Boy, am I tired. This day wore me out. There was so much to ingest, my mind is reeling. I left my key in my room when I went to get ice, and have been sort of stumbling around. In other words, the day was full and inspiring and great!
I love being at DevCon, but sitting in sessions all day is taxing. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, one has to take care of oneself. So I started the day by walking the strip. If there’s a good time on the strip, it is the early morning. One can actually walk without bumping into too many people or getting flyers shoved in one’s face. I walked from the Cosmopolitan hotel north as far as I could in the time I allowed for it, and then walked back. It was invigorating to get out there in the sun, heat, dry air, and fewer people.
Today I chose sessions I know nothing about. The first, the “FileMaker of Things” was an intriguing session that demonstrated how to control capture data in FileMaker from an object, such as a security camera or a furnace. The key is to use the sites IFTTT.com or zapier.com. I’m committed to figuring out how to capture something from my Nest and my Phillips Hue bulbs with FileMaker.
During this time, Makah Encarnacao gave her presentation. I snuck into this halfway through and was proud to see her talking about building developer-friendly apps. She did very well. I think I picked up a few tips that I’ll use from here on out.
The second session of today was Mike Beargie’s “Integration Innovations in FileMaker WebDirect”. This guy is the go-to person for WebDirect. He demonstrated a technique from my colleague Ross Johnson. People clapped. As well as the FileMaker of Things, I wish to continue my knowledge of WebDirect.
During lunch I was able to sit with a few of my colleagues. That was a pleasant experience. Soliant has a good group of FileMaker developers, and it’s energizing to sit and chat and continue to get to know each other.
Afternoon sessions came as I grew more tired, but Clay Maeckel’s session on the Draco Engine stirred up my blood. I love this stuff. In my opinion it was a very valuable session; every developer should hear about this mechanism. He speaks of how data is stored in FIleMaker, what happens when a file is opened, and how the Draco Engine changed in FileMaker 15. EVERY SENTENCE he says is valuable. He knows FileMaker and its engine inside and out. Clay should be allowed to talk about FileMaker for an entire day.
Likewise, Vin Addala’s session on WebDirect under the hood was filled with such rich information, I think it is essential for everyone to attend it. He spoke of how WebDirect has improved since it was introduced in FileMaker 12. He gave some good tips on where to look if your WebDirect custom app starts to have performance problems.
The day ended with the Attendee Dinner Party. It was held offsite at a ballpark. I wasn’t able to attend, but my colleague Agnes Riley reported that people got to participate in softball, corn hole, cage batting, table foosball, and other activities. The attendee parties are always a good chance to do something other than FileMaker during the week. I’m waiting for the event where we all can take a mat and lie down.
There’s so much going on at DevCon that it’s impossible to capture everything. So much information is given to us, it is vital to review the notes taken and to view the slides and (eventually) hear the recording of the sessions. I’m glad to be a part of this DevCon as I learn more about building custom apps.
