We got such great feedback from our Virtual Workshops back in December that I wanted to try to continue playing with the formats of Carlson webinars into 2021. So, for you longtime webinar attendees – I’m excited to announce that you’ll be seeing a lot more variety going forward!

Starting with the March, April and May schedules you’ll see that we have “regularly scheduled guests” such as Walt Liles of Terrain Technology, Mark Long and Doug Aaberg of Carlson Software. Each has agreed to conduct at least one webinar a month showcasing their specialty topics.

Walt and his partner Ashton Cary are my go-to guys for anything Carlson Takeoff related – estimating quantities, model building and any kind of data prep for office-to-field technology.

Mark… well, everybody knows and loves Mark. Mark is the product manager for Carlson Hydrology and P3D and there’s no one better for getting into the weeds of Carlson Civil and Hydrology (and P3d).

Doug Aaberg is the product manager for Carlson Survey. He is a licensed Land Surveyor and knows his stuff. He specializes in everything Carlson Survey, especially Field to Finish and LotNet. More recently, Doug has been focusing on establishing best practices for customizing and configuring Carlson Software to work in larger offices and across network deployments. Best practices for everything… Doug is great at figuring out what works for different companies and then providing the training to help implement it.

The March schedule for Carlson Webinars is shown below and you can click here to see the whole upcoming lineup. These webinars are included for FREE if you’ve purchased software from That CAD Girl so make sure to go here to pre-register for any and all you want to attend. If you haven’t yet purchased, please pre-register to attend as a guest.

• March 2^nd – Intro to Carlson Software – Settings, Setup, Configuration & Points
• March 10^th – Overview of Carlson Field to Finish
• March 11^th – Basics of Road Design in Carlson Civil with Mark Long
• March 23^rd – Drawing Cleanup for Model Building and Construction Staking with Walt Liles of Terrain Technology
• March 25^th – Best Practices for Network Solutions with Carlson’s GNSS RTK Systems with Doug Aaberg

Who said this…?

“…I came to realize that there were a variety of other CAD options out there, especially for those who didn’t want to pay the hefty AutoCAD price tag…”

Bruce Carlson, President of Carlson Software

Circa 2008…?

OR

Lynn Allen, Technology Evangelist for Autodesk from 1997-2018 and “someone who LOVES her AutoCAD”

Circa 2020… ?

Lynn Allen currently works as Global Technology Evangelist at Dassault Systèmes

“…I came to realize that there were a variety of other CAD options out there, especially for those who didn’t want to pay the hefty AutoCAD price tag. But were they good enough? Were they DWG file compatible? Were these “CAD-Clones” like cheap Louis Vuitton knock-offs or were they serious, robust, quality CAD solutions? And most importantly (for someone who LOVES her AutoCAD), could I possibly feel comfortable in a new CAD environment?”

Lynn has left Autodesk and joined the team at Dassault Systèmes, so she has had ample opportunity to check out DraftSight and see can it really replace AutoCAD in the workplace. Could she feel at home with DraftSight? Would she feel comfortable using DraftSight? I’ll let Lynn answer that:

“I am happy to say the answer is a great big “Yes!” Not only does DraftSight produce 100% compatible DWG files (complete with blocks, dimension styles, layers etc.) for a mere fraction of the price, but you will feel right at home with DraftSight in no time.”

Lynn Allen, DraftSight blog, 7/15/2020

Also see Cadalyst: Lynn Allen Gives AutoCAD Users a Quick Tour of DraftSight

Carlson Software to Give Users CAD Platform Choice

Carlson Software: Providing Customers a Choice

“If a user already has AutoCAD, versions 2000 all the way up to and including 2009, then they can work smoothly and effectively on those platforms. If they don’t,” he added, “and are looking for an alternative, effective and lower cost CAD, Carlson’s 2009 product comes with IntelliCAD built in, ready to use for no extra cost.”

Bruce Carlson, Business Wire 4/14/2008

 

Is the tide turning? Is the market finally working?

If DraftSight can be the answer, so can IntelliCAD – and for the same reasons. The quiet part has been said out loud… yay!

I am really looking forward to having Bruce Carlson, Dave Carlson and many of their talented development and support staff from Carlson Software be part of the fun December 15^th,16^th and 17^th!

