We at Geist Interactive are thrilled to be a part of the first ever Claris Engage, in this year 2020. Though this first event is a virtual one, we will be part of the the event in the 1’s and 0’s that make up cyberspace. There’s a lot going on, so let’s take a moment to review and point out a few things:

Here’s a rundown of what’s happening.

The Main Channels

Chat with Us & Others in the Community

A Slack workspace where you can join with fellow virtual Claris Engage folks (the folks aren’t virtual, the conference is hosted in the cloud). It’s like a “Watch Party” for the main event. Come and hang out with us and others.

The Lobby Bar

Engage Live

Vendors

The Main Event

August 4th and 5th, Claris is hosting the free Claris Engage. That’s amazing. As I considered this idea, spending two days online engaging with others in the Claris Community, I see a lot of possibilities:

  • At home, in my comfortable office with all my gadgets and toys.
  • I can take a break and go freshen up without anyone noticing I’m leaving the session.
  • I can get lots of sleep.
  • There’s very little walking.
  • And for me, the pool is way less crowded.

Of course, there are a few drawbacks:

  • I won’t be able to eat delicious and generous foods. I can’t say “This is vacation! Three plates of desserts doesn’t count.”
  • I won’t be near other FileMaker folks. No one wearing a badge lanyard will be wandering around to whom I can say hi, or at the very least, give the ol’ subtle nod as we pass each other. You know, maybe I’ll make my three dogs walk around the house with lanyards from past events. Hmmm. . .
  • I don’t have an excuse to hang out at the bar at all hours of the day.
  • And, most importantly, I won’t get to connect to friends, nor will I get to make new ones as easily this year.

The Virtual Sessions

Anyway, the main event, on those two days (and the same two days that the Auto-Enter space will be available) Claris is hosting live webinars with Claris folks and Claris partners to talk about higher-level concepts with this new open-release platform. I’m sure we’ll hear some detailed technique or so, but these sessions are conceptual in nature. They center around performance, and ‘low-code’, design excellence, user experience, and add-ons, to name a few. The Claris leadership will join us virtually in our homes to answer our questions we have about the platform, the future, and (possibly) their pets.

I looked at the session list for those two days. There’s too many to point out–they’re all very good sessions and topics. I look forward to hearing the panel of experts on each one share their conceptual understandings and forward-thinking views of our platform.

But if I must point out a few, here’s what you MUST absolutely ‘attend’:

  • The Opening Keynote: Delivering the Promise of Digital Transformation: (Aug 4, 9:00 AM PDT)
    • Here’s where we get to here CEO Brad Freitag and the leadership team talk about what’s new at Claris and their path and vision forward.
  • FileMaker 19 Under the Hood: Javascript & Add-ons: (Aug 4, 10:15 AM PDT)
    • Todd is part of this panel. They’ll discuss the newly-added add-on functionality and the newly-enhanced JavaScript workflow in the platform. Todd will demonstrate how add-ons are built and the use of JavaScript in those add-ons.
  • Driving Customers towards Modern Design Excellence: (Aug 4, 2:00 PM PDT)
    • This panel is made up of experts in design, including Alexis Allen who talked with us early this year about Workflow Based Design. I personally hope they mention JS add-ons in their discussion 🙂
  • Vision Forward: Claris Platform Futures: (Aug 5, 12:00 PM PDT)
    • It’s a tradition at Claris conferences to see some peek of what’s coming next in our FileMaker and Claris Connect apps. We developers all look forward to this, and we usually work to secure a seat up front to see ‘extra close’ what’s new. This year, we all get front-row seats. Robert Holsey and the other project managers will put on their best smiles and drum up their passion for the platform for us all to see.
  • Looking Ahead to Emerging Technology: (Aug 5, 1:00 PM PDT)
    • I’m interested to see what is emerging from the Wedge (or virtual Wedge, as the case may be) in the form of new technology. We’re all so used to the FileMaker Application. What’s next? I hope a robot, of some sort.
  • Closing session: Awards, Recognition and Our Path Forward: (Aug 5, 4:00 PM PDT)
    • The closing session is always a rousing feel-good session that sends us back to our work (since we’re not travelling at all this year). The awards and recognition lifts our tired spirits and energizes us to continue to solve problems for our clients. The panels, this year, I’m sure will inspire, but these closing remarks by Claris is meant to set us on their path forward. So stick around for these!

Other Events

Immediately after the two days of sessions and panels, the On-Demand sessions will be released. I’ve got two sessions that will be part of this release, so stay tuned to this post and our Twitter for those announcements.

“See” you “@” Claris Engage

We hope to see you there ‘at’ Claris Engage. Please stop by our hang out area and say hi to us and others in the community. And please ‘stop me in the hallway’ and introduce yourself if I’ve not met you yet. Show me your JavaScript work with which you’re tinkering, or ask me questions about JavaScript.