December and have a lot of opinions.

If you’ve got a current issue, please bring that as well. Our group has a huge collective knowledge. Let’s share what we are doing well and what we’d like to do better. To that end, if you have a project you’d like to share, bring your laptop or a thumb drive (if you bring a thumb drive, save your project as a .PLA so there aren’t missing library parts). I of course will have my machine and projects to share, but I’d love to get someone else’s projects up on the screen. Are you brave enough? If there’s a specific topic you’d like to discuss, or a project you’d like to share, let me know so that we make sure there’s time!

Food and refreshments will be served.

As we always like to do, Geoff, Thomas,  and I plan on having an after-party ARCHICAD nerdfest at a nearby bar. Plus GRAPHISOFT North America will again be feeding us during the meeting. Please share this post and e-mail it to all your coworkers. I know not everyone gets the official e-mails about user groups-especially new and/or quieter employees.

User Group ARCHICAD 20 long

A Big Link to Register for the User Group

Go sign up to claim your spot and let GSNA know they need to feed you: REGISTER HERE!

ARCHICAD job hunters!

If you are in the Seattle area and need work, e-mail me. There are plenty of people who want to talk to you. If you want to move to Seattle and use ARCHICAD, e-mail me as well-especially if you like the freelancer lifestyle. If you are an ARCHICAD firm in need of help, definitely e-mail me. I had a record number of people contact me in 2016 looking for ARCHICAD work in Seattle. I know a bunch found jobs, and a few others are looking to move here in 2017 or pick up additional freelance work. Additionally I’ve talked to at least one or two students looking for internships in the Spring and Summer. As always though, the answer to our need for ARCHICAD help in Seattle (and so many other places) is training new users. The ARCHICAD community is larger now than it has ever been. And it needs to be larger. Not just because a bigger community is more sustainable, but because there’s more work than we can all handle. I don’t know of any firm that uses ARCHICAD that considers themselves overstaffed. It’s time to hire new people and train them on ARCHICAD from the ground up.

Seattle Area ARCHICAD User Mailing List

I maintain a list for ARCHICAD users in the Seattle Area (or people interested in Seattle Area ARCHICAD events). If that describes you, sign up by clicking here.

Subscribe to my blog to read more about the tricky world of being an Architect in the 21st century, and more info on various ARCHICAD meet-ups across the globe: Shoegnome on FacebookTwitter, and the RSS feed. If you aren’t in Seattle, don’t worry. There are a lot of other user groups coming up. Check out a big list here for all the events GRAPHISOFT North America knows about.

Comments

  • January 6, 2017
    reply

    BUZZ BRYAN, ARCHITECT

    HPNY Jared.

    You’re a gadget guy….

    Please help me with any recommendation you have for

    buying a digital laser distance measurement device I can

    use or sync with ArchiCAD 20 on my laptop. I am returning

    the DeWalt unit from Home Depot. Leica & Bosch

    seem to be good buy and Bluetooth linkable.

    Also, do you have experience with the app “Orthograph” for

    converting measure data to graphic floor plan image on tablet, laptop devices.

    Thanks for the Newsletter,

    BB

  • March 16, 2017
    reply

    Andrew

    Hello Jared –

    I’m in Southern California – looking to make a move up to the Northwest. Was wondering if there is a way to determine what firms up in the Seattle area use ArchiCAD, as that is the program I am currently most familiar with. I also like the idea you guys have a user collective meeting to discuss issues, do demonstrations, etc.

    Thanks,
    Andrew

      • March 20, 2017
        reply

        Andrew

        Done!

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