If you've been unplugged or neck deep following the Code of Conduct, we recently returned to Floorplan country with the launch of ACI Sketch™. Some of you ACI lifers may remember good ol' LaserDraw from the days of DOS. The response to ACI Sketch has been primo and many of y'all out there in ACI-land have already jumped on board.
But before the product launch, and as part of our ACI Sketch orientation, we here in Support were challenged with a contest: Draw me a dream! Superbly sketch! Fantastically floorplan! Architecturally amaze! You're probably thinking "No big deal, just draw Barbie's Dream Mansion. You guys are ACI Support, you know what to do" but therein lies the rub: Many techs (myself included) are much more familiar with the INTEGRATION of sketch programs, as opposed to the in-and-out expertise of USING the sketch programs. I draw simple squares and make sure they come back to the report and bring over the correct Sq Ft values. Now we're going to have a contest to sketch out MC Hammer's house? Hmmm... should be interesting.
You, as appraisers and office managers and experienced users would take great delight in watching us learn some of the tips N tricks you use every day to get efficient sketches pushed out the door. There were times I wanted to eat my mouse in frustration until I did the unthinkable for a Computer Nerd; I checked the help manual! And it gets better, our Training and Documentation dept even made videos! I don't even have to READ? ALRIGHT!
(in case you're wondering, all our training vids can be found here:
http://www.aciweb.com/training/videos.aspx)
Initially I started drawing a space shuttle and a palm tree. We are in Florida, right? But I settled on a more serious design and constructed a mansion that would make Trump blush. We even had techs drawing cartoon characters (drawing arcs is so easy with ACI Sketch). By the end of the first day most of us had our ACI Sketch printouts on display in the employee lounge for judges Randy, Paula and Simon (see American Idol). Just like Idol, the competition was fierce. I challenged myself to win so I could share the glory with my fellow sketch constituents via my blog. Unfortunately my dream was not to be. One of the judges pointed out that I didn't place any doors in my MC Hammer mansion. You can't touch this!
Rectangularly yours,
Andrew