FileMakerAddict Interviews... Charlie Cheney Musician / FileMaker Developer

Charlie Cheney is one busy man. As a musician, he's performing, hosting radio shows, making music. And when he's not rubbing elbows with fellow musicians (like Jackson Browne or Freedie Johnston) he can be found developing Indie Band Manager, a FileMaker Pro-based database management system for musicians, freelancers, agents, labels, publicists and managers. Read on to learn more about Charlie!


You are currently living in Fremont, Michigan, and at the time that I put together these questions, it was only 3 degrees (with an expected high today of only 17!). How did you end up there?
My wife Allison's best friend (and Maid of Honor at our wedding) lives in Fremont with her husband, and they're caretakers of a local YMCA camp that Allison went to when she was a kid. We thought it'd be fun to live here, have our kids go to camp there, and live in a friendly out-doorsy "middle of nowhere" sort of place with good schools. The fact that I sell software over the internet made it all possible.


One of the things that made preparing for this interview somewhat difficult is that, unlike many of the people that I've interviewed in the past, you seem to be a musician first and foremost, and a FileMaker developer second. Is that a fair assessment?
I think from a life goals perspective, yes absolutely, I'm a musician first. I've gotten to play music with some amazing people (Jackson Browne, Butch Vig of Garbage, Pat MacDonald of Timbuk3, Freedie Johnston, and hundreds of others), but FileMaker has always helped pay the bills. That I've tied the two together with Indie Band Manager™ has helped me pursue both passions. I've met and helped thousands of musicians in 21 countries through Indie Band Manager, so in a very real way FileMaker has helped make my musical dreams come true.


How is it that you came to develop with FileMaker Pro?
I was working for Apple Computer in Chicago right out of college in 1989. While I was at Apple I helped develop the Apple Consultant Relations program (ACR) and the Claris Solutions Alliance (CSA). Those programs have since morphed into new names like ACN and FBA, but I actually developed the first FileMaker files that managed the memberships of those groups using HyperCard and FileMaker 4 from Nashoba Systems (which later became FileMaker Pro).

I left Apple in 1991 and started my own consulting company based on the relationships I'd made with Apple Consultants all over the country. Ironically enough, I was one of the first approved members of the CSA... which of course is now the FBA program.


Tell us a little about Indie Band Manager. Is it something that you originally developed for yourself, and then saw an opportunity to turn it into a product that would help other independent musicians? Or was creating Indie Band Manager as a product something that you planned to do right from the start?
For the first three months in the autumn of 2001 Indie Band Manager was definitely a solution I'd made ONLY for my band. It was a fascinating time to be an independent musician and a lot of books were being written about "How To Make It" so to speak. I read every book I could find and as I read through each one I was rather amused to hear each author say a good information management system was critical to success... since musicians needed to manage their fans, venues, booking calendar, finances, press, and promotion. However, not one author could name a single software program they liked that did it all, especially for Mac. Being an avid FileMaker junkie, I started "rolling my own" so to speak as I called venues around the east coast to book gigs for my band.

As I was booking the band I also joined a bunch of music industry email groups and I asked around to see what others wanted in an ideal software package. To spur on the conversation I made a list of the features I wanted to see and about 30 people responded that if I could make software that did all those things they'd buy it in a heartbeat. That's when I started getting serious about mapping out the extended ER Diagram, defining the business functionality, and designing the UI elements on paper rather than just doing it on the fly, in my head.

A few weeks later I was in the Ariel Publicity offices in Midtown Manhattan hiring Ariel's firm to promote a CD I was releasing with my band. Ariel is a music industry icon (check out her company at http://www.arielpublicity.com) and I wanted the best. Anyways, after the meeting I sat in her lobby for a few minutes typing her contact info and our meeting notes into my database and she happened to peer over my shoulder as she walked by to get a coke from the kitchen. "What is that?" she asked. "It's software I made to manage my band," I replied. She seemed a bit surprised and said "Wow, cool, can you show it to me?"

After about two minutes she said "I have 20 bands who need this TODAY. Can we sell it to them?"

I have to be honest here... like any honest dummy I started stammering "No, it's not ready, no one would know how to use all the features but me, there's no real user-interface or manual or anything." Miraculously this didn't seem to phase her one bit. She thought for a second or two and then said "Can you have it ready in six weeks?" and I hesitantly said "Yes... I probably could... but why six weeks?" and she said "Because that's when SxSW starts down in Austin and we're going to get you a trade show booth and sell a truckload of these."

Six weeks later I was literally writing code on the plane as I flew down to Austin and I was frantically burning CDRs 20 minutes before the trade show doors opened. We wound up selling over 100 copies on the show floor, cash only lol, and the business was started. Seven years later it's still considered the premier solution on the market to manage bands and tours.


On the Indie Band Manager site, you mention that there are now over "3000 people in 18 countries and all 50 states" that have purchased the application. Did you expect it to be this successful?
Nah, I just thought it was a cool way to hobnob with influential music industry folks to be honest. I mean, don't get me wrong, I wrote up a detailed business plan and made projections based on different price points and sought out strategic planning advice from a lot of business people I knew... so I didn't go into this totally blind... but I released the software more as a tool to help me network and make key industry contacts than to make a lot of money from the software alone.

One really key thing that I really want to emphasize is this: I'm in the music business because I love making music. I'm in the software business because I love helping people. My business and this product have succeeded because those two things are very closely inter-connected. I've come to believe that a great song is very much like great software, and vice-versa. A song can have a huge impact how people feel about themselves and their ability to persevere through struggles and adversity. If you think about it, great software can do the same thing. I've been blessed with opportunities to run larger companies and have needed to hire pretty large teams of people, and whenever I've hired programmers who are also musicians I've never been sorry because I honestly believe musician/programmers can actually visualize their code melodically. Music and software are very similar disciplines.


