First look at "new" template...

Monday came and files were posted to their FTP site a few minutes before noon with the "I don't know what happened on the FTP site" comment.

I haven't had the opportunity to look at the "new" file that was updated for a few days - sometimes production gets in the way. Go figure.

Well, the first thing I looked at to check how different this file was from the last was the logo in our titleblocks. And that's where I stopped looking - for now. I've been told (by the Specialist & the Apprentice) that it was going to be converted to an image. I'm not sure exactly what difference that will make, but that's why we hired these guys. Anyway, the logo hasn't been changed from any of the other templates I have received from them. So I stopped looking at the new template.

Another email came in the afternoon explaining how he fixed the column footing schedule so that it didn't include the wall footings (oops) any longer. Not quite understanding what he said about what he "fixed", it didn't mean much. If we could learn what we needed to know from the manuals without being shown examples, we wouldn't have needed this whole process. Without him showing me what he did, it is useless because not much was even mentioned in the classroom about schedules - how they work, or a working example.

Which gets me back to "Why wasn't the content created before training?" If it was, like it was supposed to be, we could have fine-tuned the initial mistake inside (or after) class and my crew would know what to expect and how it works.

I really don't know how they ever expected to get content created without being on-site, asking questions, showing how things work. All they did was ask me to upload some files. Totally ineffective and inexcusable in my opinion. Whoever made that decision should not be making them.

Lesson to others: Do not agree to arbitrary content creation without you being there. In other words, do not agree them (whoever "them" happens to be) creating content on their own. Insist on them being on-site (yours or theirs), especially when the contract calls for it. Otherwise you'll do what we are doing and spend countless days trying to fix things before you can get down to business.

Shouldn't there have been some kind of checklist of what was to be created/done prior to commencement of training?

We are also being charged for one-half of a day of services for "Client Environment Prep." What that consisted of was mapping one drive letter and adding a folder to it - and that didn't even work correctly on some of the computers.

Also, shouldn't someone be assigned temporarily as our Project Manager when he goes on vacation?

The hole becomes deeper.

I'll post more once I have a chance to delve deeper into the "new template" in the next few days.

Still no usable template

Well, they are now 13 days past the date when they were supposed to provide content to us and still not even a usable template.

I spoke with the Apprentice for about an hour on the phone on Friday, and we appeared to be making progress. I then received email from The Specialist saying that an updated version was on their FTP site, but I checked in all of the folders that have been used by them to post for us and (of course) nothing was there. I sent out an email to The Specialist, The Apprentice, and the Project Manager saying what wasn't there. To his credit, the Project Manager replied at 6:48 p.m. Saturday night and asked "can you forward your cell number on so that maybe (The Specialist) can call you..." That's all. I didn't check my email until Sunday morning, and that's the only contact.

So much for me trying to make up a lot of time and create content on my own over the weekend. I'm tired of wasting my weekends & spare time waiting for something that is long overdue.

Wow. All I'm going to say right now is that what I expected is 180 degrees from what we got.

I'll post again tomorrow. This has got to end. The level of concern on their part for how this is affecting us as a business is becoming more obvious every day.

One last note on the bright side: try a Google Search for "Revit Structure 2009" and #1 on the list is the Revit Structure page of my website: lukewarmcoffee.com. It is even ahead of the Autodesk entry. How did that happen?

Still waiting...

The conference call that was supposed to happen yesterday was canceled (more or less) by mutual agreement, so I'm still in a "semi-limbo" state.

However, I am in contact fairly regularly with The Specialist (even though he's in the middle of nowhere he has found the time) and his Padawan Learner. The Apprentice has emailed me some content & posted some to FTP. The template is shaping up somewhat and things should be taking a turn for the better - even more after a Webex (?) in the morning with The Apprentice that I hope bears much fruit.

