May 2018

May was a death-march of travel, coming right on the heels of our April vacation in China. At the beginning of May, Jon had a team offsite, followed by the EG Conference in Carmel, immediately followed by a trip to Paris to do a keynote, the the Cirrus CPPP (recurrent flying training) in Concord, CA, then the Autodesk TechX conference in Detroit and Wilderness First Responder recertification at the Marin Headlands. All-in-all, a busy month.



EG Conference - Carmel

At the beginning of May, Jon went to the EG Conference in Carmel. We had a bit of a reunion with Carl, Maurice, and Jonathan, all ex-Autodeskers in attendance along with Jon and Jeff. Care went along to play tennis at the Pebble Beach Tennis Club - where we have taken a number of tennis camps. We stayed at La Playa Carmel where Steve Jobs first unveiled the Mac at an offsite. The conference was OK but we enjoyed spending time together walking around Carmel and enjoying some nice restaurants.

Autodesk gang Nero
La Playa Carmel Hotel Carmel Beach
Carmel Beach Carmel Beach


Keynote at d.event - Paris D School

Mid-May, Jon was invited to the Paris D School, a French offshoot of the Stanford D School, to present a keynote on More, Better, Less. While there he met with a French journalist from Liberation, a center-left French newspaper started in 1968 by Jean-Paul Sartre, and caught up with old friend and colleague Karsten Popp - former Autodesk head of EMEA Sales.

d.school d.school
d.event d.event graphic recording


Autodesk TechX - Detroit

At the end of May, Jon went to Detroit to present a keynote address at Autodesk's annual TechX conference. TechX is the annual Autodesk conference of technical, user experience, and product management leaders. Approximately 1000 people gathered to present talks and interact. TechX was held at Detroit's Renaissance Center, now the home of General Motors. While there, Jon got a sense of Detroit's revitalization and visited the Henry Ford Museum. One of the highlights was a reconstructed Bucky Fuller Dymaxion House.

Renaissance Center Jon Keynote

Photos courtesy Autodesk


Jon Darren, Jon, Heike

Photos courtesy Autodesk


Andrew's Keynote Darren Tells Stories
Jon Keynote Jon Keynote

Photos courtesy Autodesk


Atrium GM Showroom
Detroit by Day Detroit by Night
Renaissance Center Heike Farewell
Heike Farewell

Photo courtesy Randy Swearer


Heike Farewell

Photo courtesy Randy Swearer


Henry Ford Museum Oscar Meyer
Henry Ford Museum Henry Ford Museum

Dymaxion House Dymaxion House
Dymaxion House Dymaxion House