FMPug Newsletter - Edition 9 (September)

[andygaunt]

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						FMPug Newsletter 2006 - Edition 9 (Post DevCon)
	So, they finally gave me my own area. This is great. Now I can dig up all the dirt and put it right here! Meetings This Month There are plenty of meetings going on this month so if you are in the area of a group stop on by (just remember to RSVP first). 9th - Seattle, WA 9th - St Louis, MO 13th - Central Ohio, OH 26th, Portland, OR 28th - Orlando, FL 28th - Philadelphia, PA For meeting information and to register interest in attending, stop by the RSVP page. Please RSVP for any meeting you are planning to attend. FMPug, proud of our certified members ARIZONA Audrey Akhavan FileMaker Magic Susan Prosser dbhq Jerry Robin FMPtraining.com CALIFORNIA Stephen Dolenski Ocean West Consulting, Inc. Jason Erickson WorldSync Cris Ippolite iSolutions, Inc Kurt Knippel Excelisys Marc Larochelle Productive Computing, Inc. Lee Lukehart Soliant Consulting, Inc. Vincenzo Menanno FMNexus John Mark Osborne Database Pros Geoff Ryle Excelisys David Wheelock Desktop Services, Inc. CONNECTICUT Barbara Levine MicroServ LLC FLORIDA Chris Cain Extensitech, Inc. Hal Gumbert MacFL Don Levan SmallCo Katherine Russell Russellware, Inc. INDIANA Christo Lowe Excelisys, Inc. MASSACHUSETS Kevin Cunningham KCunning Consulting Mike Zarin Mike Zarin Consulting MICHIGAN Colleen Hammersley DataWaves International MISSOURI Mark Richman Skeleton Key NORTH CAROLINA Geoffrey Gerhard Creative Solutions Inc. Chris Kubica Application Architects, LLC NEW JERSEY Adam Aronson FullCity Consulting, Inc. OHIO John Kimmel The Computer Workshop Dan Weiss Adatsol OREGON Tom Fitch Pre1 Software Matt Navarre Pre1 Software Michael Sloper Pre1 Software PENNSYLVANIA Jason Mundok IT Solutions Consulting, Inc. PUERTO RICO Robert Mackay MacTutor TENNESSEE Joe King FM Developers Network TEXAS Kirk Bowman MightyData, LLC John Kornhaus AlaMark Technologies James Savoie AlaMark Technologies VIRGINIA Edward McPike Jr McPike Consulting Inc Steven Blackwell Management Counseling Services WASHINGTON Laura Bowyer SolutionMakers, Inc. John Sindelar SeedCode Ray Cologon NightWing Enterprises David Head Priority eBusiness Nicholas Orr Goya Pty Ltd Philippe Lazzaroni Direct Impact Consulting Wim Decorte Connecting Data Koji Takeuchi SevensDoor Shin Ninagawa Splash Inc. Damian Kelly Cordis Technologies Alan Stirling Alan Stirling Technology Limited Paul de Halle Linear Blue Ltd Doug Kennedy RapidHost Ltd Damon Casey Automating Data Ltd Are you an FMPug member who is certified in 8? Update your business directory card today and get some free exposure on us Check out the new certification test here Not yet a member? If you are not yet a member, now is the time to join. Membership available to everyone, everywhere. Local group not required Click here to join now FMPug Apparel! FMPlug - inspired by John Sindelar The Official FMPug Shirt is now available Order yours today					Hi, In this issue of the newsletter: A WRAPUP OF DEVCON - from the Pug's perspective AN AWARD RECEIVED SAVINGS MADE SHARE YOUR OPINION [*]FUNCTIONS POSTER (Do you have yours?) [*]TRAINING NEAR AND FAR [*]WHAT'S NEW AT FMPUG.COM FMPug POWERS FileMaker.com (or at least part of it) BUSINESS DIRECTORY + PORTFOLIO = PAWFOLIO NEW DISCOUNTS Use the icon to quickly jump to that section of the newsletter A NOTE FROM THE PUG! Welcome all to our September newsletter! It's been a while since we had a chance to catch up, with the mania dubbed DevCon & all. Stress, stress & more stress. As they say...so much to do, so little time. After the hotel snafu (you'll read about that later), I was lucky to be able to take some "me" time during the conference itself. (Being the Editor has its perks.) While everyone was working the booth & such, I was able to spend some quality time with Grandma & Grandpa. I highly recommend those recliner chairs - very comfortable, very comfy indeed. Grandpa & I spent some serious lounging time in his recliner. Ohhh yeah ....quite nice. I miss that recliner. I have to talk to someone about getting one of those for my office. I digress. If this is your first newsletter, I welcome you. These newsletters are designed to give you a quick overview of the goings-on at FMPug and maybe sway some of you off the fence to join. If you've been contemplating joining our family...come on down! It really is good on this side and I promise not to bite! Membership is available to anyone, anywhere (local group not required). Join here ? Kismet FMPug Editor A WRAPUP OF DEVCON Well, it has been a couple of weeks since the 2006 annual Developer Conference (DevCon). I might just be speaking for myself here, but I was knackered afterward. I did learn definitively that two-three hours of sleep on a consistent