The much anticipated release of Quest Takeoff is almost here. Officially in the BETA testing process, Quest's new solution for digital plans should be in your hands before the end of the year.

By this time you've probably seen a few blue postcards come across your desk. "We're so excited at Quest. We wanted to get our users just as excited about this new product," says Matthew Anderson, Marketing Director for Quest Solutions. "Each postcard was designed to highlight a great new feature in Quest Takeoff. Then after all the postcards go out, we're delivering the software itself along with a DVD that will demonstrate the new product and train the customer."

So keep an eye on your mailbox this holiday season, because Quest is sending a special package just for you. And once you've had a chance to see what Quest Takeoff can do, plan on taking advantage of a special introductory offer just for Gold Partners starting January 1, 2005.

The Quest staff is currently busy preparing to make the rounds of the trade show circuit once again in 2005.

In the first quarter, we'll have booths at the International Builders Show in Orlando, World of Concrete and ConExpo in Las Vegas.

Be sure to stop by our booth and get a sneak peek at the new 3-D technology at work in Earthwork 7.0 and our complete line of Visual Assemblies.

Going to Las Vegas for ConExpo? Then you won't want to miss the Quest Solutions St. Patrick's Day party.

At the Rio hotel on March 17th, 2005, the party's the perfect way to kick off a night on the town in Vegas. And raising a few pints with the Quest crew can help take the sting out of any run of bad luck at the tables or slots.

Invitations will be sent - please RSVP.

MEA Group, Inc.
Midwest Trenching & Excavation
Fink's Paving and Excavation Inc.
Atlantic Concrete Construction Inc.
Keith J. Gale General Engineering Inc.
Colonial Contracting, Inc.
Concrete Pavers Inc.
Mudcat Construction, Inc.
Affordable Grading and Hauling
Dowd Contracting Corp
DK Cement Contractors Inc.
Campbell Grading, Inc.
Corporate Contractors Inc.
Advanced Concrete and Masonry
D.A. Craghead Construction
Randy Roan Construction
Pyramid Construction
Whitesides Construction
HMB Contractors Inc.
BarDen Contracting Corp.
Widman Construction, Inc.
Baird Concrete Corporation
Levan's Excavating
Von Ast Construction Ltd
Bowlin Grading
T Beresoff Constructon LLC
Authentic Custom Builders Inc.
JBM Underground
B and V Earthworks
Desarrolladora JA Inc.
River City Foundations
Desperini Steel Inc.
PW Construction
Teal Construction
GW Construction
Pro Erectors Inc.
Mason Construction Company
HHN Homes LLP
DRW Services Inc.
Plaza Construction Group Inc.
Venture Grading LLC
Ryan's Excavating
Hardcastle Construction Co., Inc.
Pelleiter & Milbury Corporation
Hossco Construction LLC
Charles Fischer Construction Co Inc.
Lowcountry Signature Homes of Charleston
Hondo Construction Co.
Excel Paving Corp
Fresh Cut Custom Design Landscaping, Inc.
Red Star Building Systems
Ellington Utility Contractors, Inc.
Double E Construction
CD Builders, Inc.
Sharpe Brothers Inc.
J and B Drywall Inc.
Sturgis Construction Co
Elite Concrete and Masonry
SCDS Inc.
Key Enterprises
Cherokee Construction, Inc.
CBH Construction Inc.
ENC Services Inc.
Blair Burke General Construction Inc.
Hampton Homes Builders Inc.
Genisis Development
Constructora Dorta Rodriguez
Danosa Caribbean, Inc.
VSI Construction Inc.
Cook Concrete
JH Epps Builders Co Inc.
Griffin Contracting
Rio Pools Place Inc.
Rocket Construction Service
Mallard Excavating
Oasis Homes
Tilford
Tom Watson Excavating Inc.
Robert Bauer Inc.
Wigington Contractors

the quest sessions: estimating, partying,
and all that jazz

Quest Solutions is pleased to announce the dates and location for the Quest Sessions, an all-new approach to the annual user conference: October 18 to 20, 2005, in New Orleans.

Ah, New Orleans. The Big Easy. The birthplace of jazz. Home to some of the finest restaurants in the country. And quite possibly America's top party town.

Sounds great, right? But maybe you're wondering, why all the changes? Why isn't it in February in Sarasota, like it's always been?

"We made these changes to accommodate the needs of our clients," says Matthew Anderson, Quest's Director of Marketing. "First, we changed the timing of the event to October because that's a more convenient time of year for our clients to travel. We also made the event a day longer by adding more training sessions and networking events, which gives attendees more professional growth opportunities."

Anderson adds that increasing the excitement factor was the main reason New Orleans was selected as the host city. Current plans call for all future user conferences to be held in a different location each year.

