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...
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