Online Networking: 3DEXPERIENCE World or LinkedIn?

If you keep up with SOLIDWORKS and their events, you're probably aware that they have decided to host 2021's 3DEXPERIENCE world online. COVID hasn't budged, so that's totally understandable. The risk simply isn't worth it. But what we're trying to wrap our heads around is how useful the event will be if it's hosted online. From our point of view, the conference is all about networking and meeting other SOLIDWORKS users, resellers, and experts. If it's all online, all we can do is listen to the lectures. Not that the lectures aren't a valuable part of the experience, but we would much rather see SOLIDWORKS promote their industry experts and allow them to do the classes  from their own sites rather than having everyone submit their presentations. 

We tend to agree with Angelo here, who left this comment on one of the mass posts about SOLIDWORKS announcing their decision to host 3DEXPERIENCE World virtually. Let's not forget, they are definitely still using group photos and videos for their marketing, which really emphasizes what a social event SOLIDWORKS World usually is. I'm not saying it should be hosted in person. I don't know that in-person would be a safe option right now, but I do think they need to make some serious structural changes to the event if they are going to host it online.

We don't want to sound super pessimistic, but honestly, for what it sounds like we're getting right now, we could just use LinkedIn or Facebook. Find other SOLIDWORKS users and experts to connect with, create a Facebook group and host our own Zoom meetings and presentations, hang out and make conversation. Mentor students, share ideas and projects, and create a new network that we can continually rely on. If we're going virtual, we might as well do it on our own terms (for free)! 

Listen, I'm more than happy to pay for a webinar. Learning is my favorite thing to do. If college wasn't so expensive, I'd just be a student for life and learn as much as I could. I would just much rather pay the person speaking directly. I know what goes into creating those resources to distribute them, and it's a lot. 

In conclusion, I'm not as excited for 3DEXPERIENCE World as I wish I was. Maybe I just can't wrap my head around the full picture yet. I'm looking forward to getting more details. What are your opinions? Send us an email, find us on social media, or leave a comment below! We would love to hear it!