NOVEDGE blog

Interview with Kenneth Wong, CAD Journalist and Blogger

When I first met Kenneth Wong here in San Francisco my thoughts were not focused on the missing aureola of acronyms that impeccably decorates all his pictures. While shacking his hand I was repeating to myself: "I'm meeting one of the last CAD journalists, a very endangered species. I don't know if I'll ever meet another one before they all go extinct." In the past few years we have been so busy exploring the benefits of blogs, Twitter, and Facebook that we have almost completely missed the gradual extinction of CAD journalists and magazines (thanks to Al Dean there is at least one exception). Now it's time to look at the CAD press not anymore as a legacy of the past, but as a component of the new CAD ecosystem. Following Kenneth Wong and the emerging generation of CAD journalists we are witnessing a transformation process that will make the new press a critical player in the way we produce and consume technical information. Here is Kenneth's interview.

Kenneth can you tell us a bit about yourself and your professional activities?

when I’m looking for stories, I pay attention to not just the technological angle but also the human angle

Nearly a decade ago, in one of my temp jobs, I ended up as a receptionist for a publishing firm in San Francisco. It was the same firm responsible for producing Cadence magazine (no longer in existence). The magazine’s editor in chief, Arnie Williams, noted I had a flair for writing and a curiosity about technology. So he hired me as a junior editor. That was my introduction to CAD. Since then, I’ve also cycled through a number of computer games and digital video magazines as an editor. At the moment, I’m Desktop Engineering’s resident MCAD writer and blogger. My writings also appear in Architecture Week, Computer Graphics World, Cadalyst, and other outlets.
Unlike many of my colleagues, I studied literature in school, not engineering. So when I’m looking for stories, I pay attention to not just the technological angle but also the human angle. I’m a first-generation immigrant, born and raised in Burma, Southeast Asia.

You have been working in the CAD field as a journalist for some time. Can this market support a magazine and a team of independent journalists, or will we have to rely on bloggers and press releases in the future?

Instead of magazines, we now have brands: Desktop Engineering, Cadalyst, Manufacturing Business Technology, to name but a few

We used to think of a magazine as a book published monthly. But in the past decade, that model has changed considerably. Instead of magazines, we now have brands: Desktop Engineering, Cadalyst, Manufacturing Business Technology, to name but a few. They’re made up of printed issues and a slew of properties associated with them, such as newsletters, blogs, webcasts, podcasts, and forums. CAD bloggers like SolidSmacks and Deelip emerged as recognized brands in their own rights because they give compelling reasons for people to rely on their insights and judgments.
This creates new fields and venues. Small businesses that can’t afford to run print ads can now participate online. In the end, we may have fewer printed magazines, but a richer media landscape, supported by a greater number of advertisers. I doubt the day will come when press releases become people’s prime source of news. As we all know, they are anything but independent.

Your style as a journalist is focused on the user's perspective. Can you share with us the process you go through when creating a typical article?

You won’t find a lot of technical details in my writing

When deciding to pursue a story, I always ask, “Would a user care?” You won’t find a lot of technical details in my writing. If I’m writing a feature story on a new product release, I’d rather focus on how easy (or difficult) it is to create dimensions in it than on what the modeling kernel is. I frequently broadcast the topics I’m considering in my Twitter and Faceboook updates, just to get readers’ reaction. I also scan comments on popular CAD blogs to identify people I could interview. On several occasions, I contacted them and asked them to provide quotes for my stories. In Desktop Engineering’s Virtual Desktop newsletter, which I’m responsible for, I regularly feature “Tweet of the month” and “Reader comment of the month,” culled from what readers have to say about certain topics. I think their opinion matters just as much as mine.

For several years, pervasive use of 3D in browsers has been perceived by many as the next big thing. But it hasn't happened, or at least not on a popular scale. What are the reasons for this delay?

The mouse-and-keyboard combo is perfectly suited for text input, but a handicap for manipulating 3D

Partly, it has to do with how we interact with computers. The mouse-and-keyboard combo is perfectly suited for text input, but a handicap for manipulating 3D. The other factor is the lack of standard for repackaging 3D CAD data for the Web. I’m hoping Google’s O3D open API (http://code.google.com/apis/o3d/) will serve as a rallying call for this cause. By the way, online games and virtual communities like World of Warcraft and Second Life are doing a good job cultivating a groundswell for browser-based 3D. Online communities like Dassault’s 3DVIA and 3D ContentCentral represent similar efforts. I think light-hearted, consumer-friendly Web 3D will pave the way for the more serious implementations to come.

