FMPug 2006 Newsletter - Edition:1 - User Group Central - Sponsored by FMPug.com

January 24, 200620 yr

To see the HTML version of this newsletter visit http://www.fmpug.com/newsletters/2006/january2006.html

In this issue of the newsletter:

* A SUCCESSFUL COMEPTITION

* IT IS GOOD TO BE IN SAN JOSE

* DESIGN MASTER CLASS

* WHAT'S NEW AT FMPUG.COM

* MEETINGS THIS MONTH & NEXT

A SUCCESSFUL COMEPTITION

Let me start by wishing you a very happy New Year. I don't know about you but I had a fantastic holiday season and got everything I asked Santa for.

And what a way to see out the old year and bring in 2006. The 12 Days of FileMaker competition certainly caught your attention judging by the responses we got.

A little background

From December 26th to January 6th we hid lines from our own version of the 12 days of Christmas song on the web site. Each day a clue appeared on the FMPug.com homepage letting you know where the line was hidden. All you had to do was collect all 12 lines and then email them into us. On January 10th, we drew 12 winners from the correct entries.

What was in it for the winners?

Apart from the fun of hunting for clues and checking out FMPug.com you mean. The prize package for this competition was valued at just under $6000. Each of our 12 winners received the following prizes (yes, prizes)

FMColor Pro by FMWebschool

FileMaker web Publishing: The Ultimate Guide to FileMaker and PHP by FMWebschool

Scriptology Theme Library by ISO Productions

OSX Template Set by Database Pros

Account Manager (5 User License) by FMNexus

We also had several copies of FileMaker Pro 8: The Missing Manual and Inspector, the new analysis tool for FileMaker developers by FMNexus. These were limited in numbers and so we have drawn the winners of these via a separate drawing.

Thanks to all the vendors who participated in this competition.

IT IS GOOD TO BE IN SAN JOSE

Indeed it is, especially for one lucky FMPug member this week and one next week. As you may have been aware, we ran a special drawing for a training review recently. Database Pros and FMPug teamed up to offer two FMPug members the chance to attend a training class in San Jose in return for a review of the class.

A short quote from when we announced the competition

"After speaking with John Mark recently, he stated the majority of his attendees were in-house developers -- which is a direct contrast to the typical FMPug member who works as an independent consultant. So many of you, our members forego training due to its prohibitive cost; but it's you who will benefit 100-fold from training of this caliber. I know each and every one of you would be honored to have the opportunity to be taught by the man who wrote the book on FileMaker, literally!? "

The number of entries for this drawing was overwhelming and I am pleased to say that our first winner for the Professional Training Series 5 Day class began his training today, January 23rd.

Mark wrote a short quote for us;

" I am pleased to accept this generous prize and want to thank my friends, family and the Academy for this great honor.

In all seriousness, I look forward to reviewing the FileMaker ® Professional Foundation Training Series II for FMPUG and the development community. I am particularly interested in the Connectivity, Web Publishing and Web Programming Workshop modules, which will broach new ground for me as a FileMaker® developer.

Watch out v8 Certification - here I come! "

Our second recipient is now Gingy Ferguson of San Diego, CA. The original winner John Reed could not make the training and so we drew the next name on the list. Gingy will be attending the Philosophy of Scripting 101 & 201 classes beginning February 30th.

Speaking of training opportunities, we are extremely pleased with the turnout of companies listing their training on the FMPug.com training pages. This listing gives both our members and visitors alike a great opportunity to find training anywhere in the world, regardless of the company offering it. With this in mind let me bring you a special notice...

DESIGN MASTER CLASS

in South Beach, Miami, Florida

Monday through Wednesday, March 20-22 http://smallco.net/classes

Is it time for you to get away, so you can get some real work done? You know how it goes: as long as you're near the phone, near the boss, near that demanding client, you won't have the time or space to do the kind of DEEP redesign that will truly benefit the people who depend upon you. It's really in their best interests that you spend some time away! (We're not kidding...)

SmallCo is intent on giving you the space to stretch out, design-wise and otherwise. One example: our next Design Master Class in South Beach. This summer we'll offer the Master Class in the Hamptons, at Sag Harbor, New York August 2-4, and on dates to be announced in Auckland, New Zealand. We also host Design Retreats at your convenience at select sites across the U.S. See the sites at http://smallco.net/sites.

WHAT WILL THE CLASS COVER?

In the conservatory tradition, the Master Class focuses on the work that students bring to the class: their 'master pieces.' The master piece may be either a new project or a revision of an existing application. Over the course of three days, students advance their work using the design principles set forth by the instructor. At the end of the third day, students present BEFORE & AFTER shots of their work. The results are often quite stunning.

AND NOW THE PUG PERKS

For the first three respondents;

$100 off the class tuition

A free two-hour follow-up consultation ($400 value)

...for a total Double Dip Discount of $500!

WHAT'S NEW AT FMPUG.COM

We are busily working on some new additions to the web site. These will be rolled out in the coming weeks and will include a slightly redesigned homepage.

I know, I know...the site is not that old so why redesign. Well, part of the redesign is to streamline how we enter the data. we also feel that we can clean up the homepage slightly to better display the information to you

Potential navigation shift

We will be beta testing a new navigation structure soon and when launched welcome your feedback. This new system will free up some of the space on the site and allow us to dedicate more real estate to content.

Adverts when you want them

We also have a new advertising delivery system that we will be rolling out. This will allow us to display adverts on the homepage without overwhelming you with the advertising. We also hope to make use of this as an alert driver for new software on the market we feel will be of benefit to you.

MEETINGS THIS MONTH & NEXT

Well, we are almost through the month of January already but there are still some meetings ahead. If you can make any of these meetings, please RSVP at http://www.fmpug.com/rsvp.php. It really helps the coordinators out. Check the calendar online for meeting specific details.

JANUARY MEETINGS

Thursday 26th

11:30am - Birmingham, AL

5:30pm - San Diego, CA

7:00pm - Orlando, FL

FEBRUARY MEETINGS

Monday 6th

6:00pm -Calgary, Canada ( Inaugural meeting)

Saturday 11th

11:00am - St Louis, MO

Tuesday 21st

7:00pm - Boston South Shore, MA

7:00pm - Richmond, VA

Thursday 23rd

5:30pm - San Diego, CA

7:00pm - Orlando, FL

So, until next time here is wishing you a very prosperous New Year. Don't forget to stop by the web site. And if you are not yet an official "pugger" why not give yourselves a late christmas pressie. Stop letting others get all the benefits of membership and start taking some of them for yourself. Join today and get in the mix.