Honestly, the Project Manager seems content with the fact that they have completely blown the first part of their commitment by not providing the content before the training (as agreed) so that we could immediately put RST to work. It is not his concern that we are falling behind our targets because he made false promises. I was told (by him) that he received a promotion recently and is now extremely busy. That's great, fantastic, and I'm happy for him. Does that mean that maybe someone else should be in charge of our implementation if he doesn't have the time? Very possibly.
Example: on Tuesday, he set up a conference call between myself, him, and The Specialist for yesterday morning. Before the end of the day he told me that he couldn't attend and it would just be me and The Specialist. !!!! I would have thought, with all of the trouble we've been having, that a 'project in distress' would garner the Project Manager's priority. That is, unless all of his projects are going down the same path because "other duties" are getting in the way of managing projects.

I'm curious about one thing. If Avatech doesn't follow through with the terms of the contract during the first major phase, can we count on them to deliver quality for the duration of the contract? I wonder what they would think about us if we didn't keep our side of the bargain: $$$.

I do think that the worker bees in the firm are very good and want to get things done. I'm going to check out the new template that the Apprentice gave me today. Wish me luck.

Overall Evaluation Temporarily On Hold!

Today wasn't a happy one in regards to the implementation.

If any of you recall, I voiced my doubts about whether they would be able to make the content creation happen before training (paragraph 2 & 3 of the May 16 post). After some reassurance via email from the Sales Rep and a conference call during the Kick-Off Meeting with the Project Manager & The Specialist, I then retracted those comments in my next post (paragraph 3 of the May 28 post). I also mentioned in the same post (paragraph 3) all of the items that I uploaded (per their instructions) to their FTP site for them to create the content. Remeber my retraction of my concerns? Well, don't. Big mistake. I retract my retraction.

We are in a holding pattern for starting our first Revit project because not one single piece of content that was supposed to be completed prior to the classroom training has been given to us yet. Actually, they did send me a template today, but I opened it to check out the goodies. I cannot find one single item that had been changed from the default template that ships with Revit Structure. Not one.

Wait: they did rename the file. I stand corrected.

Did they really think I wasn't going to notice?

There is a conference call scheduled for Wednesday (tomorrow) morning, so maybe we can get this all figured out, but they have already put us behind schedule. It has been 5 days since training ended and we still have nothing of what they promised (verbally & in writing) would be created before we hit the classroom.

Lesson for today: Do what you can to make sure that there is some wording in what you sign that covers you in case the company you go with doesn't keep up their end of the bargain.

This blog was supposed to be a positive thing about what to do and what not to do when your firm goes to deploy Revit Structure. It was also (hopefully) supposed to be a plug for the firm we contracted with to do this implementation. Nobody wanted them to be the "perfect team" more than I/we did.

My sincere hope is that it still can be. Hope is not lost. Not at all. We just need to be able to put this behind us and move forward.

It also bothers me that they know absolutely everything that I have been concerned about through this whole process - and I'm not talking just about the emails & phone conversations. I have been tracking every single click (date, time, IP, etc.) on this blog and there have been at least 4 hits by their firm after every posting here since some time in May. They are watching me - they just didn't know that I was watching them watch me.

It bothers me that they are reading this and things are still not happening.

I would give just about anything to be able to turn this back into a "good blog" but that can't happen until we can Revit.

That's all I've got to say for tonight. Check back tomorrow after we've tried to resolve some of the issues.

RST 2009 Core Training: Day 3

Our last day of training went very well, starting off with Dunkin Donuts again. I'm almost glad they didn't get Krispy Kreme, even though the K.K. store is just a few blocks from the classroom. I would've had to sit in the back next to the box and I wouldn't have been involved for the first 20 minutes or so. Charles Barkley likened warm Krispy Kreme donuts to crack cocaine. That's got to be pretty close to the mark.

We invited (at the suggestion of The Specialist) two different architects that we will be doing Revit projects with to sit in on a little session. The whole purpose was to show them how the whole process works, what they need to do so we get a usable model from them, what we will be doing when we get a model from them, get their input, and have a few beers in the classroom.

