RUGS - Oldest Revit User Group in the World?

Having joined the RUGS committee in 2008 as treasurer I finally got a promotion:
This year I took over as chairman of RUGS from Steve Fiorio - a post he had held since 2012.

We believe that RUGS is the oldest formal Revit User Group in the world.  This has been confirmed by Autodesk, and no other group has yet claimed the title.

Initiated by Wesley Benn, the first meeting was held in May 2003 in North Sydney, in the offices of Benn Design & AEC Systems.

The RUGS Website was set up in August 2005 - with much ongoing hard work by Bo Zhen

Go to the link for our 100th meeting in August 2012 to see more about the history of RUGS

Our original logo tells a story:

I am not sure if we are still Australia's largest user network, but the reference to "CAD Software" shows its age - this logo obviously predates the common usage of the acronym "BIM".  Time for an update, if I can only track down the original graphics.

RUGS meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month (except January when everyone is at the beach enjoying the Sydney sunshine). 
The venue is very kindly provided for us by Ultimo TAFE -
Room W3-06,
Level 3 Marcus Clarke Building,
827-837 George Street,
Ultimo
[in Sydney, Australia, just in case any overseas readers are thinking of attending]


This year we are experimenting with a new approach of getting the 3 Sydney based Autodesk Resellers more closely involved - they will take turns in helping to organise speakers for the meetings.  We hope to get a wider audience as Revit users see this as "reseller neutral"  - RUGS is organised by Revit users for the users.

Proposed Schedule of RUGS meetings for 2014:
11 Feb

• Ceilidh Higgins (Daryl Jackson Robin Dyke) - "BIMnomics"
• Frank Crisp (PTW) - "Pattern based families for creating facades"

11 March - Cadgroup

• Deepak Maini (Cadgroup) - Navisworks
• Michael Sandel (Plansource) - Shadows on adjacent buildings

8 April

• Greig Bannister (Panzura) - Revit file storage/sharing solution
• Anthony Bowden (PVN) - Revit family templates
• Tim Waldock (PTW) - Whats New in Revit Architecture 2015

13 May - A2K –

• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for architects and engineers
• Whats new in Revit MEP 2015

10 June – Redstack –

• Surveying and Scan to BIM, Recap

19 July ?  (TAFE Closed on 8th July).

• Friday annual social event. Jointly sponsored by all 3 resellers. Venue TBA

12 Aug -
9 Sept -
14 Oct - 
11 Nov – 
9 Dec -

Revit User Group Sydney 100th Meeting

On Tuesday 14th August 2012 will be the 100th meeting of RUGSyd (Revit User Group Sydney) - we think this is the oldest Revit user group, not just in Australia but in the world.  Autodesk have confirmed this, but who knows, there might be another group out there . . .

Initiated by Wesley Benn, the first meeting was held in May 2003 in North Sydney, in the offices of Benn Design & AEC Systems.  The second meeting in June 2003 had a formal agenda and a committee was elected:

The proposed agenda was as follows:

1. General Business
- Election of Chairperson and Secretary (3 month temporary posts)
- Format of Meetings
- Next Meeting
2. User Requirements for REVIT Localisation
- Levels to AHD
- Site Co-ordinate Systems (eg AMG)
- Metric Library Components
- Local Annotation Standards (eg Stair Arrows, Door Swings, Window Openings, Brick Sizes, etc)
- Other Issues as suggested by Users
3. Bug List
4. Enhancement Requests
5. Open Question and Answer Session

Original Committee:

Wesley Benn     – Chairman      - Benn Design

Rocco Raso       – Secretary       - Planahead

Adrian Esdaile  – Treasurer      - Benn Design

Michael Juda                              - Australia Wide Drafting

Gyula Toth                                 - Futurespace

Tim Bowland                              - Clarendon Property Group

Marina Radosevic replaced Gyula soon afterwards.

User Group charter in July 2004

The first RUGs social was Feb 11, 2005 at Fluid, in North Sydney.  This has become an annual event, more recently at The Oaks pub in Neutral Bay

RUGS Website was set up in August 2005 - with much ongoing hard work by Bo Zhen of Benn Design.

My first presentation was at meeting #26, August 2005 (Tim Waldock User story - Penrith football stadium refurbishment).

A new committee took over in 2008, and RUGSyd became fully multi-disciplinary:

Toby Maple             – Chairman        - AEC Consulting; then Hassells

John Hainsworth     – Secretary       - Arups (Structural)

Tim Waldock           – Treasurer        - PTW (Architecture)

Wesley Benn                                      - Benn Design (Architecture)

Brendan Upton                                   - Hyder Consulting (MEP)

The venue was then changed to be held alternately at the three Revit reseller's offices in Sydney, until a fixed home was found at the Sydney TAFE, Ultimo (Level 3 Marcus Clarke Building, 827-837 George Street, Broadway) - our present venue, for which we are very grateful.  Many thanks to Tom Hoare of Sydney TAFE for allowing us to use the venue.

Current Committee (2012):

Steve Fiorio             – Chairman        - Hassells

Chris Mawson         – Secretary        - Arups (Structural)

Tim Waldock           – Treasurer        - PTW (Architecture)

David Foley                                          - NDY (MEP)