We are implementing some big changes behind the scenes here at That CAD Girl so I ask your patience as we slowly roll out more training and support options to our customers.
First and upcoming are two new specialty webinars with Travis covering the much asked about topics of site and subdivision design and grading. All our classes can be found here on our Classrooms and Conferences page and we’ll be adding more soon.
Description: This 2-day webinar is intended for anyone who is tasked with producing stormwater plans and calculations using Carlson Hydrology, specifically Stormnet(pipe networks) and Hydronet (detention ponds).
Designed by Travis Maxwell, PE, the webinar follows the design process Travis has developed from 28 years of stormwater permitting and design experience. The webinar will cover Storm Network design using Carlson’s Stormnet on the first day and Detention Design on the second day using Hydronet.
The webinar will begin with an overview of the design standards and calculations incorporated into the software and will conclude with completed calculations and drawings. A custom tool palette which provides commands in a step by step order will be used and provided to all attendees.
The webinar will cover “all the bells and whistles” included with Carlson Hydrology Module and should provide a solid base for anyone involved with stormwater design using Carlson Software.
Please click here for the full announcement and complete details
Format: Live, Interactive, Virtual Webinars – Presentation & Demonstration with lots of Q & A
Location: ONLINE via Go To Webinar
Price: $600 for 2 days
Included: Handouts and supporting spreadsheets, custom Tool Palette, recording (technology permitting)
Hours: 10:00 – 4:30 PM ET (total of 9 hours over two days)
Certificates: Will be provided
For anyone who has requested one-on-one Carlson Software training from me over the past few years, you can attest to how backed up I’ve been and, embarrassingly, how unresponsive I’ve ended up being as well.
As much as I’ve tried to accommodate the requests by doing webinars, small groups and one-on-ones when I can, I just haven’t been able to keep up with the demand for training and had no easy answers on the horizon – although I’ve been searching.
Enter Travis Maxwell!
He’s a pro and you’re going to love the solutions he can provide for you and your office!
Travis and the civil engineering design firm he worked with are long-time customers of mine and that’s how I got to know him. I actually never talked to him very much because he really knows what he’s doing; when he got stuck, he never needed much help from me beyond upgrades and serial numbers.
It’s not a stretch to say he has established one of the best track records I’ve seen for getting the most out of Carlson Software with IntelliCAD in a civil engineering design office.
Travis is no longer a full-time design engineer and has agreed to start providing training and consulting services exclusively through That CAD Girl as an independent contractor.
We’ve started him off a little slowly with webinars and some one-on-one custom training but we’re finally ready to start filling his calendar. We’re still a little clunky trying to get all the structural (IT) pieces in place but I’m pretty excited to give him the opportunity to show how great he is at this stuff!
Travis is probably able to handle most anything in the Civil Suite programs – Survey, Civil, Hydrology, GIS – but he specializes in Hydrology and Civil. He’s also very experienced at standardizing and customizing Carlson Software with IntelliCAD and deploying Carlson in small to medium size consulting offices.
For now, please visit our Contact Us page and submit a Request for Custom Training – then we’ll be in touch!
I asked Travis for a brief bio:
A good description of the services I will provide is to think of me as a cad mechanic. Whether it be a persistent file problem with IntelliCAD or an inefficient workflow, I have probably seen it before.
These skills were developed by working daily with Carlson Civil Suite for 14 years in a busy Civil Engineering design firm and as a Beta Tester for Carlson.
Additionally, I understand the engineering process having been a design engineer for 28 years. It is my pleasure to share my knowledge with others.
It’s a little late but Carlson Software made a “soft release” of the 2022 version of their desktop products earlier this morning – Thursday 12/30/2021. A “soft release” is basically a release without the balloons and streamers!
The Carlson products released today include an embedded copy of IntelliCAD 10.0a and 10.1a and can also run on top of your separately purchased license of AutoCAD 2017-2022. Carlson Survey and Takeoff 2022 with embedded AutoCAD (OEM) are expected to be released within the next few weeks and an update will be posted at the top of this blog post.
If you’ve purchased Survey or Takeoff OEM 2021 as part of our year end specials, you’ll get a free upgrade to 2022 when it’s released. Email me if you have questions about this!
If you are currently running Carlson and have an active maintenance contract, you are eligible for a free upgrade to Carlson Software 2022. You will need your 2021 serial number and can use this Lookup screen to find your 2022 serial number.
If you’re a past customer of That CAD Girl, you may be able to find your Carlson Customer ID, serial numbers and maintenance reports on our new customer portal. You can access your portal by clicking here and entering your email address. If you haven’t been granted Admin privileges by your company’s primary point of contact, you may have limited access.
You can read more about the new features and find more information here on Carlson Software’s 2022 product page.
Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel where you can find our Picks and Clicks videos plus several “Product Overview” recordings that demonstrate features in different programs.
FAQ: What are the improvements to Carlson over previous versions? (a running thread)
And, don’t forget…
Just a reminder that you have a little more than 24 hours to take advantage of Carlson’s year-end specials! This year’s specials include Survey with embedded AutoCAD (OEM), Takeoff with embedded AutoCAD (OEM), Select Suite Pick 2, Select Suite Pick 4, Civil Suite, Takeoff Suite and P3D Topo with Hydro.
Discounts will expire on 12/31/2021! You may also want to keep an eye on our Active Coupon Codes for additional discounts.
What else? All software purchases through That CAD Girl are eligible for a year’s access to our live, interactive webinar training sessions. We aren’t just interested in selling you the software – we want you to use it and love it! Also, customers of That CAD Girl get priority scheduling for any available custom training slots with Travis Maxwell or Jennifer.
If you’d like to learn more about Carlson Civil Suite and Takeoff Suite, you can visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel here.
Discounts on Carlson Takeoff Suite and other select Carlson Software products!
Available through Sunday 11/28!
Carlson has recently announced their year-end pricing for desktop software. This year’s specials include Survey with embedded AutoCAD (OEM), Takeoff with embedded AutoCAD (OEM), Select Suite Pick 2, Select Suite Pick 4, Civil Suite, Takeoff Suite and P3D Topo with Hydro.
Discounts will expire on 12/31/2021! You may also want to keep an eye on our Active Coupon Codes for additional discounts.
What else? All software purchases through That CAD Girl are eligible for one free registration to our Virtual Workshop and a year’s access to our live, interactive webinar training sessions. We aren’t just interested in selling you the software – we want you to use it and love it!
If you’d like to learn more about Carlson Civil Suite and Takeoff Suite, you can visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel here.
Better late than never, right?
It took way too long to get this organized this year – and it’s mostly a new format – but I hope you’ll find the longer-form presentations will be a good alternative until we can all get back together and in person!
This year we will have one day of tips-and-tricks presentations (from pros that you know and pros that you don’t) and then 3 full days of in-depth Carlson software training that covers introductory lessons for beginners through very advanced surface modeling and survey functionality.
We will be including one free workshop registration with the purchase of any full license of Carlson Software and, if you’ve been a regular attendee for our monthly webinar series presentations, you might also be eligible to attend for free.
The cost for all 4 days is $99 and your workshop registration will include:
I’ve often joked that I made a mistake when I started doing business as That CAD Girl – since the name didn’t give me room for expansion! For the most part I’ve been able to leverage advances in technology to grow the business while continuing to do most everything by myself. But it’s now been close to 20 years; and, though successful, for several years I have stressed over the fact that too much of my time is spent on the admin side of the business and not enough spent on training and support for my customers.
So I’d like to introduce you to Claire DiBlasi as my new partner in crime. Claire has a BS in Business Management Information Systems and 18 years in the IT industry. Most recently she has been working with our local school system. You can click here to learn more about Claire.
Claire doesn’t know CAD (yet!) but she’s more than qualified to help with every other aspect of the business and help free me up for more training and support. She’s my HERO! She only started working with me in March and it’s already clear how much of a difference she’s going to make!
What’s in Store for Those CAD Girls…?
We have several big changes we’re working to put in place that will allow us to better serve and respond to our customers. However, I’ll ask for your patience over the next few months while we are in transition. I’ll probably have to rely on friends like Mark Long, Doug Aaberg and others a bit more for webinars and custom training for the next few months but, after that, I should be able to take on more of those training tasks myself. My plan is to have our new processes up and running by early fall and in time for Carlson’s next release.
In the meantime, there will be some growing pains as we implement some new phone numbers, email addresses and procedures to make sure we’re more available to you in the future. Claire may end up being the first line of support for many questions but I can always still be reached at 919-417-8351 and [email protected] if you need to talk to me directly.
I think you’ll like the changes we have in store for That CAD Girl. I love what I do and only want to do it better and provide an even better experience for all of you trying to find your way through the labyrinth of land development software!
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your loyal support through the years. Please share all that love with Claire – she’s awesome!
Here’s your chance to help out the NC Society of Surveyors and also register to win a pair of tickets to the Coca-Cola 600 this weekend in Charlotte!
For every $25 entry, you will have a chance to win 2 tickets for Sunday’s race. Profits will go to benefit The Education Foundation and NCSS MAPS, you decide (multiple entries allowed). Call to purchase for your chance to win. Drawing to be held at 4:30pm on Thursday, May 27th. 919.556.9848.
The NCSS Museum of Archives and Preservation of Surveying, Inc. (NCSS MAPS, Inc.) provides an avenue to preserve the past of surveying and invest in the future.