It was a privilege to attend and be a speaker at the BILT (Buildings, infrastructure, Lifecycle, technology) event this year in my home town of Adelaide, Australia. What a wonderful experience it was to have people I've know for years at the same event and in Adelaide. I do miss the interaction of the BIM community in the UK so therefore having so many international faces here was indeed a great experience. It was my first chance to reconnect with old faces, ignite existing relationships and put the face to a name (instead of their profile pictures on Twitter! ) within the context of the ANZ BIM community.
Over three full days the content was vast, it was a good mix of speakers with a variety of knowledge and expertise. Some speakers were very good and some were ok, but we are all learning so there's always room for improvement. Maybe a few more females next time (as I can certainly help with this the majority of the Women in BIM - www.womeninBIM.net - database members are willing to speak!). Having said this I connected with many smart female community members and committee folk who I'm certainly interested in keeping in touch with!
I found it a little disheartening to not see too many students at this event. We need ensure that education for students is also addressed and as advocates for change we should certainly allow students to attend and contribute. Maybe this means we need to ensure Universities are encouring their students to attend. Something to encourage for next year!
I also think we need to focus our attention within the built environment in Australia on the BIM process as much as technology and many of the committee agreed. This was something I felt we could improve on. As the events focus is the entire lifecycle I do believe that speakers and even organisers must encourage clients. Having size this any mention of the word technology to a client they would head to the next exit! This was discussed in the debrief but maybe it needs to an event totally separate from the main one... almost a BILT for clients event? Something to think about for next time!
Finally I would encourage the organisers to creat a BILT/ RTC speaker community portal on the website or somewhere for speakers to access past presentations etc. As leaders in change and technology it would be great for us all to have access to educational resources too! Also contact details for all speakers so we can all connect and work together potentially in future!
Having said all this I do feel it was a wonderful event and many interesting discussions were had. I would definitely recommend attendance to those who would be interested to learn and understand more in regard to the four key themes that the event represents - Buildings, Infrastructure, Lifecycle and Technology.
Well done BILT - I can safely say I was impressed.
Until next year... or maybe the US/ Europe / Asia. :-)
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