Some of the details of the Quest Sessions are not yet final; however, the conference will be held in the regal Hotel Monaco (one of New Orleans' top hotels) and will feature keynote speaker Vince Lombardi, Jr., son of former Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi.

For more information, contact your Gold Partner representative today.

3-d graphics, without the red-and-blue glasses

For years, one feature that has set Quest estimating software apart from the crowd has been Visual Assembly technology. A favorite of Quest users the world over, Visual Assemblies enable estimators to slash the amount of time involved in taking off large structures-and no one else has them.

But now, Quest is taking Visual Assembly technology a step further-with 3-D graphics.

These new Visual Assemblies still speed up the process of estimating complex structures by allowing users to take off everything in a single pass. And they still generate detailed graphics on the fly, as the user adds cost items to the structure. But now, users can also rotate the images and examine the structures from every possible angle-making it even easier to spot any omissions or misplaced cost items.

But what if some users prefer the classic, two-dimensional graphics? No problem. The 3-D Visual Assemblies come with an on/off switch, so users can always go back to the more traditional representations if they prefer.

3-D innovation isn't limited to the Visual Assemblies, either. Quest's development team has been hard at work for the past several months, improving the 3-D capabilities of Earthwork. And the results are stunning.

Now, instead of a grid of bright colored lines, users see a much more realistic representation of the topography of their site. And all the existing features of Earthwork still work within the new 3-D view-so users can still rotate the site, zoom in on a specific spot, and select areas, for example.

So when can Quest customers expect to get their hands on this exciting new technology? 3-D Visual Assemblies will be available in early 2005, while Earthwork 7.0 is currently scheduled for a springtime release.

For more information on Quest's new 3-D products, call 800.452.2342.

back to school for
the user exchange

Some things really do get better with age: like fine wine, classic movies, and the Quest User Exchange. The User Exchange is a year old now, and if you haven't become a registered Exchange member yet, this fall may be good time to do it.

As a Gold Partner, the User Exchange is an online portal to a majority of your GP benefits. And even if you have visited the User Exchange before, Quest's Webmaster Lee Gaines has recently expanded the online center's offerings-so there's sure to be something new for you. "I think Quest customers will really appreciate the new features going live this fall on the User Exchange - especially the online training," said Gaines.

That's right - now Quest customers can get Quest training from the comfort of their own office. By logging into the Exchange, you can sign up for future classes, or join online classes in progress. Of course, just like Quest's traditional regional classes, only a limited number of students will be able to join any one class. So if you see a topic listed in the schedule at-a-glance, be sure to click the sign up link and reserve your spot.

Other enhancements include a re-design of the download area (making it easier to understand and use) and adding the ability to browse the Quest product catalog from your desktop. "A key goal of the re-development of the Exchange was to reorganize it to reflect all the benefits of the Gold Partner program," said Gaines.

Of course, existing features of the User Exchange will remain in place-including the discussion boards, user directory and the Bid Manager. Gaines assures that "As more and more Quest customers take advantage of our online offerings, we plan on adding additional features to the User Exchange. Quest will always endeavor to leverage new technology to its customers benefit."

Currently Scheduled Online Classes:

• December 13, 2004 — Estimator: (wbs codes)
• January 19, 2005 — Estimator: (financial cost items)
• February 14, 2005 — Estimator: (advance features)
• March 07, 2005 — Estimator: (alternates)

Click here to log on to the user exchange for more details.

With quest now offering online classrooms it seems like a good time to go over the basics of how to use this new feature in the User Exchange.

If you haven't already registered the process hasn't changed - go to http://exchange.questsolutions.net and click the "registration" button above the login request boxes (see fig.1) fill in all the fields of the registration form (your login id should match your email address) and click submit. Once your registration has been processed and gold partner status confirmed you will receive an email letting you know you have been granted access to "home-user exchange."

Now you are ready to login to the user exchange. Upon doing so click the quest training link and then online classroom (see fig. 2) and you can review the available courses.

You can find out more about any given class by clicking the "details" link (see fig.3).

To sign up for a coming session simply click the "sign-up" link (see fig. 4) and provide your first and last name, company name, phone and your email address in the web form dialog. You will be sent an email confirming your registration almost immediately. You will also receive a reminder email a few days before the class starts and an email with a link how to join the class shortly before it starts.

Please note in order to be able to participate in the online classroom you must have Java enabled in your web browser. Internet Explorer 6.x does not include Java support. If you do not have Java installed on your PC you will be directed to do so before you can join the class in session. To avoid losing class time we recommend you pre-install Java by using this URL; http://www.java.com/en/download/windows_automatic.jsp.