Actually, there was no beer in the classroom. For a few seconds this morning I did think that there were a few bottles of scotch or bourbon in the cupboard. Unfortunately, it turned out to be some kind of flavored syrup(?). Don't tease me like that, guys!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...... Anyway, the "meeting of minds" seems to be a great idea. Each discipline gets the same line from Autodesk that goes something like this: "Coordination works great and all you have to do is this..." I think the architects got a little dose of reality today when they saw that it just ain't that easy on our end. We all learned that if we (structural) can get more information very early in the project from the architect, turn that into some early design info, get it back to them, and keep the communication lines open, it will work much more smoothly on both sides. I know that's not always easy, but it looks to be a necessity when you use Copy/Monitor with the architect & engineer in different offices. If we can manage to get all of our architects that want to do Revit projects with us to tweak their models in a few small ways, it will make a huge difference. That meeting was an excellent idea.

A little note about The Specialist. One of the architects had his company's training with the same people we did, but had a different instructor. After a little more than an hour in there with us, he commented that "your guy" is much better than the one he had - and he is a happy customer of theirs. That wasn't meant as a dig on the instructor he had, but more like a few gold stars for our guy. He really knows his stuff and does implementations for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, and Revit MEP.

The rest of the training went very well. We are all ready to dive right in and, very probably, really screw-up our very first Revit project. Really, though, the attitude our crew has exceeded my original expectations by leaps & bounds.

I was initially concerned that there would be some resistance to The Revitlution, fearing that everyone's comfort level with AutoCAD would leave them hesitant to go into the unknown. Maybe I was totally wrong, or maybe that period is yet to come after some of the glitz & glamour of the initial training wears off and some of the frustration sets in. The enthusiasm is still running at a high level right now, though.

Hopefully we will be putting it to the test starting with our first official project tomorrow morning. That is, provided that we receive the content tonight that was supposed to be completed before the classroom training.

That will be the theme for tomorrow: an honest and complete evaluation of the implementation to this point. Before I make my next posting here, I will be reviewing the contract we (SPC and Avatech) signed a few months back to see what was promised, when it was promised, what we both could have done to make the whole process better, and what we both did to make it "not-as-good-as-it-should've-been."

This part will be a fairly regular part of the Lukewarm Blog, and it should be if I ever hope to be of any help to anybody else. If you have been keeping up with this blog, you have heard me be critical of my own performance a number of times - and I will continue that trend when necessary. I have also been, at times, generous with the compliments when it comes to the Training Team. And they deserve it. I complimented The Specialist directly on Day 3 about his knowledge & teaching ability, and he thanked me. I told him "Don't thank me - you deserved it. I'm not just 'blowing smoke' because you're standing there."

The other side of the story is the fact that we have contracted with a very well-known & professional company to provide a professional service, in a professional manner, for a very professional price. Because of that, my postings may seem critical at times - even overly critical according to some of you. You are entitled to your opinion, but so am I. When it comes right down to it, the fact is that we are only under obligation to provide two things: lots of money & honest effort. And whether the 'honest effort' is spelled out or not, we are definitely responsible for that. If not, how professional are we?

Everything else is their responsibility. Right, guys? [[wink, wink]]

Tune in again tomorrow...

RST 2009 Core Training: Day 2

Training went pretty smoothly today, but I found out what a total nightmare Worksharing can be and I'm glad that we won't have to use it very often. It sounds like the link between the Central file and the local files can be easily broken. And make sure that people always relinquish what they check out, lest ye have to hurt them in a slow and very painful manner.

A word to the wise: if you have to use this feature (and I'm sure many of you will), be very attentive and precise on how you set this part up and operate it.