basis does NOT lend itself to peak performance the following morning. Honestly, I was one step away from checking myself into the local sleep depravation clinic. The late nights (the cocktails), the constant shaking of hands (the cocktails), the standing ovations (the cocktails)...it was all somewhat overwhelming! AN AWARD RECEIVED Now, many of you know me as a shy, unassuming & modest person. Lord knows I have a hard time talking to people -- verbal cripple, that's me. But just this once I wanted to break free of my confining shell & share how thrilled I was/am to have received the FileMaker Excellence Award at this year's FileMaker Solutions Alliance Award Ceremony. In all honesty since I began using FileMaker over ten years ago, it's been a dream of mine to earn such a prestigious honor. I was/am simply elated by it all. But what simply humbled me was to read what FileMaker Inc published on their site..... For Outstanding Contribution to the FileMaker User Group and Developer Community Andy Gaunt, FMPug Andy Gaunt is the founder of FMPug - Uniting FileMaker Pro Users & Groups around the world. With numerous chapters and still growing, Andy has created a more “connective” philosophy, merging pre-existing user groups with newly formed locales and assembling them under a single umbrella. By creating this syndicate and managing it centrally, each group is now inter-connected through FMPug, allowing each user group to have expanded resources within their reach. Anyone who knows Andy will tell you that “Andy works tirelessly to spread the word about worthwhile FileMaker resources, products and training. His FMPug site has aggregated listings of FileMaker products and training courses that alongside his published technical articles and product reviews are part of a resource library that's becoming more and more important to FileMaker Pro users and developers." In addition to running one of the liveliest FileMaker Pro User Groups, he's showing other user group coordinators how to do the same all over the world. Constantly evangelizing anything positive happening in the FileMaker universe, Andy personifies "outstanding contribution to the FileMaker community". “I have personally not experienced anyone with such selfless enthusiasm for the FileMaker community. He has successfully taken a fantastic idea and from that has significantly built a stable and open community in the past year alone. In addition, his efforts are forward thinking and utilize and challenge all of the latest FileMaker Web technologies. I consider Andy to be a leader in building and strengthening the FileMaker community". On a side note, Andy is using the latest technologies and techniques to make the FMpug website truly a calling card for what and how FileMaker can be used in a real web environment. Lest it be known, never in a million years could I have done any of this without each & every one of you! I thank you (that's right, YOU) every single day for your support of this endeavor. It's been a wild & crazy ride & the best part is......it's just getting started! My drive & conviction to do more with, & for FMPug is even stronger. I guarantee you won't be disappointed to learn all the (dare I say) cool stuff we have up our sleeves here at Pug Quarters. We aim to keep this party hopping! SAVINGS MADE OK, so we know many of you took advantage of (us ...I mean...) your FMPug discount to attend DevCon. We're pleased to report that over 90 members took advantage of (us ...I mean...) the registration savings -- that's over $9,000 saved. Nothing to sneeze at, $9K -- that's a pretty good figure, wouldn't you say?! (We thought it was pretty darn good too!) We saved our members who attended DevCon over $9,000, but the savings didn't stop there. Our motto for DevCon this year was "FMPug - Off the Chain!", & to that end, we let the Pug run free in the showcase. We had both Peanut & Kismet on point, ready to do some meet & greets, but we ran into a bit of a snag when it came to hotel policy & what have you. No one was buying the whole "Handicap Assistance" dog story. Granted, being Pugs not German Shepards or Labs, it was a bit of a stretch. Well, we tried. Mind you, Kismet was the most upset because he bought a brand-new non-returnable suit. Alas, Peanut & Kismet were unable to attend, but the end of the day we made sure the Pug stood proud, offering extended discounts to members with a majority of the Showcase vendors. It was great to see members, new & old taking advantage of the great offers. As a side note, I want to thank all the vendors who made those savings available! SHARE YOUR OPINION While at DevCon, it was amazing to hear the differing views of speakers, sessions & the social, networking aspect of the conference. With so many members attending DevCon we thought it would be nice to