Archive for the 'Other User Groups' Category

FileMaker User Groups: Thoughts and resources on getting started (Post #2)

Published on September 8, 2010. 4 Comments

You might have said to yourself after reading my last cheerleading post on starting a FileMaker User Group (Why User Groups Matter), “Well, that’s all well and good, but you’re not the one trying to start a group in a virtual vacuum.  Cheerleading’s easy.”  Fine, point taken.

I realize that many of you are in regions that, on initial consideration, might not seem fertile ground for a user group.  You may feel that being located in a smaller metropolitan area or rural region is an insurmountable roadblock to getting a group started.  What’s the point of holding a first meeting if there’s no one else around?

Your first step is finding the 2 or 3 or 10 people you can connect with and agree to meet in person. We’ll get into the meat and potatoes of managing the group later; there’s no point talking about it until you’ve got enough interest to fill at least the seats around a kitchen table or bar booth. Finding people is, admittedly, hard.  Luckily, there are plenty of online resources to datamine for prospects.

I ask for forbearance from those of you for whom all of this is painfully obvious.  It’s not obvious to everybody, and this suite of blog posts is oriented to those at the beginner/intermediate stage of social networking (remember: user groups were perfecting social networking when Twitter’s founder was still in diapers). Continue reading ‘FileMaker User Groups: Thoughts and resources on getting started (Post #2)’

 
Published in FileMaker Inc., Other User Groups, Tips and tricks and Uncategorized by Colin Keefe. Tags: Tags: , , , , , , , .

Why User Groups matter…and how to start one (Post #1)

Published on August 26, 2010. 7 Comments

So this guy walks into a San Diego hotel lobby…

I started thinking about this series of posts (yep, this is #1 in a series) after a few conversations I had with people at this year’s FileMaker DevCon.  I’d strike up a conversation with someone at lunch or at the bar, we’d exchange stories and experiences…and inevitably the talk would shift to why people come to DevCon in the first place.

Reason number 1: for the community.  Hands down.  The clear pleasures and advantages of meeting other people who are engaged in the same practice as you – with whom you can share ideas, learn from and teach –  always trump session topics, what’s on the lunch menu, what kind of swag you can haul back, or how many banners you can affix to the bottom of your convention badge.  One of the things that’s sometimes lost when you do a hand count of how many people in the room have iPads is how many people in the room are there because of the other people. Continue reading ‘Why User Groups matter…and how to start one (Post #1)’

 
Published in DevCon, DevCon, FileMaker, FMPug, Meetings, Other User Groups and Tips and tricks by Colin Keefe. Tags: Tags: , , , , , .

FMPug discounted memberships – with locked rate

Published on July 29, 2010. 0 Comments

FMPug is offering discounted memberships at a LOCKED in rate, in perpetuity.  As of this moment, the rate is $50.00 US, which I believe is half the usual annual fee.  There are only a limited number of discounted rates available, after which a lesser discount tier becomes available.  When those get used up, it’s back to to the regular rate.

Here’s how it works:

“Your locked in rate is based on the number of COMPLETED transactions. To avoid losing the current promotional rate” (ed: currently $50), “we urge you to complete this transaction sooner rather than later. Wait too long and it could be gone! ;-)

** YOU’RE LOCKED-IN FOR LIFE! ** Here’s where things get really exciting! By signing-up now, the promotional price is your rate for life! That’s right, providing your membership never lapses, the promotional price will be your annual FMPug renewal rate for life! Whether you’re a new member or a renewing member, you won’t pay a penny more. It’s just that simple.”

Go here:

https://www.fmpug.com/signup

Is it worth it?  You bet.  But if you need more than the product discounts, mailing lists and so on, here’s an extra perk:

The all new iPad!

Er…wait, I mean this:

I meant THIS iPad.

Yeah, that’s it.

