During September Dotted Eyes entertained a record number of delegates at the FME User Meeting as part of the FME 2012 World Tour – hosted in London and Birmingham with additional FME events in Cardiff and Manchester – gaining a fantastic response from all who attended. Dotted Eyes, one of the UK’s leading GIS service providers, took a radically different approach to their FME events this year by making it all about the individual and the issues they face. An innovative gold star award system – devised to answer four user questions – ensured delegates went away with tangible solutions to their own specific FME challenges. 
With a real focus on building a strong UK FME community, the event was also much more interactive than ever before. Countless delegates grabbed the opportunity to quiz FME gurus, while the multiple interactive sessions encouraged users to swap tried and tested practises, creating a buzz of activity amongst the delegates.
Dotted Eyes replaced the traditional lecture-style conference with three interactive workshops. Of the workshops, the FME pub quiz – hosted by Dotted Eyes’ FME expert James Bowler – caused a hubbub of excitement as orange stress balls were thrown to delegates across the room for correct answers.
As the UK’s only Platinum partner of Safe Software, Dotted Eyes were delighted to incorporate an engaging presentation from Safe’s very own co-founder and Vice President of Development, Dale Lutz, and European Services Manager, Ken Bragg. The Canadian double act shared the best global uses of FME that they encountered during their recent world tour, providing fantastic hints and tips for both novice and experienced users.
Mark Murray, GIS Team Leader at Stockport Council, said: “One of the best events I've attended in recent years. I enjoyed every minute of it, especially as I felt the format and the topics covered were 100% relevant to me. It was invaluable not just in terms of what I learnt but also being able to talk directly to one of the creators of the technology.”
Gareth Williams, GIS Technical Manager at Fluor, said: “I really enjoyed the friendly and interactive nature of the UK FME User Meeting. It was a hugely valuable event for me. The format made it really easy for me to network and share idea with other FME users. I went away having learnt new applications for FME that I will now put into practice.”
Feedback from delegates taken via a survey also confirmed the overwhelming success of the event. 86% of delegates scored it as one of the best events they’ve attended and 100% said they would recommend it to others.
Dale Lutz commented: “It’s always fascinating to be able to interact with enthusiastic FME customers and learn about the innovative ways they’re using the product. Dotted Eyes were great hosts and created an informative interactive environment to help British FME users enhance their skills.”
Dotted Eyes’ MD, Ben Allan, was thrilled with the turnout: “This year’s event was all about delivering value to the FME user. We wanted to implement a completely different format, which provided real answers to everyday issues organisations face. I am delighted to say that the conferences were a huge success, confirmed by the crowd of delegates that followed us to the pub afterwards!”
Safe Software is the maker of FME and the pioneering global leader in spatial data transformation technology. FME empowers users to confidently transform spatial data so it can be used and shared - where, when and how it's needed.
About Dotted Eyes:
Dotted Eyes provides business solutions with a location focus to over 1,250 customers. With a heritage of over 20 years, Dotted Eyes has established itself as an innovator of solutions and services that help organisations to locate efficiencies and make cost savings through expert consultancy, training and software development in healthcare, local government and the commercial sector. Dotted Eyes’ clients include IBM, Orange, Barclays, the NHS and the BBC as well as other household names such as the National Trust. The company also maintains long standing expert partnerships with location data providers such as Ordnance Survey, Safe Software and Pitney Bowes Business Insight and operates certified training courses nationwide. For more information, visit: www.dottedeyes.com.
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