gather feedback on your experience, that is to say capture some of your likes, dislikes & mild-mannered, always constructive suggestions. To that end, we released a special version of our review database, PugViews, that has been reworked to capture some tidbits about your DevCon days & nights. This is available for anyone to download from the FMPug homepage (or just click this link here). We want to keep it "real". Bearing that in mind, all reviews are completely, utterly, 100% anonymous. So remember, keep it clean (something you wouldn't mind reading to your Mum), keep it constructive (i.e. "I hated it" is NOT necessarily constructive or very helpful) but don't be afraid to tell us how you really feel. Depending on how your time was spent at DevCon, there are four (4) separate reviews available ranging from a General DevCon overview to Exhibitor reviews & everything in between. We have already received & subsequently published five (5) reviews. Stop by the review area to check them out for yourselves! Below we've published a response "taster" for 'ya, just a few little bite size morsels for you to ponder........ Got to mingle with some very interesting folks and mix with FMI staff & Advisor staff. Catch up with ol' friends and make some new ones. Favorite Speakers this year were Lance Hallberg, Ray Cologon, Todd Geist and Andy LeCates. Would have liked to see Wim DeCorte speak again though. Let's talk location: What did you think of the geographical location for this year's DevCon? It might be a good idea for domestic visitors to spend few days at resort area. But for us international attendees, it's more convenient to locate in a town like San Francisco. Lunch I think I ate the same piece of chicken as Simon Thornhill Let's get "UN"official now with the After Hours Events. Let's start with the Bar Hours.. what did you really think? They were open that long? This JW Marriott bar manager does not understand a thing about keeping FileMaker developers happy. What were your favorite sessions? After the under the hood and the keynote... PHP. Definitely the BEST one was WEB304 So, if you attended DevCon take the time to share your thoughts and experiences. Who knows...with everyone's input, we could make things just that much better next year! Speaking of sharing... I wanted to take a moment to thank the 379 people who took part in our pre-DevCon poll. Our goal was to better understand the reasons behind people making the trip this year. When everything was said, done & tallied, it was great to read everyone's responses! Here's a recap of the results: Attending - 193 Most popular reasons for attending: Network with fellow FileMaker dudes/dudettes Jam Session - it rocks! See how many days I can go without sleep with only FileMaker to sustain me Say hi to Dominique and pretend he and I are old friends Not Attending - 159 Most popular reasons for not attending: Cost Location No Simms I'll Be There For The Spa - 27 Most popular reasons for hanging out at the spa: Mingle with familiar faces after sessions Learn by Osmosis Program Content FUNCTIONS POSTER For those of you who attended DevCon, the above images may look familiar. You might even have a set of the Functions Posters (or two) hanging up in an esteemed place in your office, or on the back of a door no one even sees. This poster was developed specifically to feed the overwhelming need for a one-stop reference guide for Version 8.5. It's been well-received & we've even been thrown a compliment or two! (We were shocked too, but it's all true!) This poster was produced in collaboration with FMPug, FMForums and ISO FileMaker Magazine. I want to throw a HUGE shout-out to both Matt Petrowsky & Stephen Dolenski for their grueling, caffeine gussling, indefatigable ( What's that??? You didn't get one, wasn't there or wish upon all the stars in the sky you could land a copy?! No worries, we have you covered & you don't even have to auction your first-born! Orders are being taken as we speak (or as I write). These handsome little numbers are 27 x 39 inches, double-sided. That's a lot of reference code, this poster is NOT for the faint of heart -- make sure you can handle it! Now let's get down to the nitty gritty shall we? If you pick up your phone in the next five minutes you can have a set, that's right... a total of two (2) posters of your very own to hang on the wall, wallpaper your closet or give to a loved one as an unexpected birthday gift all for the rock-bottom price of $14.95 + S&H -- an automatic $10 savings!! Alright, alright, so you don't need to pick up the phone in the next five minutes, but you do need to be a member to receive the discounted poster price. Simply log into your personal homepage to grab the purchase link. For those non-members, these little beauties are gonna run you $24.95 + S&H. Visit the FMPug homepage for the purchase link. Please Note: Set of Ginzu steak knives are NOT included in the regular or discounted purchase poster price. TRAINING NEAR AND FAR There is a great deal of fantastic training rounding the corner in the next few months. Training is a great way to learn new skills or sharpen your already broad skillset -- bottom line, training is a great tool to add to your arsenal, no matter your skillset! We wanted to highlight a few upcoming classes, but feel free to check-out the training listings on FMPug for the whole enchilada. And keep your eyes peeled for the SAVE Tag -- the tag enables FMPug members to save some green off the cost of training. (It's those Pug Perks at work again for you!) Gunning to pass the 8 Certification Test? The Professional Training Series is the class for you! This class is taught by the best companies in the business, each of whom has undergone specialized training by FileMaker Inc to be eligible to teach this class. Listed below are several companies offering this training. If you happen to be in the vicinity of any of these locations, we highly recommend them. Just tell 'em the Pug sent you! Company Dates September: 11th - 12th November 8th - 10th November 28th - 30th December 11th - 13th January 22nd - 26th September 11-13th October 11th - 13th November 13th - 15th December 13th - 15th October 10th - 13th Special Training Feature Visit the website today We wanted to feature one particular training company who is spreading their wings & bringing training to locales far and wide. John Mark Osborne of Database Pros is taking his classes on the road.... November 28th - 30th 2006 You will find him in NewPort Beach, CA teaching the PTFSIII class. December 4th - 8th 2006 After a short break, he's jetting to bonnie Scotland to teach his famous Philosophy of Scripting 101 and 201 class December 11th - 13th 2006 Afterward, he'll be taking a leisurely tour down through Great Britain to teach the PTFSIII class again in Poole January 22nd - 26th 2006 After spending the holidays in the UK, John Mark returns to his home land to teach the PTFSIII class January 29th - February 2nd 2006 He wraps-up his worldwind tour with his Philosophy of Scripting 101 & 201 classes & afterward, taking a much needed break. John, we hope you have a successful trip & remember, you don't HAVE to bring us back anything ...really! WHAT'S NEW AT FMPUG Want to know what we've been up to at FMPug 'Quarters? This is a great place to start. FMPug POWERS FileMaker.com That's right, we've weaseled our way into FileMaker HQ. (Sneaky, the Pug is.) As of August 13th, FMPug is now providing all user group data to FileMaker, namely the data used to drive the Filemaker user group page. Not only is FMPug providing data for the official FMPug chapters around the globe, but for ANY user group. Needless to say, this is a great step forward for FMPug & the User Group community as a whole. All chapter/group coordinators may now maintain their own updates & changes via personalized administrative access. This step ensures the data remains consistently reliable & up-to-date! The best part is, it works both ways, whether you update your information on FileMaker or FMPug, the data will be instantly accessible after a change on either site. It's that easy! BUSINESS DIRECTORY + PORTFOLIO = PAWFOLIO Happily, the Business Directory is growing day by day. We now have over 175 listings including 51 Certified 8 Developers -- from Apple Certified Network Consultants to Web Developers & everything in between! But as with every FMPug venture we love pushing the boundaries, doing everything to take your membership to the next level! That being said, we have the newest introduction to the bevy of Pug Perks, Pawfolio. Unveiled at DevCon 2006, the new Pawfolio feature rolls your business card & company portfolio into a single eye-catching presentation. Email it. Link to it. Advertise it. This brand new Business Directory feature allows anyone/everyone access to the most up-to-date information on you & your company. Training schedules, screen shots, portfolio work – the content is all up to you - simply provide your unique URL. We’re betting Pawfolio will be the only business card link you’ll ever need ! So how does it work? Glad you asked . As a member you are given your own Pawfolio link. We'll take Jason Mundok of IT Solutions as an example (Jason, the plug is on us!). Jason wants to direct people to his Pawfolio so he includes the following short url in his email signature. http://www.fmpug.com?Pawfolio=12255 By clicking the link, the person is directed to Jason's Pawfolio page. Sorry, did I hear a "Wow"? Just checking ...I thought I heard a "Wow" from someone over there in the back. Indeed, it is kinda "wowable" huh? Notice how we approached the page