This month we’re going a little bit geeky and a little bit easy. That means regardless of whether you’re geeky or, um, easy, you’ll have no excuse this month, because there’s going to be something for you.

Alan’s start-from-scratch exercise is really starting to flesh out. Come join in the fun and contribute your ideas and desires as we put some more meat on the bones of an original FileMaker app incarnating right before your very eyes.

Still basking in the glow of appreciation he received for the truly genius tip he presented last month (blog post coming soon about that), Brian Ginn will show you how to save space on your relationship graph, save time in your development, and, who knows, perhaps even discover a new sub-atomic particle, with FileMaker 12’s geekiest new feature.

Yes, you guessed it (you peeked didn’t you?), Brian will introduce you to FileMakers’ nod to industrial-strength databases [literally] everywhere, the new ExecuteSQL ( ) function! Can’t you just feel the power coursing through your body, emitting sparks from the tips of your fingers, powering up your apps to their next level? No? Hmmm, maybe you’re doing it wrong. Have you tried holding your tongue out the side of your mouth?

No matter. After Brian’s presentation you’ll want to go get fitted for your own new super suit! (No capes!) It’s truly THAT powerful. You really don’t want to miss it. (You may just not know it yet.)

Okay, now the future stuff: We will have a nationally recognized FileMaker design guru presenting his special “Design Smack-Down” presentation just for us (and anyone you care to bring). Albert Harum-Alvarez, founder of SmallCo, a FileMaker consultancy serving a lot of companies you’ve definitely heard of, is a renowned authority on the subject of great user interface design with FileMaker. A sought-after speaker at conferences, user groups and workshops, Albert has agreed to share his expertise with us, via the magic of the “inter-tubes.” All that remains to make that happen is to work out a date. We’ll let you know when that happens, but we’re trying for our regular June date.

Also appearing “soon, very soon” are the rhymingly-dynamic duo of Bill Kaiser and Bill Heiser, straight from the “mother-ship,” FileMaker Inc. itself, to give Kentuckiana the official intro presentation of dodeca-FileMaker! Stay tuned while we work out a date with them as well.

See you on the 22nd!

Right after you vote (well, the Kentucky people, anyway.)

–The Committee
Alan, Bill, Brian, Byron, & Jonathan

Date & Time:
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 (FOURTH Tuesday now, y’hear?)
12:00 PM - 3:30 PM (-ish)
BYOB (Bring Your Own Brown Bag)
Soft drinks provided

Location:
1234 South 3rd Street  (In the St. James area of Old Louisville)
Louisville, KY 40203

FileMaker 101 Classroom at:
http://g.co/maps/y3u77

Registration:
http://www.kyfmp.com/reg/

• New FileMaker Go 12

• New themes architecture - Instantly change the look of layouts

• New design capabilities - Gradients, image slicing, borders, object states

• New quick charts - Create charts in a just a few clicks

• Enhanced Container Fields - Drag and drop to store documents, photos, videos, music, and more

We will be raffling off a copy of FileMaker Pro 12 Advanced at each event! Make sure to RSVP as space is limited.

When: Thursday, May 24, 5-7pm

Where: BBB Conference Center, 7668 Kings Point Road, Toledo, Ohio 43617-1551  (conference center entrance in back.)

REGISTER TODAY!

Questions? Contact Daniel Shanahan (419) 367-5236 or daniel [at] newleafdata [dot] com

Please join us Tuesday as Phil, Alexei, and Oleg from FileMaker HQ discuss the new FileMaker 12 features. Oleg designed the new containers in 12 and will be going into detail on those in his own wonderfully offbeat fashion.

12 is one of those releases where the big things are kind of hard to wrap your head around and the little things blow you away. Come join the conversation.

Pizza for those who RSVP here.

And off to Paddy Coyne’s for drinks and a bite after the meeting.

Have Something to Ask FMI?

Leave a comment below…

PLEASE NOTE: ProMedica-Flower Hospital has recently built new conference rooms.  We are no longer meeting on the 8th floor.  Easiest entrance is at the Lake Park side.  More details will be in the upcoming meeting reminder (if you are not on the mailing list, please let me know).

Thanks to Gordon Shewach of Desktop Services for his presentation in May on Shell/Batch scripting with FileMaker Server.

Finally, I am in communication with Bill Kaiser, the FileMaker Inc. Sales Rep for this region, on a date for an official presentation of FileMaker Pro 12 by FileMaker Inc.  Stay tuned!

Please join us Tuesday as Adam Aronson from FullCity Consulting in NY leads a roundtable discussion on the new FileMaker 12 features. Adam will also be discussing how they build Snap2FM, a scanning widget for FileMaker and ScanSnap scanners: http://fullcityconsulting.com/snap2fm-app

There is a LOT of new stuff in 12. Come ask questions, give answers, and help wrap our heads around this brave new world of FM12.

RSVP here.

Off to Paddy Coyne’s for drinks and a bite after the meeting.

Have Something to Ask Adam?

Leave a comment below…

Regardless of how YOUR compulsion survives the social mayhem, though, you’ll make some marked improvement in this month’s session as we engage in some truly insane FileMaker therapy!

We are really proud of the progress made by Byron “Baby Steps” Songer, whom we all agree (don’t we?) did such a great job last month peeling back the layers of the relational database approach from the standpoint of the recently-escaped FileMaker user. B.S. was scheduled for release into the general population this month to share his experience at modeling a “reality” with more self-confidence and less anxiety. Unfortunately, at the last minute he had a severe setback. While they tell us he is making great strides daily, they want to hold him for another few weeks–for observation (they say). Regardless, we fully expect his complete recovery and intend to welcome him back into the mainstream at our April group session, where, if we all listen very quietly (and don’t make any sudden moves), we might persuade him to share more of his story of relational redemption.

