After All These Years,
ConnectPress has Transformed
we've grown
After 40+ years of scaling and running a successful publishing business, ConnectPress, Dan Raker has become a highly sought after leadership coach and content creator. Dan now works with clients through two avenues: Circles of Leadership and Content by Dan.
Circles of Leadership
a personal board of advisors
Tap into trusted executive knowledge through C-Suite and Executive coaching for growth-oriented and passionate leaders. Circles of Leadership unites executive knowledge with roundtable sessions to bridge the gap in the leadership journey.
With a collaborative approach, Dan Raker has been helping leaders scale their business and surpass their goals for over 30 years. Dan leads leadership development in one-on-one and group coaching "circles".
Learn about the Circles of Leadership services, philosophy and executive coach below.
Content by Dan
podcasts. content. strategy
Dan is a passionate and highly skilled content creator. Dan is the author of the best-selling INSIDE AutoCAD how-to with over 3 million copies sold to date, as well as the Infrastructure Digital Twins leadership shortcourse.
Additionally, Dan has published over 100 book, magazine and web portal titles, has appeared as a guest on various podcasts, and has ghostwritten blog posts and website copy for many industry-leading companies. To work with Dan on content, click below.
Still Doing Content After all These Years
connectpress legacy
Where are the Old CAD/PLM Portals?
what a history!
After 40 years of continuous publishing, ConnectPress is currently not producing regular periodicals. We started with targeted publications reaching limited readers, grew through a wave of tech periodicals, books and web portals, and for now have returned to specific targeted reach.
1981 ConnectPress’ predecessor Design & Systems Research Publishing Company began publishing The A/E/C Systems Report
1983 The ConnectPress leadership team began offering market positioning services through projects like creating channel, delivery and outreach for Autodesk’s original AutoCAD program.
1985 in conjunction with New Riders Publishing, released the best-selling how-to INSIDE AutoCAD, eventually selling over 3,000,000 copies
1987 under the imprints High Mountain Press and OnWord Press, released over 100 titles on AutoCAD, ProE, CATIA, SOLIDWORKS, ARC GIS, MapInfo, Revit, Inventor, MicroStation, Solaris, CAD Management and more.
1988 The ConnectPress leadership team began sharing entrepreneurial, publishing, marketing and leadership expertise with others. Developing workshops and group training programs for YPO (Young President’s Organization) in the areas of personal growth lead to using professional blind-spot analysis as a path to personal growth.
1991 ConnectPress began publishing paper magazines like MicroStation Manager, Pro/E: The Magazine, CATIA Solutions and more, eventually reaching 140,000 worldwide paid subscriptions.
2003 ConnectPress ditched paper for the web with community portals like SolidWorksCommunity.com, MicroStationConnections.com and a dozen others. Online membership reached over 1,500,000 regular member/subscribers. ConnectPress was one of the first web influencers to employ behavioral tracking to both measure reader response and to target content and advertising promotion.
2018 ConnectPress introduced Circles of Leadership, and re-introduced one-on-one coaching, market positioning and content services.
2020 ConnectPress ceased publication of its web community portals and gathered select C-suite and engineering IT managers into Conversations and Circles of Leadership, moving beyond traditional publishing to bring leadership and Market Positioning to life. Current topics in CEO management, Engineering IT management and Digital Twins. Growing splinter groups emerging in AI, XR and IoT as well as location and topic specific leadership circles.
Titles by Dan Raker and Team:
our work
INSIDE AutoCAD
Fantastic Lantastic
One Minute CAD Manager
One Minute Network Manager
101 Uses for Your A/E Microcomputer: Practical Ideas for Everyday Situations in Architectural and Engineering Firms
Infrastructure Digital Twins
authored by dan raker
MicroStation for AutoCAD Users
INSIDE MicroStation
The CAD Rating Guide
MicroStation Productivity Book
MicroStation Reference Guide
Programming with MDL
101 MDL Commands
Pocket MDL Programmers Guide
101 User Commands: MicroStation and IGDS
MicroStation Bible
MicroStation Exercise Book
Customizing MicroStation
Build Cell
Rendering with MicroStation
ModelView Picture Book
INSIDE I/RAS B
Managing and Networking MicroStation
The MicroStation Database Book
The MicroStation for AutoCAD Users Tablet Menu
Bill Steinbock’s Pocket MDL Programming Guide
MDL Guides
INSIDE CADVANCE
Using Drafix Windows CAD
CAD and the Practice of Architecture: ASG Solutions
INSIDE Arc/Info
INSIDE Arc/View
INSIDE ArcCAD
Arc/Info Tips and Tricks
The Environmental Software Book
The GIS Book: A Practitioner’s Guide
GIS Data Conversion
CAD DOT
INSIDE Pro/ENGINEER
The Pro/ENGINEER Quick Reference
The Pro/ENGINEER Exercise Book
Pro/ENGINEER Tips and Trick
published by dan raker
The Manager’s Guide to Computer-Aided Engineering
INSIDE Interleaf
Interleaf Exercise Book
The Interleaf Quick Reference
Adventurer’s Guide to Interleaf LISP
SunSoft Solaris 2.* User’s Guide
Five Steps to SunSoft Solaris 2.*
SunSoft Solaris 2.* for Managers and Administrators
SunSoft Solaris 2.* Quick Reference
SunSoft Solaris for Windows Users
The Solaris Source Book
One Minute SunSoft Solaris Manager
HP-UX User’s Guide
Five Steps to HP-UX
HP-UX for Windows Users
One Minute HP-UX Manager
HP-UX for Managers and Administrators
The HP-UX Quick Reference
The CLIX Workstation User’s Guide
Building Better Products with Finite Element Analysis
INSIDE Softdesk Architectural
INSIDE Softdesk Civil
INSIDE SolidWorks
SolidWorks Productivity Book
SolidWorks Quick Reference
INSIDE CATIA
CATIA Productivity Book
CATIA Quick Reference
INSIDE NX
NX Productivity Book
NX Quick Reference
MicroStation Manager Magazine
Pro/E: The Magazine
CATIA Solutions Magazine
SolidWorks Solutions Magazine
NX Solutions Magazine
ANSYS Solutions Magazine
CATIACommunity.com
MicroStationConnections.com
CreoCommunity.com
Inventorconnections.com
SiemensPLMCommunity.com
SolidWorksCommunity.com
PLMConnections.com
RevitCommunity.com
published continued
