Launched last November at Autodesk University, the Autodesk Expert Elite program is picking up steam as a growing number of our customers demonstrate their expertise and drive to help others in the Autodesk support forums and other Autodesk customer communities. The program, which inducted its third cohort of members at the beginning of August, was designed to recognize those community members who have gone above and beyond to help their peers use and master Autodesk software. Expert Elite members have dedicated countless hours to our forums, contributing roughly 30% of all forum posts and Accepted Solutions.

The Expert Elite program offers a number of benefits to its members to help them stay up-to-date on their software knowledge and be recognized for their commitment to helping others, including things like a private virtual lounge for members to meet and talk with each other, monthly meetings with Autodesk to discuss new program initiatives, and visual cues within the forums to denote this special rank.

Expert Elites are knowledgeable across a wide range of Autodesk products, from AutoCAD to Robot Structural Analysis, come from 14 different countries, and speak multiple languages. The program is still in its initial development phase and will be capped at 200 members in February 2014. At that time, we hope to have at least one member representing each of the major products covered in the support forums.

One of the first members of the program, Lisa Drago, had this to say about being asked to join: “I don’t know how to put it into words because it’s recognition of a lot of years of work that don’t always get recognized.”

“Being able to assist and help people – I thrive off it. And it’s been humbling and very enjoyable,” she says about participating in the Autodesk support forums. This type of drive to help peers, along with effective collaboration and troubleshooting styles, are some of the key qualities the program team looks for in Expert Elite candidates.

If you’d like  to learn more about the program or nominate yourself or someone else, go to the Expert Elite Website. The next group of chosen nominees will be inducted at the beginning of February next year. Also, if you’d like to see the Expert Elites in action and get a better idea of why these people deserve the accolades, go to www.forums.autodesk.com.