Las Vegas

So I am 'working' in Las Vegas this week at the Autodesk University conference.  Having never been to Vegas I was pretty psyched to hear they were going to send me along for the ride.  I arrived late on Monday and so I met up with my co-workers later for a drink out in the casino.  I have to admit that I'm not sure what my expectations were, but I can tell you they have fallen a little short.  Although the lights and strip are pretty impressive with some cool architectural accents.  The volume of people however...I feel like I am in a ghost town.  And for what I have heard talking to people who work here, and visit, this is really unusual even for this time of year (the slow season).

Here is a view of the strip as I passed over from the Luxor (where I'm staying) to New York New York.

Here is an art installation in the atrium of one of the high end shopping areas.

So I am here for work and this is where the archie side comes out :-)  There have been some pretty cool exhibits showcasing Autodesks involvement in movie making, science, architecture, manufacturing and many other topics.  During the opening keynote lecture there was a great variety of projects.  Some of my favorite were Project H - a non-profit organization that brings design/build to a rural town in NC to improve the quality of life for the community and providing opportunities for the high school students.  Check out the site: http://projecthdesign.org/  Also the Seattle Washington project to rebuild the viaduct along the waterway.  http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/viaduct  What was so cool about this project was the level and quality of the rendering and details of the options available for the state to make the best decision for a replacement.  Anyway, I won't say any more but you can check out the other projects like the electric car company Tesla and the movie Tron at http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=au2010_general_session_keynote

This was a model in the exhibit hall.  I took a minute to stop and stare :-)  Made me miss school for a minute.