ArchiCAD General Comments: 2004: feedback
David, On behalf of Graphisoft, its business partners, and its customers, let me thank you for the outstanding event in Nottingham. ACUE was a well-planned and well-run event. I received many positive comments on the event and its content from the people at the conference. Thank you for driving this tradition in the worldwide community of ArchiCAD. It was the only conference I've seen where the attendees are still in chairs, listening, and asking questions past midnight!!! (Admittedly with pint in hand...)
Thanks again, Mark Sawyer
Peter
Agnew, Final year student at University of Nottingham
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to help out and and run a workshop.
I had a good time and enjoyed the whole event very much. Everyone I have
spoken to also had very good things to say about the event.
Whilst 14 simultaneous workshops may have been a bit too much, it was
good to have such a wide range of software and techniques on show. I don't
think I saw any workshops empty for too long!
I would like to thank you for the professional (and friendly) event. Personally I learned a lot, it was a great opportunity to meet ArchiCAD users, to experience with wide range of products and to enjoy with a wonderful group of people. Mixing together informal environment, professional arrangement and diverse content is not an easy task and again, I think you combined them all perfectly.
Katherine
Bedwell, from Barcelona
Excellent, you did a fantastic job ! Accomodation was good and so was
the food. I think workshops should be longer.
Peter
Bennison, Paris
ACUE was all up to usual high standard, great value for money. If you
have such large numbers again a full size lecture hall and screen would
certainly be an advantage. Apart from that, I can't think right now of
what could be improved. I think the mix of optional workshops, plenaries
and half-plenaries is definitely the way to go.
Thanks once again for all the trouble you took with ACUE. It was an enjoyable experience, the accommodation and meals were good and I'd certainly like to do it again next year.
"Merci merci merci" for these extraordinary 3 days ! And I can state clearly now for the third ACUE event I've participated in that it's year after year better
In the next few days I will say everything to the french architects I'll meet that get ashamed they didn't come.
One because they would have learn a lot, Two because they have many things to show and they didn't, and Three because it's a great pity not to meet all those people involved in our profession, and our passion.
Everything and everyone was really great! Keep up the good work and we shall see you again next year! I believe it should be longer so that we could have the chance to attend more workshops!
Thank you so much for all your help before and during the ACUE 2004. It really was the event of the year for me. From the moment I arrived on Wednesday evening to leaving on Sunday morning I felt involved and welcome, everyone was so friendly and helpful. I am only sorry that it wasn’t longer. It was so difficult to try and decide what to attend and what to miss.
I enjoyed every minute of my time in Nottingham University and the highlight of the whole event was John Dyson's (Midpoint) workshops. He has a fantastic way of teaching ArchiCAD without making you feel a total idiot. It is very difficult at this late stage in my working career to be at the very beginning of the learning curve and very easy to loose confidence even though I have been in professional practice for over twenty years, but John has a very interesting way of explaining everything. If I can afford to go to Harrogate I would love to do a training course with him.
I made a lot of new contacts and also friends. The conference went far beyond my expectations and I am so glad that I decided to attend. I intend to do everything possible to attend all future universities including Winter School. It is really helpful to meet other ArchiCAD users and to have so much in common with people from so many countries. The dinner on Saturday evening was great fun.
Thank you for a most enjoyable, educational and entertaining event; I certainly learnt a lot, and it was good to hear that both Ben and HRA have such high standing in the Archicad community.
Thank You again for a wonderful event you hosted. I got a lot out of it. I think the structure for the workshops and half plenaries works fine, but maybe because of the amount of interest and people, more half plenaries are needed in the future to accommodate more popular events. I liked the idea of the
evening sessions, but as you know we are not getting any younger, so concentration, might become an issue for us if this is to keep going, but hey, I think the younger contingent will not have a problem.
I would like to extend my Thanks to you and the other contributors, for a few days of absolute magic.
Thanks for all your good work to make it happen! I was pleasantly surprised by the number of software products that can be used in conjunction with ArchiCAD. Even more pleasantly surprised about their relative cost. I have immediately ordered software that I have immediate use for, other software I most likely will buy in time to compliment my design tools. The people demonstrating the software did a great job and were all very inspiring.
For me an extra day would have been welcome. But that is maybe because it was the first time for me. Too much to see!
I would like to thank David for inviting me to present at the ArchiCAD University, It was my first time (of many I hope). I found the event interesting and inspirational; particularly your opening speakers Ben and Mitch who set the level that many users will aspire to. My thanks would also go to everybody who came to the ArchiCAD workshops I led and contributed by asking questions and sometimes even providing answers!
Interactive sessions are always so much more productive for presenters and attendees alike.
I was keen to keep my presentations objective and free of sales patter, but if anybody would like to ask any further questions of me, regarding anything I taught, perhaps to enquire about booking me for training courses or to discuss the benefits for them in ArchiCAD 9, I would encourage them to email me on john.dyson@midpoint.co.uk .
Karl Eckermann,
Cahill O'Brien, Dun Laoghaire, Ireland
Everything was great this year - very well organised and the show bag
and freebies added a bit of fun. Student help was diligent as ever. The
slightly shorter, more condensed program was welcome - we came from Ireland
and were only out of the office for one and a half days. Exceptional value.