One of the more profound tragedies of our little Cuckoo’s Nest (and the just-announced 2012 Substance Abuse Awareness poster child), Jonathan “Coke Head” Fletcher, will attempt to maintain his phosphoric-acid-bathed hold on reality long enough to host a further discussion into the subject loosely known as “FileMaker Standards.” While several REALLY SMART FileMaker-types have been the authors of this online project for a few years, we all know what “genius” is only “a fine line” away from, don’t we? Yup.

They don’t let Alan “Angry” Bird out of his cage very often, but with a promise of the right meds and the watchful eye of several burly orderlies, it was decided to let him present his new project, a database of our monthly tips, tricks, techniques, and resources that he will cough up before our very eyes. You may call it mass hysteria; you may call it a sad case of group-think gone wrong, but do come see for yourself. Come back for monthly visits to the ward as we flesh-out a totally psychotic solution for all of us to use. (Catch the note below about “homework” for this segment.)

Brian “don’t laugh at him” Ginn hopes to have at least a brief moment of lucidity this month as he shares a cool trick he discovered while mesmerized by the ones and zeros that flood his vision most of the time. It sounds way better than that electro-shock therapy we had the other day. (But you may decide otherwise.)

As usual, our lunatic ravings will be preceded by that tasty brown bag repast you brought (better to bring your own because you never know what they put in the food here, shhhh!) and the free soft drinks provided by the staff (hey, wait…).

Show up at noon and you can count on being carried out kicking and screaming no later than 3:30…

…um…

-ish.

–The Committee
Alan, Bill, Brian, Byron, & Jonathan

Date & Time:
Tuesday, March 27, 2012 (FOURTH Tuesday from now on)
12:00 PM - 3:30 PM (-ish)
BYOB (Bring Your Own Brown Bag)
Soft drinks provided

Location:
1234 South 3rd Street  (In the St. James area of Old Louisville)
Louisville, KY 40203
FileMaker 101 Classroom here:
1234 S 3rd St, Louisville, KY 40203

HOMEWORK:
Due to the mob-participation nature of Mr. Bird’s presentation, he has asked that you download the Developer Storage file from Foundation Database Systems and familiarize yourself with some of its basic workings. Bring it to the meeting (so as not to tick him off) and work in your own version as Alan presents it on-screen.

Read about it here: http://www.foundationdbs.com/downloads.html

Download it here: http://www.foundationdbs.com/Downloads/DeveloperStorage_1.0v2.zip

At our April meeting, Tuesday, April 3, 5-7pm Gordon Shewach of Desktop Services will lead a discussion on how to utilize batch/shell scripting from FileMaker Server. Space is limited so register today!

We will continue with our series on FileMaker standards with a look at calculation control structures, error handling in scripts, and script annotation. Let’s discuss some ways that are described on FileMakerStandards.org and then discuss why we think our own personal methods are waaaaay better (or, just maybe, not).

And then, for those of you who are a little frustrated with presentations that require your neurons to seemingly leap tall buildings with a single bound, have we got a treat for you. Direct from his Fortress of Solitude tucked away (for camouflage) deep in the heart of Middletown, Kentucky, lets hear a warm round of applause for Apple Certified Consultant, longtime FileMaker developer and all-around super guy, Byron Songer, who will be asking the question puzzling super-heros and philosophers alike down through the centuries, “Just what are these relationship-thingies, anyway?”

Through the miracle of modern database theory, Byron will be showing you when to hold ‘em and when to go all in; when to take another step and when to duck flying objects, when to employ another useless metaphor and when to shut up and get on with the presentation description. Yes, that’s right ladies and gentlemen, Byron will show you just why you might want to add another table and its associated relationship(s) to your database, and when you could conceivably get by with the tried-and-true, but cumbersome, “flat file” approach.

Also, we will try, yet again, to get our freebie-file solution off the ground this month. Tools, resources, techniques and just stuff will be tossed into a database as the meeting progresses and when we are done we will have a FileMaker file that we can use to review the content of our presentations. You have to come to get your copy, but it’s free.

All will be revealed in due time, butcha gotta come. See you Tuesday.

Come join us and we share a bit of good fellowship with others as we learn about our favorite database “platform!”

–The Committee
Alan, Bill, Brian, Byron, & Jonathan

Date & Time:
Tuesday, February 28, 2011 (FOURTH Tuesday from now on)
12:00 PM - 3:30 PM (-ish)
BYOB (Bring Your Own Brown Bag)
Soft drinks provided

Location:
1234 South 3rd Street  (In the St. James area of Old Louisville)
Louisville, KY 40203
FileMaker 101 Classroom map.

Registration here.

This series of meetings is not just for beginners. Even seasoned FileMaker Developers can learn things they didn’t already know. Last month’s meeting wasn’t just limited to the basics, we actually covered a lot of interesting and relevant topics as we walked through some common mistakes made and habits encountered when creating fields, tables and layouts in FileMaker.

Ron Greene will be our presenter again and will be happy to answer questions as they come up and explore topics more in-depth. Our agenda is flexible and we’re ready to have some interesting dialogue about best practices and shared experiences.

Hope to see you there!
Audrey ❦