I made the unfortunate mistake of bringing an architectural RVT sample file that was messier than I realized. We ended up using it in training and it caused a few small problems for just about everyone in the class - including The Specialist and his Apprentice because they had to deal with the file, too. I thought it would be better to see the exercises done in an actual real-life project. A well-intended direction to go, thought I. Well, if there had been a little less weirdness in the sample file, training would've gone better. This was not any fault of the trainers (they fought through it rather well), but I think my crew would've done better and had fewer snags had we used the sanitized training files that were ready to be used by the Specialist. I use the word "sanitized" because that's essentially what they are. Because they need to be. Yes, those types of training files lack the "real world" pieces & parts that you'll eventually have to deal with. But during training, those extras became distractions that screwed up the continuity on the learning side. Hindsight: The Specialist was very accommodating when I asked to use our file. Damn him! I wish he would've shot me down cold when I asked to use a "real" RVT file for Copy/Monitor.

More wise words: Unless you have a really clean & error-free file from and outside source (i.e., architect or engineer), use the set-piece training stuff to get the basics into your head. THEN you can venture out and apply it to real-life files. Crawl before you try to walk.

Lesson learned for today: If you have previous experience with Revit, have an open mind when it comes to different methodology.

I was an instructor's nightmare for a little while today. When The Specialist started into Copy/Monitor, I let my past training (& limited knowledge) influence me into resisting what he was trying to teach and I almost blew it. See, I was previously trained to NOT use Copy/Monitor for a number of what I thought were good reasons. I think those reasons were valid back then and still are. Sometimes. When I questioned why he was teaching us that way instead of the other way, I could almost see my crew start to question the methods of The Specialist. What I thought about during the lunch break was the fact that this guy who is getting paid to travel around the country and teach this stuff probably knows what he's doing a helluva lot more than I do, and what I know is from older versions of the software. He still has not referred to the AOTC book even once that I've noticed! So I apologized to him and came back into training after lunch with an open mind. Now that I've cleared my mind and started to listen more instead of thinking "that's not the way I learned it before," I am actually getting much more out of it, everyone's confidence in The Specialist has returned, and I'm less of an Ass in Class.

Sometimes it truly is easier to teach someone who has no experience than the person who has just enough to be dangerous.

One last footnote to Day 2 and then I'll shut my yap. One of my crew who I never thought would opt to do things work related on his own time, actually asked me to give him what he needs to install RST 2009 on his home computer before he left for the day. He's smart, a hard worker, and he understands structures, but he really leaves work at work and does everything & everything work-related while on the clock. And there's nothing wrong with that. After all, none of us does this for a hobby, right? But now he wants to put it on his own machine at home? I almost lost it.

That's how well the training is going overall.

Check out the LWC Blog again tomorrow...

RST 2009 Core Training: Day 1 (Part II)

Ok: time for the follow-up to the comments from yesterday. For you "real implementation content" readers, check out my Day 2 posting for the actual stuff. For the most part, this post is just me venting a little.

Here's the story. We were given RST 2008 training manuals for RST 2009 training. I didn't think it was kosher and asked about it. Explanation: they aren't available yet. Ok. So I checked the online store and found (after putting it in my cart) that they are "in stock." That was before my posting last night and the biggest reason I wasn't very comfortable. Would you be? Since I have a contact or two at The Desk, I put out a few feelers after hours last night and had my replies before I hit training this morning. As it turns out, the RST 2009 AOTC "has not shipped yet but is very close."

The Desk evidently does not have the magic wand that they should to make the manuals materialize out of thin air right after the product ships. Go figure. However, I do think they could do better since they had our gazillion-page User's Manuals and Imperial Tutorials to us a few weeks ago. Somebody out in Cali is calling in a few markers with the Tooth Fairy or somebody to make that happen, so why not the AOTC books, too? Anyway, that's not the fault of our trainers.

I will say this, though, because I feel I have to. I thought it would've been more professional if they had told us up front (before I specifically asked about it) that we would get the new ones when they came in. Honestly? It made me feel like they were trying to slide that one by us. If they had approached me first, more than likely I would not have questioned whether they were available or not, but because I had to be the one to bring it up....

What would you say if Microsoft sent the instruction booklet for XP-Pro in the package for Vista? And that's a little booklet you get for free. These things aren't small and definitely aren't free.

To their credit, a few people there have said (in roundabout ways) that they will make it right.