How does your approach differ when writing an article compared to writing a blog post?

I see blogging as a way to connect with the readers on a more personal level

In my news articles, I seldom use the first-person voice. I usually keep the “I” out of the text and simply report the facts. In blog posts, my thoughts, my reactions, and my quirky personality are as much a part of the story as the facts. I take that approach because I see blogging as a way to connect with the readers on a more personal level.

Silicon Valley venture capitalists seem to be attracted to all sort of technologies except CAD and 3D technologies (with very few exceptions). As a CAD expert and resident of the Bay Area and Silicon Valley region do you have an explanation for this?

CAD market is growing [...] without the kind of wild swings that give VCs an adrenaline rush

I’m no expert on venture capitalists (VCs), but they seem to be dictated by hype, buzz, rumors, and market volatility. CAD market is growing (as seen in CIMdata’s annual reports), but it’s a safe, steady market without the kind of wild swings that give VCs an adrenaline rush. I think VCs who’re in it for the long haul should consider CAD.

What should CAD bloggers learn from CAD journalists and what should CAD journalists learn from CAD bloggers?

bloggers have shown us that, in the new era, a story is on ongoing dialog

CAD bloggers stand to gain a lot of credibility by adopting some traditional journalistic practices, like taking the time to fact-check before posting something, citing respected sources and statistics to reinforce their points, and balancing a story with opposing viewpoints. Journalists should learn to blog and use social media (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, for example) to engage with their readers the way bloggers do. Traditionally, journalists think of a story as an essay or a speech. Bloggers have shown us that, in the new era, a story is on ongoing dialog. So let’s talk!

I would like to thank Kenneth for taking the time to answer my questions. If you have any questions for Kenneth or for Novedge, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

Kenneth's Virtual Desktop Video Edition To view all issues of Kenneth Wong
Virtual Desktop Video Edition visit DE Channel on youTube.

Interview with Jessie Newburn, PR Gal at Nemetschek NA

Who is the face customers identify with a typical CAD company? Maybe the CEO whose smile appears on the cover of business magazines, or the tech support guy who handles the most challenging cases, or maybe the well-dressed salesperson who convinces big customers to buy dozens of licenses? All of them or none of them, it depends who you ask... Until yesterday. Now, if you ask people who is the most familiar face at Nemetschek NA, very likely most would respond Jessie! Jessie is not the CEO, not a member of technical support team, nor a saleswoman. Jessie is the person in charge of Social Media, or the "PR Gal," as she likes to be called. Everyday Vectorworks users find Jessie online in a variety of environments, from Facebook, to Twitter, Delicious, and so on. I managed to disconnect Jessie from her laptop and her iPhone for a short while in order to get some insight about her online activities and her role inside Nemetschek NA. Here is the interview.

Jessie, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your professional activities?

the company (has) a loyal, passionate and, perhaps, a bit geeky customer base

Certainly. I’m the PR gal on the global mar-com team at Nemetschek North America. We develop CAD products for designers under the name Vectorworks. Strengthening our global community and supporting our international distributors is a key component of my job. I was drawn to work with Nemetschek NA because I could tell – even from the outside looking in -- that the company had a loyal, passionate and, perhaps, a bit geeky customer base. As I have a strong orientation to the opportunities emerging in and around social media, this was a perfect storm, so to speak, of the type of company I wanted to work for. I’ve been with NNA for about a year, and it’s been everything I hoped for … and more.

How do you see the current state of social media in the CAD industry? Is it affecting only a small community or is it having a larger impact?

social media opens the doors to serve people more specifically and genuinely

Well, as a newcomer to the CAD industry, I don’t believe I’m qualified to speak to how social media is impacting this one industry differently than others. I think for all companies, the touch points for reaching customers, prospects and the press have exploded. As well, consumer sentiment in wanting actual engagement and personal value, and less messaging about a product’s grandness, has shifted. Social media opens the doors to serve people more specifically and genuinely.

Do you think social media technologies will ever become a daily tool for CAD end users?

