Our #FileMakerDevCon Recap: FileMaker DevCon 2014
Confession: I’m late in writing this blog. After all, FileMaker’s 2014 Developer Conference (FileMaker DevCon) was 2+ weeks ago. Referring to Mark Richman’s common advice: don’t let perfect be the enemy of good, I decided to write it anyway. It’s still relevant and good news. I hope you agree. 😉
FileMaker DevCon in San Antonio
By all accounts, the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa hosted a beautiful and spacious conference this year. What the weather lacked with the 100 degree and 90% humidity, the hotel amenities made up.
FileMaker DevCon Developer Cup Champion
On Tuesday, 7/29, our very own Certified Developer, Chris Schmitz won the first annual FileMaker DevCon Developer Cup Challenge! The competition consisted of sixteen contestants that competed in five rounds of challenges. They were forced to use all of their FileMaker skills to build quick and elegant solutions to common problems that all FileMaker developers face at one time or another. You can watch the video of Chris accepting the honor, here. You can also follow @DevConCupChamp on Twitter where you will see the #BeltTour of St. Louis, highlighting various places and events in St. Louis that the Belt will visit.
Bottom right photo, from left: Greg Lane, Chris Schmitz, Mark Richman, Matt Navarre.
Skeleton Key – FileMaker Excellence Award for FBA Leads of the Year
Each year, FileMaker Business Alliance (FBA) members and FileMaker Technical Network members are recognized for excellence in various business and technical categories. The FileMaker Excellence Award winners are chosen from over 1,200 FBA members worldwide who are FileMaker consultants, solution providers, plug-in developers, trainers, and hosting companies that serve a wide variety of industries. The categories of the awards are Business Partner, Next Generation, Leads, Design, Development, and Commercial Solutions. This year, Skeleton Key was honored at the FileMaker DevCon with the FileMaker Excellence Award for Leads. We were recognized as the FBA company that has done the most to expand awareness of the FileMaker Platform and has generated the highest volume of new prospective customers. They rewarded Skeleton Key’s activities this past year, including: highly engaged in creating awareness of the FileMaker Platform and generating leads through many channels, such as Apple Store App Spotlights, blogging, FMAcademy, their monthly Chatter newsletter, FileMaker User Groups, and through social media channels — LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. We appreciate our colleagues recognition of our team’s hard work!
Picture, from left: Julie Sigfrinius, Mark Richman, Delfina Daves
Speaking at FileMaker DevCon
Greg Lane, our VP of Application Development, presented two sessions this year. He contributed to the topic of mobility in his session, Supercharge Your Workflows With Barcodes. And, he contributed to core skills in his session, Developing With Perform Script on Server. He enjoyed the audiences’ energy this year and the ‘chatter’ that followed. Greg is always effective in talking about optimization in a platform with which he has become intensely experienced. 
FileMaker Moving Forward
The FileMaker DevCon 2014 message was loud and clear: FileMaker, Inc. is continuing to invest in improvements in their product line. They are also expanding their reach for new developers to learn the FileMaker platform. We are looking forward to the next FileMaker Annual Developer Conference (FileMaker DevCon), July 20-23, 2015, in Las Vegas at the Cosmopolitan!
About Skeleton Key
Skeleton Key helps turn complex, complicated, and outdated systems into true information platforms. Our team of consultants and developers do this by developing custom-fit solutions and reporting dashboards that help businesses find, use, and understand their data, freeing them to focus on and grow their core business. In addition to custom databases and business solutions, we also provide training and coaching for getting the most out of your existing systems and understanding your unruly data. Skeleton Key is an open-book management company and active player of the Great Game of Business.