Lynn Allen at SolidWorks World: Is it Glasnost?

Lynn Allen, the queen of AutoCAD, caused quite a stir when she showed SolidWorks World 2008 in San Diego. Blogs lit up with Lynn sightings almost immediately, complete with tabloid-style photos. Tongues wagged about Autodesk spying. Some SolidWorks employees grumbled how they themselves would be welcomed at Autodesk Univeristy (they wouldn't --AU gatekeepers are infamous for intolerance of competitive companies and dissenting individuals). 

Lynn Allen, queen of AutoCAD, with Rainer Gawlick, emcee of SolidWorks World 08 and head of marketing for SolidWorks.

But Lynn was open and forthright in her role. She was not here to spy, nor hiding her role as evangelist for Autodesk. She just wanted to see what was going on, maybe even pick up some pointers for AU. She even graciously agreed to and sat through a tough interview by SolidWorks user and and blogger, Mike Puckett.

Though Solid Works conference organizers were getting a bit nervous from sensation Lynn's presence was causing, most CAD insiders felt SolidWork had once again took the high road by keeping the doors open when a lesser company would have slammed them shut.

Will Lynn's visit and treatment at SolidWorks lead to a more civilized behavior by Autodesk to SolidWorks? Maybe it has already started. There were no Autodesk pranks this year, like the previous year when SolidWorks users had to endure in-your-face Inventor ads on every taxicab in New Orleans.

Comments

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[Mike Puckett]

As the interviewer, I have to say it was a pleasure getting to sit down with Lynn. We had a pretty engaging conversation both on, and off the record. I look forward to speaking with her again in the future. The interview is still available on my blog: www.MikesCadBlog.com

[Al Whatmough]

nicely done showing up

[Phillip Dodson]

Is the interview available?

[Lynn Allen]

To be fair...Autodesk University has been open to the competition for the past two years...I even extended a personal invitation to some of the SWX folks to attend a couple of years ago. I believe all of the conferences are open now (except for ESRI).
I must admit I am/was surprised by all the attention I received at SWX World but I enjoyed the many conversations I had with the attendees. A big thank you to those of you who have written the supportive comments above!

[Lauss Finkelstein]

Was Lynn fired or she was there to see the blank screen ? :)

[John Burrill]

Lynn's a class act and a math geek. And I think it's good that her interest in CAD is bigger than one company's vision of it. I hope to see you in Orlando next year, Lynn.

[Jeff Cope]

Props to Lynn Allen for attending SolidWorks World and especially agreeing to an interview with a SolidWorks blogger. That interview could have gone south in a hurry but I don't think it did. I don't buy her explanation for the Monster.com job posting disparity between SolidWorks and Inventor but all in all I gained respect for her.

[Randall Newton]

I salute Lynn Allen for deciding attending SWW was important, and for so graciously putting up with everything stirred up by her presence there.