Sing Sing
A friend was telling me about a conversation he was involved in last week, where an industry insider who hadn't heard anything from me recently was wondering whether I was in Sing Sing. (For those who aren't familiar with American colloquialisms, Sing Sing is the name of one of the US's most notorious prisons.)
Given all the speculation that's been flying around in the last few months, it makes sense for me to clear the air.
Most folks who read this blog probably know that I've been the President and executive director of the Open Design Alliance, a non-profit industry consortium that develops CAD interoperability libraries. Last January, I discovered that the ODA had been the victim of embezzlement by its bookkeeper. The process of dealing with such a crime is time consuming and demanding (as I've learned the hard way.) Based on the instructions of the police, I compiled an investigative report that totaled about 1500 pages, including exhibits. Though the bookkeeper eventually confessed to the crime, it took until August for him to be indicted, and he wasn't arrested until October, when I finally got tired of waiting, tracked him down, and held him until the police could come and formally arrest him. (It was far less satisfying than I'd anticipated.)
Now, the simple reality is that, as the guy in charge, I was responsible for failing to detect the embezzlement when it started. Though I was cleared of any involvement in the embezzlement (both by the police, and by independent investigators), the ODA board fired me in a vote on November 30th.
Ultimately, I've got no bitch. For over 8 years, I got to work towards improving interoperability in the CAD industry. I had the privilege of building an independent organization that supports thousands of member companies, but served the needs of literally millions of users.
The ODA is now run by Arnold van der Weide, as Chairman and CEO. Arnold is also the president of the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium. He's been in charge of the ODA since August, so if you want to know about anything that's happened with the ODA since that time, he's the guy to talk to.
As for me: I'm off to other adventures, some of which I will share on this blog...And none of which have anything to do with Sing Sing.
Evan Yares
in The CAD Industry
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Response: Evan Yares: No Sing Sing
Reader Comments (3)
my 2 cents worth. Good luck,Evan.
Our paths had crossed in the past during a discussion we had about dwg support for reading (viewing) and the "encryption" or "no encryption" debate ... I am glad to see you are back and had nothing to do with the accounting issues at the ODA. I am somewhat surprized you were dismissed still, could it be because of your stated positions towards Autodesk?