Yes, while you weren’t looking, I switched the theme for the blog. Most notably, there’s an RSS feed for you to glom onto.
Hope you’re all having a wonderful holiday season, and Happy New Year!
Colin
PFDG Coordinator
Monthly Archive for December, 2008
Survey results are in. The survey’s still open, if you want to provide input:
Some highlights:
Have attended a meeting before:
93%
Because the response rate from folks on the list who’ve never attended was so low, I’m going to put together another survey specifically for them. Sometime in the new year, most likely.
Member technical expertise:
Advanced 57%
Intermediate 28%
Beginner 14%
Topics of MOST interest:
Advanced Technical Topics
Design Topics
Business Topics
Topics of LEAST interest:
Beginner Technical Topics
3rd Party Products/Integration
This doesn’t mean we won’t cover beginner topics or spend all of our time on advanced topics, but I’ll consider weighting the offerings appropriately. The problem is as usual that I must pick from people who actually want to present! Beggars can’t be choosers.
Items mentioned as MOST useful:
Sharing of techniques, seeing approaches others use
Items mentioned as LEAST useful:
Slide show presentations, drifting off topic and pizza.
Too bad. Your Coordinator-In-Chief says the pizza stays.
Design Critique:
93% say we should do these again, with an average frequency of twice a year. So that’s what’s going to happen. The focus will be much more narrow, and the floor more open to members to participate.
Ideas to improve the member experience (rated 1-5 where 1 is stupid, and 5 is brilliant):
Member run user forum – 3
Different location – 3
Post-meeting drinks offsite – 3
More formal group structure – 1
The only thing I can really read from this last one is that I’m stuck as group coordinator.
Best,
Colin
As usual, a great year end blowout. If you missed it, you’ll just have to wait until next year! But I’ll share our 2009 predictions here.
First, thanks are due:
Jason Fiske, our regional FileMaker sales rep, and Matt O’Dell, our regional FM SME, for providing the excellent food;
Andy Gaunt, for popping in via videoshare and offering us season’s greetings and a preview of the year to come for FMPug;
And especially to all the vendors who generously offered software for the giveaways!
and
Second, I want thank Tony Green for taking photos of the night! He’s shared them for us here:
Our predictions (names withheld to protect the innocent):
Bento 3 will integrate with mySQL.
A color kindle will be introduced, be too expensive and die.
To prove FM is a database for the everyman, Bruce Springsteen will be the new spokesman.
Thanks to a tanking economy, small business will grow in Q3 & Q4. FileMaker will thrive.
Flexible flatscreens are in stores.
Bento will be used by high school students.
FileMaker will announce a SaaS or subscription model.
American Express will go bankrupt.
And…that’s all I have to say about that.
I hope you’ll join us January 27, 2009, when Ben Waldie will wow us with some AppleScript and Automater integration techniques. See you soon!
Colin Keefe
PFDG Coordinator
Greetings FileMaker Enthusiasts,
Our next Philadelphia FileMaker Developer Group meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday evening, December 16th 2008 at 6:00 PM. The meeting will be held at the IT Solutions Fort Washington Office.
414 Commerce Dr., Suite 150, Fort Washington, PA 19034
Google Map
This is our Fourth Annual Year End Bonanza!
Please RSVP here if you are planning to attend this meeting:
http://www.fmpug.com/rsvp.php?eventID=437
Food will be catered, and we’ll be continuing our tradition of reviewing the 2008 predictions we made last year, and making predictions for the coming year. There are no formal presentations, but feel free to break out laptops while you nosh. Talking about FileMaker is, of course, inevitable – but not required! Mainly this is an opportunity to wrap up the year with some good food, networking, gossip and giveaways. If you’ve never been to one of our meetings, this is a good time to start! We’d love to have you.
The vendors I’ve contacted for giveaways have been very generous this year, and this is what we have in the offing:
• 1 Workgroup License of SuperContainer (360Works)
• 1 Copy of AdminAnywhere (360Works)
• 1 Copy of BaseElements (Goya Pty)
• 1 Copy of Clip Manager (myFMButler)
• 1 Copy of DoSQL (myFMButler)
• 1 Copy of 123Sync (SolutionMakers)
• 2 Copies of FM Meters (Dynamic Business Solutions)
• 1 Single User Copy of FMDataGuard (WorldSync)
• 1 Copy of FMTouch (FMWebSchool)
• 1 Copy of FMStudio (FMWebSchool)
• 1 Single User/Single Platform Copy of MediaManager (promo, non xferable) (NMCI)
• 1 5-User/Single Platform Copy of SecureFM (NMCI)
• 1 Single User/Single Platform Copy of FMRobot (NMCI)
• 1 Single User license of Troi File Plug-in (Troi)
• 1 Single User license of Troi Activator Plug-in (Troi)
In the grand holiday tradition of “I like your present better than mine”, exchanging prizes with each other is, as usual, encouraged. Not that I could stop you.
Thanks to all the vendors who’ve promised promotional copies! We’ll be raffling these off over the course of the evening. I’ll also have a table out with brochures and discounts from the vendors, and will be happy to talk through what all of this stuff does, if you end up scratching your head about what the heck it is you just won.
Looking forward to seeing you.
Best,
Colin
Chapter Coordinator
Hello everyone – I’m making good on my threat during the last meeting to inflict you with a survey. You are now officially inflicted.
This is all about improving the group, so honesty – and good ideas – are appreciated.
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