I still reckon ACUDownUnder would be a runner. Quite a few Aussies in
attendance this year at ACUe . Thanks for another great event - your efforts
are much appreciated.
It was a pleasure for me to be in Nottingham. I am looking forward to ACWS and next year ACUE already :-)
David
Emery, Kendrick Homes, Walsall
The location and accommodation were excellent, as were the delegate pack
and the pre-event bulletins. I would like to see the extra day put back
into the schedule as in 2003, since I felt that I missed more than I managed
to see this year.
I felt that however worthwhile the main presentations were, there is a
danger that too much emphasis is placed on the ‘Grand Designs’.
By this I mean that if we wish to see ArchiCAD more widely adopted we
need to show users that it can be genuinely useful in their day-to-day
working lives on the far more modest projects that most of us are involved
in.
Andy Harle,
Bernard Engle, London
Thankyou once again for organising such a great event. I only wish we
had brought more people, and that I had managed to get to all the seminars
I wanted to. Thanks for putting the conference handbook together, it is
really useful. (I want to try out some of the GDL stuff in the handbook)
Sharif
Herad, Max Fordham and partners, London, also of Afganistan
The ACUE event was remarkable as a way of gaining knowledge and tips and
tricks, meeting expertise, professionals and above all the wonderful people
from around the world full of enthusiasm and sensibility for helping and
understanding in one of the subjects that was ArchiCad. For me the most
important fact was to see new faces and meeting people that perhaps will
become an investment and resource - or if it is allowed to say - good
friends for the rest of my life.
The time that I have spend in the University of Nottingham was very exciting,
not only I learned one of the new application but I found that there are
still lovely and wonderful people around the world that their aim is to
interact with others and share their knowledge and help them.
They all were talented, creative and helpful. I went there not only to
know more about ArchiCAD but to find out how people from different parts
of the world with completely different language and views and opinion
react to each other, so I have been taken by surprise, even with little
bit understanding of language and not being a good communicator. All of
you were extraordinary, friendly and helpful. I am waiting for some of
you to visit me in London in my place, and it is a great honour to have
you with me and to serve you - as in Afghanistan my native land they say
that 'guests are the shadow of God', that if you have a guest in your
house you will be the blessed one among all.
I will never forget that experience and would love to repeat that in the
future but with better understanding of the events and review of the subject.
God Bless you all and a big thanks to David for organizing such an interesting
event.
ACUE exceeded my expectations, I had a thoroughly good time. Thankyou.
I fell in love with Nightingale Hall, what a fantastic building! A great bit of '50's architecture. Also it was very easy having everything under one roof, I had no problems finding my way around. My room was very comfortable, much larger than I thought, if I had a cat I could have swung it round with ease. The food was excellent, and it was worth attending just for the waffles and maple syrup for breakfast! In fact I think I learnt more from chatting to people in the dining hall than I did at workshops. The whole informality of ACUE was great, there were no barriers whatsoever.
Thanks for organising another great event, we all enjoyed it hugely. Food and accommodation fantastic, but don't close the bar so early again! I will see you at the Winter School. Ideas for future events :– How to work with multiple options, Working with existing buildings, ArchiCAD/Plotmaker workflow, ArchiCAD sketch renderer, Optimising/speeding up ArchiCAD, More practioners talking how they use ArchiCAD, eg Bernard Engle?
For me (a first timer) overall the seminar was a success. I advanced toward my primary goals in learning more about how to exploit the software. I already have (AC 8.1.0 v2 INT) to the max, better understand the limits of VR, introduction to Moviemaking and reintroduction to GDL. I caught the tail ends of a couple of David’s witty and informative presentations on GDL. And, to my great dismay I missed Miguel Krippahl’s “Better Moviemaking with ArchiCAD and Artlantis”. Better luck next time.
I enjoyed ACUE very much, learning and teaching.
It was a great experience, and I have much to try out and a lot of new ideas to test. It was also great to have that positive reaction to the stuff I presented.
Marie
Sofie Larsen, Aarhus, Denmark
Thankyou for a great summer school. Really good and detailed pre conference
info. Very useful pack that were used every day (...and still is). Good
and comfortable rooms and good food. Surroundings perfect for a brilliant
Sunday walk after a few busy days. I most certainly am coming to the Winter
School. I have already booked the date...and I don´t think I am
the only one in Aarhus!
Many thanks for my first ACUE event, it was amazing with so many nice people. It was good to be accepted as a building designer by the other delegates, particularly as I did not train as an architect, but as a building surveyor. I learned so much, and made many new friends. I wish there were more than one a year in the UK. Pre conference organisation excellent - better than any other conference I have attended in the past six years. The food was exceptional for the price. Information packs were good, particularly the contact details of the delegates.
It was a great pleasure to participate. Thanks to all for making ACUE2004 the best yet. I only wish I had more time to meet and talk with everyone.
Three cheers for David for making it all possible. Thankyou for putting on yet another terrific event.