I know, with a personal certainty, that social media is, for some, a daily tool, indeed

LOL. Well, in my eyes, social media technologies already are a daily tool for some people. Present company included! For others, of course, the tools don’t even register as significant. But weighing in on the side of daily use, my morning includes reviewing my Google Alerts to discover what new content about our products and brand is now online. I check in on Twitter for reasons similar, engaging with users and scanning the tweets to see what others in our community are reading and saying; I communicate with press and the public in Facebook, and I use, for example, social book-marking tools for tracking press activity and sharing it with my colleagues. In my own life, I also approach data, projects and communication using many of the same tools and technologies I use at Nemetschek NA. So, I know, with a personal certainty, that social media is, for some, a daily tool, indeed.

People approaching the new social media tools frequently complain about the amount of time they must invest in them in order to get some tangible feedback. Would you say they have wrong expectations, the wrong tools, or a wrong approach?

to ignore social media tools or think they can be avoided in the long term is, in my opinion, a mistake

I think their frustrations probably stem from a combination of all three points you mention. Let’s call a spade a spade: Anything can be a time suck, right? News, TV, even relationships and hobbies can pull my attention in a disproportionate way. My experience is that I’ve had to invest time in learning social media … and not just learning the technology, but also the culture around these technologies. Oh, and as an early adopter, I’d add that I’ve even had to invest time to monitor shifts and adjust my activities as the culture shifted. So, yeah, it can take some time. Then again, I used to spend gobs of time on email, and now I’ve pared that down to a bare minimum. I used to organize files and data on my hard drive, and now delicious.com, YouTube, my blogs and Twitter carry more of that function for me.

Frustrations and worries aside, to ignore social media tools or think they can be avoided in the long term is, in my opinion, a mistake. So, I believe that professionals in any industry benefit from learning more about these tools, both for technical skills gained and for being connected to the cultural vibe around them.

The new social communication channels promote individual relationships rather than companies, brands, or products. How can companies participate in this new world?

Cultural values have shifted with more people wanting personal communication along with corporate branding

I approach this corporate dilemma differently than a lot of folk. I think social media tools are ascending in use specifically because they facilitate individual relationships, raw-and-real communication and personal branding. Understanding that component of the motivation for using these tools is one of the keys for how companies can “participate in this new world.” The tools don’t make someone be a fool. Or be likeable, for that matter. If someone lacks even a modicum of style and elegance in their personal behavior, social media will just exacerbate that fact. And make it public. Likewise, I believe there is a significant amount of untapped intelligence and capacity trapped in hierarchical-based organizations. Social media can help identify that and bring it forth. I think companies have a golden opportunity at hand in helping people inside their companies by modeling online activities that are engaging, real, respectful and professional. Cultural values have shifted with more people wanting personal communication along with corporate branding. Not one. Not either. But both.

Getting feedback from a customer is not as easy as social media gurus sometimes often promise. More vocal users are not always the most representative of the community. What are your suggestions on this topic?

I listen.
I respond.
I engage.

This is a loaded topic and not one easily answered in but a paragraph or two. Yes, I agree that vocal users are not always the most representative of the community. But the bigger question here is how to get more feedback from customers. I’d add that “feedback” is much more than a call-and-response process, where companies ask questions and customers dutifully respond. Feedback, vis-à-vis social media, is much about watching where users are. Engaging with them on their turf and in their culture. And then listening, participating and adding value to the community. I don’t mean to sound like a broken record of the social media mantra, but this stuff is not about automation and gimmicks. It’s about engagement.

Twitter is just one example of where this is possible. It’s a bit awkward, but I use it and love it. Nemetschek NA has three broad categories of users: architects, landscape architects and entertainment designers. We’ve also got a large and diverse international community, student users, long-time users and brand-new users. With Twitter, I watch the conversation in and around our brand. I listen. I respond. I engage. I also bring in other people from the company when I need their help to answer specific questions. And our CTO, interviewed earlier on Novedge, is the recipient of the stream of tweets about our products’ features and functionality. So, “feedback,” in today’s environment, starts with listening, not asking.

What is the Nemetschek NA strategy for social media and how does it fit in the Nemetschek group strategy?

our product, our customers’ success with it and their clients’ satisfaction with their work is what counts

Now, Franco, as you know, our global headquarters are in the Washington, D.C. region (read: DOD/NSA/CIA). We have a popular saying in these parts: “If I answer that question, then I’d have to kill you.” :-) But for real, people can easily find us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Delicious, Netvibes, Flickr and a few other sites. Plus, we have some neat global-facing projects on the horizon, so stay tuned.

