By: Robert Hritz
Stepping off the plane in Vegas in July, for what would be my second time in two years, was one word…hot. I was excited to no longer be a new face at the FileMaker DevCon conference, this being my second time attending, and was curious as to how my experience would be different. Would there still be new things to learn, people to meet and developer growth to be had?
My first experience at DevCon moved a million miles an hour. I felt like I had jumped head first into a sea of information, business cards, discussions, possibilities, and food. I wanted to try everything. Be everywhere and make sure I had soaked in as many opportunities to learn as I could. Looking back on that first year everything including names, faces, and concept were a blur. That definitely gave me a different prospective on how I wanted to approach year two.
My second year experience, as I had expected, was completely different. Everything moved slower. Concepts were being committed to my long term knowledge bank and people / faces were familiar and the discussions flowed with ease. I knew what to expect. Where I wanted to go. What sessions were my top priority and those that I wanted to fit in because I had budgeted my time. The end result was I felt like I was part of the global DevCon community and not a lone developer moving amongst the masses. I realized quickly what DevCon was all about. It’s about fueling the camaraderie of community between developers from all over the globe. Small businesses to corporations become part of one goal; to expand our knowledge of the FileMaker platform to make our solutions world-class. I spent time in a session lead by Todd Geist having my mind completely blown and joking with other DevCon attendees that “we didn’t start the fire.” All these experiences over the course of the week solidified that I was part of the worldwide FileMaker family. The DevCon experience can be summed up as a well rounded, knowledge centric, networking, inside track on what is up and coming in the world of FileMaker and so much more.
For anyone debating on whether they should attend FileMaker DevCon I have one thing to say…See you in Arizona in 2017.
