Forge DevCon 2018 Recap

Forge DevCon is the largest gathering of design and engineering software developers in the world. Beginning in 2016 in San Francisco, CA, we have since expanded internationally to host conferences in Japan and Germany in addition to our flagship Las Vegas event. Forge DevCon usually teams up with Autodesk University in order to provide a combined learning and networking experience to attendees.  

Las Vegas, Nevada – November 12-13  

This year, Forge DevCon teamed up with the Connect and Construct Summit to bring you our largest conference to date. Our Village, a networking and learning hub, featured a theater for informal presentations, an AR/VR reality playground, and access to 22 featured Forge exhibitors, as well as an Answer Bar for any specific Forge coding questions. Some more highlights:

• Keynote: The keynote this year focused on Data at the Center, and featured Autodesk leaders Sam Ramji (VP of Cloud Platforms), Brian Roepke (Sr. Director of Forge Product Management), and Jim Quanci (Sr. Director of the Autodesk Developer Network), as well as featured guests Wendy Rogers (Founding CEO of eSUB) and Terry Davis (Director of Digital Marketing at JELD-WEN)

• 35 classes focusing on topics ranging from AEC, D&M, and general web programming. You can find a collection of those classes here

• We hosted a Forge DevLab that allowed customers who are already working with Forge an informal setting to work one-on-one with Forge experts to solve any of their coding problems

• There were an additional 16 Forge classes featured at Autodesk University throughout the rest of the week. The full class list, including recordings and downloadable assets, can be found here  

Forge also had a large presence at AU Las Vegas, with our own Quad, Answer Bar, a Forge Partner Zone, and customer exhibits from Project Frog and Vinci. There were a number of attractions at the Forge Quad, including:  

• Leadership Listening sessions in which attendees were able to get advice on a variety of topics in face-to-face sessions with Autodesk leaders,  

• Community Meetups led by Forge evangelists, product team members, and business leaders,  

• Quick and easy access to food and beverages, and  

• Interactive art, through a digital exhibit from Marpi and a live artist from The Ink Factory who was illustrating answers to “How does the Cloud impact your business?” 

Darmstadt, Germany – October 16 

• Keynote: This year, Nicolas Mangon (VP of AEC at Autodesk) delivered the keynote in Darmstadt, where he offered an overview of our opportunity and strategy in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction verticals

• We had presentations from Forge customer Vinci, who also exhibited at our Las Vegas conference, and from our newest Systems Integrator partner, Capgemini

• If you’re already building on Forge, the roadmap might be of particular interest to you – this year Arno Zinke and Jim Quanci of the Forge Product Team delivered insights and strategies, in addition to answering any questions about the future of Forge

• For more recorded sessions, check out our Forge DevCon playlist 

Tokyo, Japan – August 31 

• Keynote: Steve Blum (SVP of Worldwide Field Operations at Autodesk) talked about the future of creation with Forge and how it fits into Autodesk’s overall Future of Making strategy

• We had special presentations from Akihisa Hirata, a Professor of Architecture at Kyoto University, and Kenji Nankai, the Director of Design at a leading firm in Japan 

• The Forge Partner Zone featured a Forge Certified Systems Integrator – Applied Technology – and some developers – SCSK and SystemMetrix – both of whom showcased their Forge solutions at the event

• For any other recorded sessions, as well as links to download class and presentation materials, you can access them here

Shanghai and Shenzhen, China – September 17 / December 6

• Keynote: Delivered by Autodesk's own Xianhua Tang (Manager, Forge Partner Development), the topic of this year's keynote was not just that the future is coming, but that it's already here. Focusing on the value of Forge, the keynote also made sure to keep attendees up to date on the status of the platform, as well as shared stories and updates from AU in Vegas

• The CEOs of three Forge partners shared their success stories with attendees: Mr. Min Lin, CEO and Founder of Bim Building Data Technology Co. focused on construction project operation and facility management; Mr. Weifeng Zhou, CEO and Founder of Teoform Information Technology Co. shared a smart building solution; and Mr. Yang Yu, CEO and Founder of Hangzhou SAMDI Technology Co. shared their one-stop intelligent manufacturing service, from product design consulting, to prototyping and small batch production. All three of these partners created their solutions using the Model Derivative and Viewer APIs

• One focused on a BIM + IoT solution; the second was centered around a Construction and FM solution; and the third focused on collaboration in manufacturing

• Session highlights included classes focused on the new Design Automation API for Revit, Advanced Topics of Forge Viewer, Best Practices with Web Development, and Business Opportunities with Forge and Popular Technologies

• While there were no recorded sessions from either our Shanghai or Shenzhen events, feel free to reach out for more information. And as a bonus, here's a recap tweet of the Forge DevCon events in China

Already planning for next year? Keep an eye on our events pages for upcoming Forge DevCon events or Accelerators, or get in touch with the team if you'd like to be part of future events.