by: David Mills
Autodesk Insiders
15 Questions with David Mills W
hat is your role at Autodesk, David?
I’m the Community Programs Manager for the AEC Industry Marketing group at Autodesk. Generally speaking, my responsibilities fall into two categories: Social Media and Community. Typical projects that fall into the former category include setting the social media strategy for my group, managing Autodesk AEC social media outlets, consulting to various groups regarding social media, and running the AEC Blogger program. It’s no secret that there’s A LOT of Autodesk product information available via the web; AUGI is a great example of a concentrated store of this product knowledge. Regarding the community portion of my role, I’m working to understand the interplay between these communities and how to make their information more easily discoverable by users. In so doing, I can help users to improve the way the industry plans, designs, builds, and manages projects.
How long have you been with Autodesk doing this, and have you held other positions?
I’ve been working for Autodesk since January 2005. In the remaining weeks of that January, Boston got nearly four feet of snow…welcome to New England! My first role was the Technical Marketing Manager for Revit® Building. As I learned more tools from the Autodesk portfolio, I was more broadly described as the Technical Marketing Manager for Architecture. 16 www.augi.com
In 2007, I became Technical Marketing Manager for the Strategic Marketing Group. I spent most of my time working with Autodesk® Inventor®, Autodesk® Maya®, and Autodesk® Alias® to understand how they can be applied to the architectural process. In 2009, I became the Social Media Marketing Manager and in 2010 I took on the responsibilities of Community Programs for AEC Industry Marketing. Tell us a little about your background and how you came to be doing what you do now?
I earned my bachelors degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Randolph-Macon College and my MBA from Bentley University. Out of college I took a job writing SQL for a nonprofit in DC and eventually realized I wanted to take my career in a new direction. I found a job working with computer-aided design, which provided a path for me into architecture. Then in December of ’04 I got a phone call from Autodesk. What does a typical day look like at your desk?
I live in Boston’s Back Bay. My commute varies from 20 minutes on a good day to over an hour on a bad day. September 1st, otherwise known as ‘Move-In Day’ in Boston, is especially abysmal. The secret to navigating Route 90 and 128 around Boston is right-hand lane management. I spend February 2011