For now, we’re like many companies: engaging and monitoring, measuring where we can and dynamically adapting to a shifting landscape. At the end of the day, our product, our customers’ success with it and their clients’ satisfaction with their work is what counts. Social media can facilitate and support many of our goals in supporting our customers and in deepening our engagement in a worldwide community of users, so it certainly has our attention. The reasons I was initially attracted to Nemetschek – the loyal, passionate and just a bit geeky customer base – give us – and all industries in the CAD industry – an opportunity to serve our customers and support their success with our software. Now that I have a stronger sense of the company’s direction, the people working here, and the capacity of our users, I’ll answer your question by saying, “Our future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.” :-)

I would like to thank Jessie for taking the time to answer my questions. If you have any questions for Jessie or for Novedge, please leave a comment below and we will be glad to answer.

Franco Folini

Jessie Talks about Marketing in 2008 This video interview was released by Jessie to Jonny Goldstein in 2008. At the time Jessie was not working at Nemetschek NA.

Another RhinoJungle Successful Contest!

We want to thank everybody who designed banners and cast their vote

After the successful poll contest on RhinoJungle in May, we were excited to run another contest. If you are among the few who don't know yet, RhinoJungle is a free online community for Rhino 3D users and enthusiasts. The results of the poll gave us great inspiration for that new contest, since quite some of the RhinoJungle members didn't actually like the banner that was on top of RhinoJungle ;-). So a new contest was born: design a new banner!

For 2 weeks, members of the jungle could submit their designs. Six members took the time and effort, and gave it a shot by submitting several designs to us. One of the members even submitted 10 (!) different designs. After this submission period, it was time for everybody out there in the jungle to vote on their favorite banner. We found references to the voting page on Facebook and Twitter, and this resulted in a lot of votes, wow!

there was one winner: Kevin Stead from Scotland

It was great to see that a lot of different banners got votes, but there was also clearly one winner: Kevin Stead from Scotland, member of RhinoJungle since the very beginning (March 2009). His banner got by far the most votes, almost 40%, and is a great representation of RhinoJungle, with all the logos, a screen shot of Rhino and a mysterious jungle on the right hand side. Kevin will receive a copy of Ron K.C. Cheng book "Inside Rhinoceros 4" kindly offered by the author. You can see Kevin's banner on the top of every RhinoJungle page. The other banners are still visible online on the RhinoJungle contest results page.

Kevin will receive a copy of Ron K.C. Cheng book "Inside Rhinoceros 4"

We want to thank everybody who designed banners and cast their vote. You made this contest another success in the jungle, and inspires us to run contests on a regular basis! So check out the jungle (sign up if you haven't done so yet) and stay tuned for all the excited things that are happening in the jungle where all the Rhino animals live!

Mirjam Hart

Who are the Rhino Users? A Poll on RhinoJungle Gives Us Some Answers

I'd like to share with you some more results from a recent poll we did on RhinoJungle, the online Rhino 3D users community. The results will give us a better picture not only of the RhinoJungle community, but also of the average Rhino users. I'm not going to throw a bunch of numbers to you, instead I'll put it in happy colored graphs.

According to the poll, the average member of the RhinoJungle community is a male in between 26-35 years old. He is a designer and he is using Rhino 3D and AutoCAD the most. He found the community through the Novedge website, and he appreciates the videos and forum the most. Unfortunately we don't know what kind of car he drives or if he has a Golden Retriever, but we're glad to know our members a little bit better. Do you recognize yourself in the description as given above? Here you can find all the results, so you can make up a profile yourself.

By the way, we are running a new contest on RhinoJungle! The poll wasn't only intended to know our members better, but even more to get feedback about the functioning of the community. Based on that, we're having a contest where you can design a new banner to replace the one we're displaying now on the top of each page of RhinoJungle website (apparently some of our members don't like that banner too much). The lucky guy or girl will win a copy of the book 'Inside Rhinoceros' by Ron K. C. Cheng and of course will get eternal glory on the community. So check out RhinoJungle.com, sign up if you're not a member yet and get out your creative skills!

Mirjam Hart

What does the Poll on RhinoJungle Tell Us?

In 25 days, 30% of the members took the poll on RhinoJungle and we welcomed many new members.

Thanks you, and welcome!

