Reconnect.Sydney 2023 is a conference put together by developers, for developers.
Three long years since the last APAC Claris® / FileMaker® developer conference and we really think it’s time to reconnect our developer community! We hope you’ll join us in person to talk, learn, and expand our horizons.
We’re still working on the schedule but here’s what we’re planning on:
A small group of Claris Partners have banded together to put on this event in 2023. We think it’s been far too long between conferences (and drinks), so we decided to something about it. We’ll call upon others in the community to help, but for now the core group consists of…
Organising conferences is not our day job — we’re developers like you. We will do everything we can to bring you an awesome conference. If there is something missing, please contact the organising team using the form below.
Conference tickets are $249 with an early bird price of $219 if purchased before 30 June.
Lunch, morning and afternoon teas over both days are included.
Please note that ticket sales are limited to the first 200 people.
Over the next few weeks we will be progressively updating this page with the presenters and topics you can expect to see at the conference. Please continue to come back to check as we do these updates, we have a great lineup of people presenting this year.
Andrew is the founder of Databuzz, a Claris Partner based out of Sydney. Andrew is a FileMaker integration expert and has been connecting FileMaker to other platforms for over 20 years. He specialises in connecting the Claris FileMaker Platform with platforms like Xero, DocuSign, QuickBooks Online, Shopify, Twilio and WooCommerce. His solutions are used by customers all around the world to automate their workflows and eliminate repetitive manual tasks.
When not developing in FileMaker you’ll find Andrew watching his Sydney Roosters NRL team or listening to music from Paul Weller.
Rob started using FileMaker Pro 2 in a tech support role. He was an in-house FileMaker developer at Optus during the Y2K transition, and has been a FileMaker consultant since 2002. He has been a key part of the growth of FMStudio Hosting services, managing FileMaker Server builds, configuration, and ongoing support.
Like many FileMaker consultants, Rob supports and develops systems whose life began in someone else’s hands, and he has become adept at “getting inside the head” of other developers. Thought patterns learned during his Engineering degree have helped to understand the development process.
Rob is a keen student of World War II history, particularly the air war in Europe.
We are very grateful to the team behind FMPerception for sponsoring Reconnect.Sydney.
FMPerception displays every detail of your FileMaker database structure in seconds, and is brought to you by the teams at Proof+Geist and Hierarch, LLC. FMPerception generates a complete view of your multi-file solution so you can see everything in one place, and enables you to easily identify security concerns like accounts with missing passwords and scripts that run with full access privilege.
Your FMPerception license also includes FMComparison, a tool to quickly and easily see differences between two versions of one or more FileMaker files, and DamageDetectoR, a macOS-only tool that quickly and precisely finds issues which cause an XML.
We look forward to seeing the presentation FMPerception will do at the conference and once again thank them for their support.
Ottomatic is the Modern FileMaker Hosting Platform brought to you by the team at Proof+Geist. It is expertly crafted, rooted in experience, and designed to make your FileMaker apps soar.
As the name suggests, the hosting platform comes packaged with Otto (which is also available separately, so you can run it on your own servers). Otto gives you access to unique and powerful features such as automated data migrations and webhook receivers.
Ottomatic supports your custom apps so your users can access your data with FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Go, and/or FileMaker WebDirect, as well as the various web APIs. Ottomatic also supports Claris Server so you can access your .claris apps with Claris Pro, Claris Go, and Claris WebDirect.
We really appreciate Ottomatic and the Proof+Geist team for their support of our conference.
We would like to warmly welcome another sponsor for Reconnect Sydney, and this ones is a local.
Databuzz are Sydney based Claris FileMaker integration experts, with over 20 years of experience across the Claris FileMaker platform.
Not only are they FileMaker developers, they are the folk to go to for all things integration. They cover the full gamut of integrations, from eSignature, to accounting, eCommerce and SMS/MMS messaging, the list goes on.
Not only that, their integrations cover….
The big win out of using Databuzz and it’s product are that it saves you the developer time and money with your integrations, but it’s a win win for your clients as well.
Ever wanted to give these products a crack, there are free versions available for all of them.
Once again we welcome Andrew and Databuzz to being a sponsor of the conference, and look forward to catching up.
We are very happy to announce that The FM Studio have come onboard as our next sponsor.
FM Studio are a local Sydney based company that specialises in development, cloud hosting and managed services.
Having now been around for 27 years, they rank right up there with some of the ‘more mature’ FileMaker development companies around the world, and Ian Pirrie and his team are still going strong.
Their development style fits into the agile framework and they offer ongoing support for clients, either on an adhoc basis or on a service level agreement.
One of their core offerings is dedicated cloud hosting, using AWS as their partner, with a data centre handily placed in Sydney. They also offered the long forgotten art of shared hosting, but this is only available on some of the earlier versions of Filemaker.
And onto this last offering, thats managed services. If you need IT support, but are either too small or don’t want a dedicated IT person on your team, thats where managed services come into play. Ian and his team are able to support all your IT needs, either remotely or on site.
We very much appreciate The FM Studio and Ian coming on board as one of our key sponsors. It’s always great to have a local committing to support our local conference.
We are super excited to announce that MonkeyBread Software have come onboard to sponsor Reconnect.Sydney.
When the conference was first mooted, Christian from MBS was one of the first to reach out to say if we got our timing right, he might make the long trip down to Sydney.