with a design concept we like to call minimalist Pug. The advertising & branding has been pretty much scaled down to a leaner more super-modelesque appearance. (That is to say, there isn't much of it there.) Why you ask? Well, quite simply this page is supposed to be about you...not us. I think I will speak for myself when I say this is a pretty cool portfolio...I mean "Pawfolio". Don't forget your personal directory. Let us keep a watchful eye on your FileMaker? contacts for you! Simply select those profiles that are of interest to you, add them to your Personal Directory & we’ll make sure you’re all up-to-date! Any change to a record will be flagged to let you know they’ve added something new & different. Wherever you are, be assured you’ll have the most current information for all your contacts. We want our members to shine! New Discounts & Specials To help you keep abreast of the current offerings, we thought we would list a few of our favorite "Discounts & Specials" that are out there for the taking. It's just one more perk of membership with FMPug (you are a member aren't you ?) If you see the icon, the offer is worldwide. Otherwise it will be restricted to the relevant country. Location Offer Delicious Library: 25 Percent Off Rediscover your home library with Delicious Library. Point any digital video camera (like Apple's iSight) at the barcodes on the backs of your books, movies, music and video games, and Delicious Library does the rest. The barcode is scanned and within seconds the item's cover appears on your digital shelves, filled with the information downloaded from web sources around the world. myNotes: 25 Percent Discount myNotes is a human-friendly, note-taking program to create and organize notes and clippings, and print them utilizing beautiful customizable themes. It is one of the easiest Macintosh note managers while offering an extended set of unique features. With myNotes' Address Book integration, you can look up contacts by first or last name, then send e-mail, start a chat session or access their homepages with just one click! Royalty-Free Production Music: 20 Percent Off Primary Elements offers legal, royalty-free production music licensing on a wide range of tracks, loops, and CDs for all markets and uses. Primary Elements also offers a host of professional music/audio and related media services. From iMovie HD to Final Cut Pro and everything in-between, give your next project what it needs! Regularly $9 (US), user group members can purchase commercial licenses for $7.20 (US). Regularly $29 (US), CDs are available to user group members for $23.20 (US) and broadcast licenses can be purchased for as little as $119.20 (US), a discount from the regular $149 price. Launcher by Odology: New Utility at 40 Percent Off Launcher by Odology lets you search and launch any app on your Mac as you type. Launcher also lets you switch between apps: just type and go. Its streamlined design and intuitive interface keep things simple - no memorization necessary. By leveraging OS X's built-in indexing engine, Launcher provides great performance while consuming less of your Mac's resources. Launcher by Odology requires Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger), with Spotlight enabled ( the default setting). With a standard price of $15 (US), user group members pay $9 (US), a 40 percent discount. Timbuktu Pro: 25 Percent Off - OFFER ENDS SEPT 30 Netopia's Timbuktu Pro software for both Macintosh and Windows gives users access to remote desktops through any Internet connection, which makes Timbuktu ideal for file sharing and troubleshooting. With Timbuktu's Skype integration, users can also speak in real-time while collaborating with other users on remote desktops. Retail prices start at $89.95 (US) for Windows and $94.95 (US) for Macintosh versions, with information on the different software versions available at the Timbuktu website. Great Value on Ultimate Productivity Automator Action Pack Automated Workflows, LLC is pleased to announce the "Ultimate Productivity Automator Action Pack" which includes all of the currently available Automator Actions for applications including FileMaker Pro, InDesign, iPhoto, Photoshop, Preview, QuarkXPress, TextEdit and more. It allows users to extend the ability of Automator to reduce time-consuming and repetitive tasks in multiple popular applications. Check out the Discounts & Specials from your FMPug Member Homepage today. Well, that just about wraps-up this newsletter for another month. Don't forget to stop by the web site. And if you are not yet an official "pugger" what are you waiting for? Stop letting others get all the benefits of membership and start taking some of them for yourself. Join today and get in the mix. Cheers! FMPug Quarters team [email protected] http://www.fmpug.com