How many will be at AU this year?

A reader accessing the database of attendees and speakers for Autodesk University 2012 tells me that it shows numbers are remarkably down from previous years, with just one month left to go.

• Registered attendees: 5,644
• Classes: 860 (includes non-class events, like meals)
• Speakers: 816 (includes Autodesk employees speaking)

The number of attendees is roughly half the number of its peak just before the 2008 recession. No doubt the recession continues to bite, as non-attendees consider the $2,000 cost of registration plus airfare, hotel,  ground transportation -- easily $3,000. Bosses have to think about productivity lost from employees not being at work that week, and the wages paid for not being at work.

These are the reasons, no doubt, that the online version of AU is much more popular this year. Some tens of thousands are registered to watch proceedings from home or from work.

(Click image for a clearer view.)

 

Here is how the reader reached these numbers:

The following may not be the exact step-by-step procedure, but you should get the idea. I logged in to the AU site & selected the Class Catalog option. It then asked me to log in again (?) & I selected Browse Catalog. I eventually ended up at this location: https://www.autodeskuniversity2012.com/connect/search.ww  (see figure) The first time I did it a while ago it only showed the Classes & Speakers tabs. As I recall, at that time I clicked on one of the Class Type buttons and the People tab appeared.  

 

Comments

[Noah Cole]

Hi Ralph -- for clarification, the number discovered by your reader does not represent the total number of registered attendees for Autodesk University. There are over 5600 registered attendees who have opted in to be searchable for networking and other similar purposes. There are many more who have registered and not opted to be listed.