Sadly the dates haven’t aligned and he won’t be able to join us this year, but we are planning to give him advance notice of the 2024 dates so he can book early.
Not many products in the Claris FileMaker world can be recognised by both their full name and the acronym they form, thats credit to Christian and the team for all the hard work they put in.
When you think of MBS, you think of…
If you do have questions about MBS, do reach out to Christian and the team, they would be only to happy to help.
Claris introduced the new Claris platform in September 2022. Whether you are new to Claris or an existing FileMaker developer and user, it is important that you understand the future of the platform and what it can offer.
That’s why uLearnIT is excited to announce their newest course offering – Understand Claris® platform Integration. This is timed to coincide with Reconnect.Sydney so that you can get even more from your visit to Reconnect.Sydney.
The course is designed to get you up to speed quickly with three key products of the Claris platform – Claris Connect, Claris Pro and Claris Studio. You will see what each is used for, do some development in each, and understand how your business can benefit from Claris platform integration.
But that’s not all – for all attendees of Reconnect.Sydney, uLearnIT are offering a $50 discount on the course fee. All you have to do is buy your conference ticket to take advantage of this offer using the coupon RECONNECT at checkout.
The course will be held before the conference on Wednesday, 19 July 2023 from 8:30am to 5pm. The course is hands on, so you will need to bring a laptop. We will provide everything else – course materials, coffee breaks, lunch and power!
So why wait? Course places are limited. Sign up for the Understand Claris® platform Integration course today and take advantage of this special offer for conference attendees. We look forward to seeing you in class!
https://clarisplatform.training/events/understand-claris-platform-integration/
Did you know that a study in 1973 (and many since) found that most people fear public speaking more than spiders, heights, and even death! If that includes you, then you might as well stop reading now.
For those of you still here, we are looking for excellent presenters with some great original content for Reconnect.Sydney. As it has been some time since the last in-person conference, a lot has happened in the world of Claris and FileMaker. This is our chance to catch up on those developments and new practices.
So what should you talk about? It is best to think about that from the point of view of an attendee. As a Claris developer, what would you be looking for at the conference that would make a difference to you back at work? What have you seen in the world of Claris in the last few years that you think would interest attendees? It is probably obvious, but you must be able to present yourself as a subject matter expert. People will want to know more than what you are able to fit into your presentation. So be ready for questions and further discussion.
You should also think about how long your session would be. Reconnect.Sydney has only one track, not concurrent sessions. We are dividing the two days into longer 40 minute sessions, along with ‘quick fire’ 10-15 minute sessions. Either session length will likely require the same amount of preparation on your part. The shorter session might take more!
What is in it for you? Each speaker will receive a complimentary ticket to Reconnect.Sydney. Sadly, we do not have the budget to cover travel or accommodation expenses. We will promote you, your business and your session. This builds your standing in the Claris community as an expert in your field.
So how do you apply and what is the process? We have a short form for you to fill out. You can submit up to three proposed sessions. Due to the limited number of slots available, selected speakers will likely only present one selected session. A small team will look at all the proposals and build a coherent schedule that will engage our attendees. If necessary, we will come back to you for more information or to propose minor changes. When all that is done, we will officially announce the conference schedule and all our speakers.
If you would like to submit a proposal, please do so as soon as possible via our Claris Studio form at http://reconnect.sydney/register-present. The form will be open until 28 April 2023, but please don’t leave it until the last minute. We look forward to reviewing your proposals.
You may be wondering about the name of this conference – Reconnect.Sydney. The organisers spent some time before landing on this name. It seemed appropriate for a range of reasons.
First and foremost is this will be the first in-person conference in our region since Covid starting shutting us down. As you may be aware, the last worldwide in-person Claris conference was back in 2019. Since then, there have been some online events. While these have been welcome, they just haven’t had the impact that we know that face to face contact has. So we are reconnecting as we (hopefully) come out of the other side of the Covid pandemic.
The second reason for the conference name is that we Claris developers tend to work in a bubble. Sure, there are some larger companies out there like Digital Fusion that have a team of developers and even run their own conferences. But the reality is that many Claris developer companies are only one or a few developers. So a conference such as this, an annual event, gives us soloists a rare chance to reconnect with like-minded individuals. While the sessions presented are the heart of the conference, the feedback from attendees is always positive about the value of casual conversations during breaks and social events.
We would love to see a huge number of Claris developers reconnect in Sydney in July to share their experiences and each other’s company. Are you in?
As a business owner or an employee, attending a conference such as Reconnect.Sydney has to be considered carefully. Your considerations need to land on a net positive to be gained from attending.
So what might be the pros and cons of attending Reconnect.Sydney? Hopefully we can help you to decide for yourself or to plead your case to your employer.
Let’s start with the cons to get them out of the way!
OK, so what are the pros of closing the office and attending Reconnect.Sydney?
So please, do the due diligence and weigh up your pros and cons of attending Reconnect.Sydney. I hope that it falls on the positive side and that you come to Sydney to Reconnect in July.
We appreciate your investment so will do everything possible to maximise you bang for buck. If there are other ways which you would like us to leverage your sponsorship, do get in touch.
CLARIS and FILEMAKER ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF CLARIS INTERNATIONAL INC. REGISTERED IN THE U.S. AND OTHER COUNTRIES.