We support RhinoJungle as a place where you can interact with other Rhino users and to find answers to your questions

To us, this poll has been a great success. We are happy with the response rate and we got some great feedback about how we can improve the community and what you value the most in this jungle. Some of the feature requests are easy to implement (like a gallery where you can post pictures of your work), some are a bit harder (like a different language). But with everything we do, we need your help! We host this community for you, our members, to offer you a place where you can interact with other Rhino users and as an informative resource to find answers to your questions.

One benefit of the many feature requests is this: you can do it yourself! Here are some examples from the poll:

• A product comparison section: several members would like to have the opportunity to compare products to help them decide which one they would like to use, or which product suits their needs best. I would say that the forum section could be an excellent way to do this. You can start a topic if you have a question about which product would be the best for you or if you want to write a review about a product. On the website of Novedge we also compare products, but we compare purely on technical specifications, since we don't want to favor one product over the other. For example, take a look at the Flamingo product page (Scroll down at that page or look at the screen shot I added to this blog post.)
• WiP/Final work section: as a designer, you like to show your work to other people. Through their feedback and comments they can give you inspiration or help with problems you may have encountered. So why not post your picture in the gallery and write something about it in the Me & My Work forum?
• More users and more participation: Did I already tell you can do it yourself? ;-) Invite your friends, colleagues, family, neighbors, or whoever you know who may be interested, and spread the word. Don't have a Rhino-related question at the moment? Start a social talk-topic and tell us about the great weekend you had, or a jobs-topic and tell us about the job opening at your company, or let everybody know you are looking for a job. It's all possible! Whether as a blog or a forum topic, or even as a video, we welcome all.

These are just some examples of things users would like to see at RhinoJungle. Unfortunately, there are also some things we cannot change ourselves, as we depend on Ning (the webhost of this community), like cropping pictures after you've uploaded them, using uploaded pictures as profile pictures, or letting the chat bar flash when there is any chat activity.

One last thing I want to mention about the poll: the header. We know, we're not perfect. But I strongly advise you to keep a close eye on the jungle, there has been perhaps a murmurr of something in 2 weeks or so that has something to do with a new header and a contest. Ooh, did I say too much?

Mirjam Hart

Novedge in the World of Social Media

On March 2nd, Skittles shook the world by changing its homepage to a big social media playground; when navigating to skittles.com you found yourself in a stream of Twitter messages with the tag #skittles. For 24 hours this was a big hit, but there was no filter, and also abusive tweets from pranksters about the company and its products turned up at the homepage of Skittles. The following day, the homepage was redirected to the fanpage of Skittles on Facebook, with almost 600,000 fans. Via the menu option 'chatter' you could still enter the Twitter stream. Today (March 4th) the homepage of Skittles is redirected to the Wikipedia page about Skittles.

Many people expressed their opinion about this campaign; some called it a genius and innovative move (although risky), others called it an utter failure, 'the worst thing to ever happen to social media branding'. But the fact is that Skittles got huge media attention during these days, everybody talks, tweets, and blogs about it (including us).

Incorporating social media in companies is a hot topic nowadays. This doesn't mean that when you'll navigate to our website next week, you'll end up at Facebook or Twitter, but it is very interesting to see all the developments in this field! How far are companies going to attract people with the use of social media channels and to have them interact with each other and the company? What is the best channel to interact with your (potential) customers? There are so many options to choose from, just think of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Friendfeed, LinkedIn, (corporate) blogs, communities. So you subscribe to (some of) these channels, and then what?

Novedge is exploring the mysterious but wonderful world of social media too by launching a big campaign.

Novedge is exploring the mysterious but wonderful world of social media too by launching a big campaign. Novedge has a page at Facebook and LinkedIn, our news source Pulse already has 141 (and counting!) followers at Twitter as @_Pulse_, and our community SpaceClaiming has 580 members. And of course, we have this blog :-). But besides that, Novedge is also starting a new community, called RhinoJungle (with its own Facebook page). This community is set up especially for the users and fans of Rhino and all Robert McNeel products. With facilitating these communities, Novedge wants to offer an extra service to our customers, to create a platform for sharing ideas, questions and 3d-work.

With this adventure Novedge aims for more direct communication, growth of members of our communities and a growth in followers on Twitter. We believe that the world of social media is boundless.

Mirjam Hart

For more information on this topic, take a look at this foldier sPression, an online collection of the Novedge social media activities.