Here is our “special guest” list…

• Bruce Carlson, President of Carlson Software
• Dave Carlson, VP of Programming for Carlson Software
• Leonid Entov, Head of IT for Carlson Software
• Lon Watson, Head of Support for Carlson Software
• Shan Lu, Hydrology Programmer for Carlson Software
• Sara Winter, Head of SurvCE Programming for Carlson Software
• John Gerber, Head of SurvCE Support for Carlson Software
• Steve Cummings, CPC & P3d Topo Specialist for Carlson
• Dwayne Tindall, Account Specialist for CAD Masters
• Walt Liles with Terrain Technology

And we can’t forget our A-Team aka the “regular workshop crew”…

• Scott Griffin, Global Sales Director for Carlson Software
• Butch Herter, Director of Hardware for Carlson Software
• Mark Long, Civil & Hydro Specialist for Carlson Software
• Mike Jones, Administrative Support Specialist for Carlson Software
• Doug Aaberg, Survey Support for Carlson Software

Cost is $99 per person and registration includes:

• your option to attend any or all sessions over 3 days
• certificates of attendance for professional development
• Day of Show Specials on software, upgrades and maintenance renewals
• door prizes and giveaways

Click here to register or download the workshop announcement with the Agenda and details

Carlson has recently announced their year-end pricing for desktop software. This year’s specials include Survey 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 12/31/2020! You may also want to keep an eye on our Active Coupon Codes for additional discounts.

And, don’t forget! All software purchases through That CAD Girl are eligible for a year’s access to our live, interactive webinar training sessions.

If you’d like to learn more about Carlson Civil Suite and Takeoff Suite, you can view some of our recent recordings here.

Carlson released the 2021 version of their desktop products on Wednesday Sept 23^rd. [Update: Carlson 2021 embedded AutoCAD (OEM) was released on 10/21/2020]

The products released on Wednesday included an embedded copy of IntelliCAD 10 and can also run on top of your separately purchased license of AutoCAD 2017-2021. Carlson Survey and Takeoff 2021 with embedded AutoCAD (OEM) are expected to be released within the next few weeks and an update will be posted here.

If you are currently running Carlson and have an active maintenance contract, you are eligible for a free upgrade to 2021. You will need your 2020 serial number and can use this Lookup screen to find your 2021 serial number.

You can read more about the new features and find more information on Carlson Software’s 2021 product page and you can view a recording showing 2021 updates here.

FAQ: What are the improvements to Carlson over previous versions? (a running thread)

Trying to get started with new Carlson Software? Need a little help without hitting the credit cards?

For a limited time, That CAD Girl will be offering payment plans for select Carlson Software. Maybe you want to get started with one module or a bundled set, just let us know and we can work up a proposal allowing payments over a couple months.

Also, with all purchases of software between now and 12/11/2020 you will receive 50% off registration for our 3 days of continuing education Virtual Workshops in December 2020.

Lots of good stuff coming – mostly from others – in September!  Current customers of That CAD Girl can attend for free or webinars are available for purchase. You can read more here.

We’re also happy to have you attend any webinar as a guest if you’d like to try before you buy – just email us here with your request.

Our webinars are live and interactive so you can ask questions and have them answered on the spot. You’ll also receive a record of your attendance to submit for PDH or CEU credit!

Sept 2^nd – Intro to Carlson Software – Settings, Setup, Configuration & Points
Sept 10^th – Advanced Carlson Hydrology with Mark Long of Carlson Software
Sept 24^th – What’s So Special About… Carlson’s Annotate Menu
Sept 25^th – Customizing, Migrating and Sharing Settings in Carlson Software – with Doug Aaberg of Carlson Software

We had just a few fits and starts with presentations and recordings but, yesterday, we finally wrapped up this 3-part series.

My goal with these webinars was to present an up-to-date overview and explain costs and licensing options for desktop software for surveyors, engineers, contractors and other land development professionals.

The recordings are available below. The “registration” process will ask for name and email address but, unless you’ve otherwise requested to be on my mailing list, I promise not to add you to my database. If you want to be notified of news, upcoming events and specials, you can click here to register for our newsletter.

7/22/2020 Autodesk Licensing Changes – Plan for the Future and How it Will Affect Carlson Software Users  presented by CADMasters

7/31/2020 Carlson Software Overview: All Substance, No Styles!

8/13/2020 IntelliCAD Overview: Where it WAS. Where it IS. And Where it WILL BE. presented by Dave Lorenzo of the ITC

Update: If you missed the live presentation on 8/13/2020, click here to view the recording

If your “CADometer” is pegged to HATE, you really shouldn’t miss this FREE webinar!

On Thursday August 13^th we will welcome Dave Lorenzo, President of the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium (ITC), who will present IntelliCAD Overview: Where it WAS. Where it IS. And Where it WILL BE. This webinar will provide an introduction to IntelliCAD for anyone wondering whether it is a viable alternative to their current CAD program. Feature-wise, IntelliCAD 10 will compare most favorably to AutoCAD.

Representatives of Carlson Software will also be on the call to discuss their ongoing partnership with the ITC and reasons they develop their desktop programs on IntelliCAD as well as other platforms.

During this session we will present some of the latest updates to IntelliCAD 10 that will be included in Carlson’s 2021 product release and of most importance to land development design and construction professionals.

This webinar will be approximately an hour long.

Click here to register

Want to read up before the webinar? Click here to view our FAQ’s about IntelliCAD and Carlson Software