I'm at the convention center in downtown Lexington, KY for the Carlson Silver Anniversary User Conference. So far it's been somewhere between Autodesk University and an AUGI CAD Camp. This is a 2-day conference with nine sessions offered.

In the opening keynote address, Bruce Carlson, president of Carlson Software talked about the addition of IntelliCAD to the platform choice for Carlson Software. This comes on the heels of the announcement this past January that Carlson could no longer sell Autodesk products. Bruce also emphasized how Carlson is a nimble company that can and has always responded quickly to customer input.

Dave Carlson, executive vice-president of development, gave a brief overview of Carlson 2009. The IntelliCAD engine is now built in. This means that when you install Carlson, you do not need AutoCAD, although it will still run on AutoCAD if you desire. Support for AutoCAD includes versions 2000 through 2009, and you can install unlimited platform versions of Carlson per single license, on the same machine.

A few more highlights that were mentioned:

• Carlson is a member of the ODA
• Carlson is now using a common code base for both the AutoCAD and IntelliCAD engines.
• Some AutoCAD features are not present in the IntelliCAD version of Carlson, including Sheet Set Manager and Tool Palettes
• Some routines run much slower in the IntelliCAD version but that this issue should be resolved in the upcoming release of IntelliCAD 7.
• Simplicity Systems, acquired by Carlson in 2002, will be releasing a Microstation compatible survey module on April 21.
• With regard to their mining products, the concept of 4D design is being promoted. 4D being the traditional 3D, plus timing.
• A 5D concept was also mentioned, this being 4D plus costing.
• Carlson is working closely with Bentley and ESRI for more integration.
• Carlson has a short term goal of being able to write to ESRI Geodatabases from all field and office products.
• Carlson still loves AutoCAD and AutoCAD Map and they are still an active ADN member. They have no plans to drop these platforms from their product development.

This evening we were treated to an excellent dinner. Maureen Slocum, Vice President, Group Publisher spoke about about a new marketing partnership between Carlson and CENews to premier in the next month or so. David Lorenzo, Development Director, IntelliCAD Technology Consortium also spoke about the relationship of the ODA and the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium, and how Carlson fits into the mix.

Carlson Press Release

Labels: Carlson Software 2009

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