To my wife, Dr. Jenny Johannes-Hascall, for her consistent support and persistence in demonstrating to me that we are each capable of more than we imagine.

—Jason

Always, First, and with Love, the time and effort and any success of this book is dedicated to my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Always, Second, and with Love, this book is dedicated to my husband Aaron who is made of the ingredients of support, understanding, and partnership.

Always, Third, and with Love, this book is dedicated to my family and close friends who have been excited for me and supported me and “that Bluebeam thing” even though they never really knew what it was.

And finally, this book is dedicated to every person with a compelling sense of “surely there must be a better way.” You're right. I hope this book gives you some tools, and I hope to learn something new from you soon.

—Rachel

Innovation is not an end in and of itself. Its value is derived from its application and mass adoption—otherwise, it has no context, no sustainability, and thus no meaning. Let's consider this statement—context is to exist in a place; sustainability is to persist over time; and meaning is to influence culture. To exist in a place, innovation must resolve its value within an industry sector(s). To stand the test of time, innovation must inspire long-term change and transform behavior. To influence culture, innovation must be at scale to shift a community from what is to what could be. Therefore, the value of innovation is rooted in its impact on the many and not the few or the one.

Logically, to promote adoption by many individuals, one must overcome natural barriers to change, which in a knowledge-centric economy are the new, the unknown, and the uncomfortable. The solution to breach these change barriers is mass education—education to promote a better understanding of technology and to empower individuals to adapt to change, not fear or oppose it. This is what Jason and Rachel provide—first-hand knowledge from the context of AEC project experience with the goal to educate and in so doing, propel the community forward.

Through practical, step-by-step instructions and case studies, this guide will allow individuals to capture the often-elusive value of technology—its application and adoption in the marketplace. The stories told within the case studies alone are knowledge gold as we consider the amount of time it would take to learn from successes and failures without standing on the shoulders of Jason and Rachel and the others who contributed their stories to this book.

Ultimately, this knowledge transfer will allow teams to move up the learning curve quicker and focus their efforts on value-added work, not the trivial or mundane. Rachel and Jason clearly understand what is driving the industry today—commoditization of technology and obsolescence of human capital—and have concluded that to transform the AEC industry, knowledge must be open sourced, and real value is the impact of networked individuals working together, not simply the results from individual performers.

This is a magnanimous position to take as they have effectively captured years of experience into a guidebook designed to support collaborators and competitors alike. Could this generosity be rooted in the position that they will grow from the experience of knowledge sharing and to improve, they must embrace competition and continuously redefine their comparative and competitive advantages? Maybe.

Regardless, by shifting up the learning curve, one of Rachel's goals for the industry is met—to transfer the knowledge of more experienced professionals to the next generation and potentially fill the ever-growing knowledge gap between generations. However, her ultimate goal goes beyond knowledge transfer to the intersection of human experience with artificial intelligence (AI)—to improve cognition of learning machines. This vision might fly in the face of Jason's concern that the human component of work might be rendered irrelevant with advanced AI, but peering into the future, one can also postulate that AI would simply capture another layer of knowhow, pushing the human experience higher up the value chain. Although seemingly aspirational, the next five years will bring much of this to reality as we project the evolution of IBM Watson and the metamorphosis of learning algorithms into cognitive algorithms that contextualize data, providing for direct application of information to the built world.

Ultimately, technology's impact on society is directly related to the speed at which man moves up the learning curve—human capital must grow in direct proportion to the speed of technology. Work today is simply different than in the past—it has not been eliminated—it has evolved. Arguably, the future holds much of the same with the added benefit, as Rachel would proffer, of a higher quality of life. Jason would hold the position that the introduction of new technologies could positively or negatively impact the world, which underlies his concern. However, these opposing forces are what also bring a level of excitement and motivation for Jason to be at the forefront of technology, so that he might demonstrate how to positively leverage technology for a better future.

Within these pages, Jason, an experienced structural engineer who sees himself as calming, cool, and bold, and Rachel, an experienced chemical engineer who describes herself as specific, deep, and imaginative, provide their perspectives and extensive experience with Bluebeam technology. This guidebook is thorough and creative. Their stories are what bring the technology to life and lift you to a level of understanding that will change your world, one written word at a time.

When I was the CEO of Bluebeam, Inc. I had one goal in mind—to change the world by helping people do what they do better. This rudimentary concept is based on the idea that change management is the most difficult challenge one must overcome in order to adopt technology. And, that to promote change, the goal is not to change processes, but to enable them with technology and education. In doing so, efficiencies would be gained in the transformation of processes through the acceptance and adoption of technology. This philosophy allowed Bluebeam to average a 50% compounded annual growth rate for 15 years and expand its footprint to well over one million users worldwide in 130 countries.

As a technologist, a member of this community, and a staunch advocate of collaboration, I would like to thank Jason and Rachel in earnest for this knowledge guide to a better future.

—Richard L. Lee
Bluebeam Founder and CEO
2002–2017

To the daring professionals and colleagues who were bold enough to share the stories that make up the case studies within this book, thank you. It is your contributions that make this endeavor possible and your willingness to share that supports the resounding theme of the text within.

To the many professionals at Bluebeam who created a software that changed the AEC community and simplified my life, thank you. You listen like no others; your sense of community is unsurpassed; and your creativity is something to be marveled at. It is your creation that gives this book purpose and meaning.

To Larry Naab, who introduced me to Bluebeam, which has not only influenced my career but also the direction of our entire company, thank you. I can't imagine a week without Revu.

To my co-author, Rachel Attebery, who jumped into this endeavor without a moment of hesitation, thank you. I am proud of what we accomplished.

To Brad Hardin, who said, “Go for it!” thank you. Your leadership has opened doors that wouldn't have been opened otherwise.

And finally, most importantly, to Jenny and Truman, thank you. Your patience, encouragement and support, not the least of which was the occasional candid reminder to “FINISH THE BOOK,” carried me to the finish line. You both fill my life with joy and purpose every day, and I can say with 100 percent certainty that I would never have become an author without you.

—Jason

I'm so grateful to Black & Veatch for giving me the chance to try something new.

Jason Patterson was the first person to introduce me to Bluebeam, and he did so against many odds. Thanks for changing the course of my life, Jason.

Jason Hascall was the first person to explain Bluebeam to me. His passion, clarity of thought, and creativity continue to motivate me to be better.

Brad Hardin introduced us to his contacts at Wiley and encouraged us to write this book. Without his support and connections, this book wouldn't be here today.

The Black & Veatch Bluebeam UserX team, started by Brad Hardin, has become family. You all impress me every time we get together, and some of you are featured in this book. Thank you for your irrepressible sense of “it could be done better.”

The contacts we've made through the Kansas City Bluebeam User Group have made us feel part of a Bluebeam community in Kansas City. Thank you for your contributions to this book, the ones that are obvious and the ones you will never know.

The company of Bluebeam itself seems to be made only of enthusiastic, passionate, hugging, name-remembering rockstars who have supported us no matter how dumb our questions are. Thanks for setting a new standard of software service and pushing the envelope on useful software.

—Rachel