I am certainly looking forward to seeing you all again next year and with any luck I'll see some of you on the slopes this January.
Got there Wednesday evening and enjoyed breakfast with a few delegates before the entire 140 got there the next day. Good sized room (ensuite) with 2 beds and sofa. (No decorating smells nor kitchen extract noise this year, thanks that means a lot to me.) . My other half stayed over Friday night and finally found out what I had been up to for all those years at ACUE. Friendly helpers, delicious food, had to stop myself from eating too much. Put me down for the Winter School, the date is in my diary. My boss knows he can't go skiing at the same time.
Link, Matthew and of course Fabrizio, you are always welcome here in Sweden, to the rest of the fantastic people that I had the chance to meet in Nottingham thank you all very much! David, as usual, what a great time had by all, thank you for your hard work behind the scenes. To Bence, Laci and Akos, you guys need a standing ovation for your tireless work that you guys keep producing, you guys, with all of your development team can be very proud of this version of ArchiCAD!
Great work.
Susanne
Ollsson, Lasercad, Malmo, Sweden
Thank you for a very pleasant weekend and for an interesting schedule.
It was really great to have been to this ACUE.
We could maybe benefit from an idea of how advanced some of the workshops
will be - info for the less knowledgeable users. The presentation gets
kind of stuck when listeners don't have the correct amount of AC skills
and the workshop gets caught up by that.
I really enjoyed the seminars; I met interesting people, exchanged tips for Archicad, good organization. It was a very good experience and I would
love to do it again.
I thought everything about the organisation, etc was excellent. Food terrific. Only gripe : REAL ALE IN THE BAR, PLEASE . I think it is
probably in the best format that it could be. A mixture of short and long sessions and a wide range of choice seems the best approach. Three for the Winter School, please!
Edward
Sharpe – Dryden Wilkinson Perkis
My first ACUE event and I loved it! Small offices often cannot afford
“time out to sharpen the saw” but we did and I have a better
vision of Archicad than before. My overall impressions were of dedication
to the product, enthusiasm and “the tribal culture” which these
evoke. I would like to attend future events – at least in UK but
we’ll see if it happens. It requires an office team attendance to
maximise the benefits and avoid the watered down version of ACUE which
arrives back at the office. An essential is a lap top – which I didn’t
have.
To all who made it possible – Thank you.
Thinking about the workshops, we need a team attendance. The alternative
is a longer ACUE event to cover everything. I had little choice but to
attend those workshops which would benefit our office the most. This took
me away from some of the workshops which would have been interesting and
informative, rather than essential. What became clear was that I was not
alone in use of Archicad at a basic "get the work done"level
but not having explored all the features, not realising their power and
benefits. Areas our office will need to develop will be detail, attributes
and standards.
Thanks for a wonderful event. What a great organization !
I just want to say that I thought the organisation, enthusiasm and effort that went into the event was superb and I'd like to thank you and your team for a great job. And thanks for fitting me in as a last minute notice 'booking'
Thanks for a fascinating weekend and all the generous praise you heaped upon Graphisoft.
Firstly I must say you did a remarkable job pulling it all together, keeping it on track and satisfying everyone's expectations. Well done. I have some video/cam footage to get to you. Lead up was great, accommodation perfectly comfortable, food delicious. One element i thought was touching was on the first day there were bowls of fruit lying around outside meal-times.
Also excellent was the fact that you managed to keep Graphisoft apart from the purpose we were all there. It was not a 'hard sell' weekend laid on by us, but a community gathering of users seeking to gain from the joint experience. I think you clearly carried that message across, and could do moreso next time.
Thank you very much for organising such a wonderful event. Everyone I spoke to found it really useful and enjoyable. Also, thank you for inviting us to present a workshop. We had lots of interest in Piranesi.
As ever ACUE 2004 was extremely well organized. The atmosphere was excellent , the staff and catering all superb. Special thanks are due to David NC whose guiding presence and tireless efforts make ACUE the premier ArchiCAD event of the year. I was left with the feeling I could have stayed another couple of days to attend all of the workshops and plenaries I would have liked! Just keep it going!
You know you do such a fine job. It's nice that there are people who can and want to organize such events! Thank you and your complete crew for arranging so that everything runs so smoothly! your pre-conference late breaking news mails are an excellent manner to keep in touch and to provide us with the necessary information. because we are too busy to watch your web site all the time. Your delegates information pack is a very good enhancement compared with former versions of ACUE. Well structured and all in one booklet.
Just one remark. Is it possible to ask the tutors to provide us with an explanation and description of their expose? good examples are your 'GDL for beginners' and 'better moviemaking in AC and ART'. so we can read them afterwards if we could not follow the workshops live. More time for the workshops should be a good idea. choosing 4 out of 14 is really 'heartbreaking'!
The accommodation and food get better all the time.
Thank you. It is a good balance - half plenaries worked well, since delegates interests are so varied in such a huge topic. Length was also good - because it reduces the time given up from work. Overall an excellent ACUE, and thank you for all the work in organising it - it enriches our professional lives and does much to nurture the wider ArchiCAD community.