So my suspicions have been arrested. Sorry, guys - it's not personal. Some of that suspicion comes from having teenage kids. Me to my wonderful wife: "Weren't report cards supposed to come out yesterday?" My wife: "I think so." Me again: "Did they say anything to you about it?" My wife: "No." Sirens, bells, whistles & flags going up all over the place! See what I mean? You with kids are laughing & gritting your teeth at the same time. Some call it paranoia, some call it a sixth-sense. My therapist says I shouldn't tell you what she calls it until the medication has had more time to start working.

I'm back to feeling much better about things.

"Take us back to DEFCON 4."

RST 2009 Core Training: Day 1 (Part I)

Can you believe that I was almost late for the first day of training? All of our crew was there in plenty of time, but I was still gathering "stuff" and forgot that I had to drive through morning rush-hour traffic. On-time I was, though.

The Specialist: impressive. He didn't use the AOTC book at all, but he didn't need to. Very knowledgeable, fluid in presentation of material, he kept a good pace going throughout the day without getting ahead of anyone, immediately had answers to all questions, and seems like a helluva nice guy too.

We also have an Apprentice Specialist attending the training also who will be striking out on his own after he finishes his Jedi training. He knows his stuff and had input of his own at key points during the day.

The Sales Rep. stopped by and chatted for a few minutes even though he didn't need to, but our Project Manager never once stopped by. I found that odd since, after all, he's the Project Manager for our implementation.

For the most part, everything ran very smoothly for us as well. A few small snags, but less than I thought there would be for the AutoCAD users. Our lone engineer in attendance did better than everyone else (except me maybe?) and he has almost no AutoCAD experience. He attributed it to the fact that he's very used to the 3D modeling process because of using RAM for structural analysis. It makes perfect sense to me. That aside, it is no surprise to me that he picked it right up. He's not where he is because of a coin flip.

This entry is entitled Part I because that is all I'm going to say about today's training for now. There are a couple of items that I'm checking on before I comment further, lest I put my big-fat-foot in my just-as-big-fat mouth. Sometimes I can be a little quick to defend my position (and our $$$ investment!), but I'm going to wait. For now. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt until then - especially when I could be mistaken. Not wrong: just mistaken.

Let's just say that I don't feel all warm and fuzzy about a few things, but we'll see what develops.

Tune in again tomorrow night. I hope you'll hear me humble myself again.

Time for me to make like a tree and 'leave.' Go Celtics!

Training Prep

In order to prep for the classroom training, I opted to have everyone complete as many of the eLearning exercises on the Subscription website as possible. The first one I had them go through was Exploring the User Interface - since you can't do much (effectively) without being familiar with the program. I went through them also (as a needed refresher) since it has been a while for me, too. This should mean fewer slowdowns during the training - I hope.

It was recommended by our Implementors (?) to try the Getting Started with Revit Structure 2009 booklet that is included with the DVD, but that is more for someone at least a little familiar with the program. And, just for the record, there are a couple of mistakes that easily confused our novices when they tried that before the eLearning mini-courses. I would point them out, but I can't remember them exactly. I do remember that one called out the wrong elevation marker to use (or was very vague in the description - north instead of south, maybe?) and consequently ended up with the grids showing reversed from what they showed in the picture. You should've seen the puzzled looks I got.

One thing to mention about the eLearning exercises: we all had some major issues trying to get the Simulations to work and were forced to use the Application to complete them. There is nothing really wrong with that, but if they give you the option to do it either way, they (Autodesk) should make sure that it works either way. I say that it's their issue because we tried on at least ten computers (all 6 of our work computers and most of our home computers as well) and had a very low success rate using the Simulations anywhere with either XP or Vista. If you try it, definitely use Internet Explorer as Autodesk is one of those sites that doesn't always play nice with Firefox (unfortunately). The only times it worked for us was with IE7. Score 1 more for Bill Gates & Co.
Like he needs any more points.

Confidence Level going into the classroom: High.