Last month I had the opportunity to speak at BIMForum, my first time as both an attendee and speaker. The Spring BIMForum was held at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel in beautiful sunny San Diego California. An evening watching baseball in the shade with hotdogs, peanuts and beer while geeking out with other BIM Gurus could not have been a more perfect start to the conference. I had fortunately finished my slides the evening prior to headed down, so I actually enjoyed the evening.
I was not sure what to expect as my interactions with the BIM Forum organizers had been more casual than past conferences I have spoken at, but when I joined everyone for breakfast I was already impress. They had a room full of software vendors, a nice simple spread of morning chow, and when I made my way into the main hall – wow! They had a huge room with a stage and a camera crew – straight up professionals here. I had been honored to speak, but my butterflies kicked in at that moment because these folks were serious about BIM and education. I was excited all the more to take the stage soon.
The morning kicked off with the usual welcomes and thanks and John Tocci shared the long history of the Forum and when the AGC and AIA joined forces on the effort. The format was effective. The morning sessions were big topics, broad and relatable by all followed by a Q&A session in review of a grouping of presentations. The lunch break offered the opportunity to network and speak with the vendors. If I were a technology vendor trying to speak with leadership at AEC firms, I would be at this conference. We all could speak to one another at a higher level, very few newbies here. There is no “convincing” going on here, everyone gets it and wants more at the next level of knowledge sharing. Two solid days of content and networking.
All of the presentations are online via the BIMForum YouTube Channel or here via the BIMForum Site.
Here is a direct link to my talk on Data Management Project a Lifecycle. It was a short talk, but my general message is to share the data and only ask for the data you need when you need it. My position is that is all does not need to be in the model, but that data in a external database linked to a model makes more sense. What do you think? Let me know on LinkedIn or @brokhoward. I would love to hear your position.
And my slides (junk as a PDF) – but if you really want them they are on posted here on authorstream.
In general I was impressed at the professionalism of the show, refreshing to the quality and care taken in pulling it all together. The format of morning talks followed by smaller (still large) specific tracks was a great way to share a lot in just a few days. I got to meet a ton of people across the industry and learned more than I bargained for. I will be back for sure.
The next BIM Forum is October 20-21 in Orlando. Go here to learn more.
A few bonus presentations to look back on…