FMPug will be giving away four iPads to FMPug members – two at the FileMaker Developer Convention in August, and two to FMPug members who couldn’t attend DevCon.  I hear there’s some kind of FileMaker GO thingy that runs on iPads now too.

 
Published in FMPug and Other User Groups by Colin Keefe. Tags: Tags: , , , .

Peachpit Press User Group and Apple User Group affiliations – Lending Library and discounts

Published on February 17, 2010. 0 Comments

Since we set up affiliations with PeachPit and Apple  via their respective User Group programs back in December, we now have some additional member benefits available.

In order to take advantage of benefits associated with either of these affiliations, you must have attended a meeting in the past 3 months.  I’d also like to remind folks that FMPug membership is the hands-down best resource for FileMaker-specific member benefits and discounts – and I recommend joining today.

PeachPit User Group Affiliation

Through our Peachpit User Group membership, we receive monthly additions to a PFUG lending library.  If there is a Peachpit title you’d like us to acquire, let us know.  There’s not much to speak of yet in the Library, as we only started this program two months ago.

You can check out any of these titles at a user group meeting, and return it by the next meeting.

Currently available:

Paperless: Real-World Solutions with Adobe Technology (J.P. Terry)

Web Anatomy: Interaction Design Frameworks that Work (Hoekman & Spool)

The permalink to the Lending Library is here:

http://www.phillyfilemaker.org/index.php/members/lending-library/

And a link can always be found in the right sidebar of this blog; look for the yellow Peachpit logo.

Apple User Group Affiliation

The Apple User Group program offers us a number of benefits, but the most immediately germane is the discount program.  Discount offers on many products are available here:

http://appleusergroupresources.com/?cat=12

Note that you’ll need to contact me directly to get the discount code for a particular item.

Colin

colin.keefe@itsolutions-inc.com

 
Published in News and Other User Groups by Colin Keefe. Tags: Tags: , , , , , .

FMPug: 12 Days of Giveaways coming soon!

Published on December 7, 2009. 0 Comments

FMPug is launching its annual “12 Days of Giveaways” in about 6 days:

http://12days.fmpug.com/

http://www.fmpug.com/

Now’s a pretty good time to support what FMPug does for the developer/user group community at large and for our own local group.

For the Philly FileMaker group, FMPug provides:

  • Meeting Announcement Listings and management
  • Meeting RSVP services
  • Mailing List Management
  • Product discounts for FMPug members
  • Pawfolio pages with work samples for FMPug members
  • and a percentage of every FMPug member’s annual fee goes directly to support PhillyFileMaker.

In a more general sense, FMPug provides a sense of community and cohesion to the dozens of user groups scattered around the world.  It provides us opportunities to share with each other and learn from each other outside of conventions and conferences.  I know I’ve cribbed many ideas for user group sessions from looking into the Schedule to see what other people are up to, and have often learned about new techniques in the pipeline before they make it into a DevCon presentation just by poking around the FMPug site.  It’s also an excellent way to get your feet wet before jumping into your first FileMaker DevCon.  Andy Gaunt is a great resource and asset to the community.

Why join now?  Well, the “12 Days of Giveaways” event is a big one – tons of free products from your favorite FM vendors means you stand a very very good chance of winning something – which would more than cover the cost of an annual FMPug membership (if the discounts weren’t already enough).

So head on over to FMPug and join or renew today!

- Colin

 
Published in FileMaker, FMPug and Other User Groups by Colin Keefe. Tags: Tags: , , , .

Link Love: Philadelphia PowerBook User's Group

Published on January 23, 2009. 0 Comments

These fine folks meet about 4 times a year at the Manayunk Brewing Company in Manayunk; their next meeting is January 31st.

http://www.ppug.net/

I mention it because this is fresh off Macworld, and they may discuss things of interest to FileMaker folks – you may even get some first hand reflections from visiting the FMI booth.

I’m going to drop by, and hope you will too.

Colin

 
Published in Other User Groups by Colin Keefe. Tags: Tags: , , , , .