In doing my research on Indie Band Manager, one of the things that users rave about is how easy it has been for them to upgrade from previous versions of IBM to the latest version (version 5). When you released the version 5, was providing a smooth upgrade experience a goal that you were aiming for? And if so, what did you do to make it so easy for them?
Yep, smooth upgrades are absolutely critical. Indie Band Manager is sold in two versions at almost ridiculously low price points: $50 and $220. I could see right away from looking at my business plan that converting all of my end-users data for them would make me so maniacally busy at upgrade times that I'd risk complete business melt down. The smartest thing I ever did back in 2002 was make a single button that exported all 26 tables of data out of Indie Band Manager into "generic" Filemaker and "generic" Text files. For each of my upgrades since then I've made single button scripts to re-import those generic data files at upgrade time. Developers have usually shot quizzical looks at me when they hear this... "Filemaker converts those files for you automatically, it's great at that," they say. But as you may know the dramatic upgrade from FileMaker 4/5/6 to 7/8/9 posed some big challenges when trying to get data out of solutions, especially ones like mine that had tricky start-up scripts for demo expiration triggers, licensing calculations based on people's names, that sort of thing. If I hadn't built in that generic export script, my upgrade process would have needed a 30 page manual on its own and I could very well have been buried with tech support calls, or worse yet, lost thousands of clients.

Word of mouth is so important in the music industry, it's a remarkably close-knit bunch, especially now with Facebook, Twitter, and Google. I've been extremely fortunate that the word of mouth for Indie Band Manager has been extremely positive for all these years. One of the big reasons is because I work really hard to make things like upgrades easy and pretty darn dummy-proof.


Users and reviewers of Indie Band Manager also seem to like the fact that this is a solution developed by own of their own -- a fellow musician who knows what they need and where they are coming from. How important do you think this has been to the success of Indie Band Manager?
Well, if the software totally sucked, it wouldn't matter at all, lol. But yes, I think being a musician has been a huge key to my success for two reasons. First of all, from a technical perspective, I know the problems musicians face and I'm actively thinking about the problem all the time because I'm using the solution everyday to be successful as a musician. In corporate IT speak I'd be called the "Subject Matter Expert" that the programmers look to for guidance when developing a software project and taking it to a successful completion, know what I mean? I just happen to be the programmer too, which has always been one of the great strengths of Filemaker. Easy to use for everyone.

The second reason being a musician has been key to my success is because it sits very well with other musicians from a marketing point-of-view. People like to buy things from people who they perceive as being "like them", or even better, people "who they want to become". It makes them feel good, it makes them feel confident. Promoting this has always been a key element of my marketing strategy. It was an easy one for me to accept as well, totally unforced and genuine, which I think my customers have seen. If it had been fake, they would have seen through me right away. I've seen a lot of other companies come and go, and fail trying to do what I do.... but I've stuck with it and I've been very fortunate that so many people have stuck with me since the beginning.


I don't know why, but I was surprised to see that Indie Band Manager is actually a FileMaker Runtime solution. What challenges do you face in distributing the solution as a runtime application, and not simply a FileMaker database? And how important do you think has distributing it as a runtime application has been to the IBM's success?
Well, first of all, without the Runtime I couldn't have launched Indie Band Manager as successfully as I did, in my opinion. It was a widely accepted marketing axiom in 2002 that any indie musician could afford $35, so that's where I priced Indie Band Manager. As a result I made a fairly big splash in the industry, received glowing reviews in some key industry magazines for example, and word of mouth spread like wildfire. If I had priced the product at $350 instead, and included a copy of FileMaker Pro with each purchase, I simply wouldn't have received the press coverage or market penetration that I did.

As the product has matured and the market has settled down this has become less and less important, but I still think the runtime is a critical part of my success today as well. I think my customers feel more comfortable buying a product that is "all-in-one" with a simple one-click installer, so adding another step to install FileMaker Pro might unsettle some potential buyers. People crave simplicity.

The biggest challenge I face with the Runtime is answering the multiuser access questions. People are so used to having great internet solutions like Google, Twitter, Facebook... they just assume new products will run in a browser and be accessible from anywhere. Having to explain that Filemaker doesn't do that without a whole bunch of set-up and configuration is definitely my biggest marketing challenge. People want to hear me say "Yep, no problem." rather than "Umm, yes, but, umm, that'll cost $1600 more for the software (of which I don't make a penny) and you'll need a server..."

In response to this we're working hard to make the next version of Indie Band Manager lighter and faster and we're working out a co-marketing deal with a FileMaker hosting provider too. The future is definitely web-based and we need to be there or we'll become irrelevant.


One of the features of Indie Band Manager that I thought was very cool -- and makes it obvious that IBM was developed by someone in the industry -- is the Email List "Kiosk" function. This give musicians to the opportunity to have their fans sign up for their mailing list during an event. Have you used that feature yourself, and if so, has it helped you to build your own mailing list?
Yeah, that Email Kiosk is cool isn't it? That was a suggestion from one of my customers and I remember just rolling my eyes and thinking "Oh man, that will be impossible to program." But like so many tough problems, the solution just sort of came to me once I let my mind chew on it for awhile.

I use that kiosk all the time, especially at trade shows, seminars, and house concerts. One specific segment of Indie Band Manager users that have the coolest kiosk success story are Christian bands. Some of these Christian bands have set up three or four kiosks at their ministry services on a Saturday night or Sunday morning and collected 1200-1500 email signups at ONE service. Talk about building your fan base! Can you even begin to imagine how valuable that is to their ministry? The time saved and increased accuracy alone from not having to re-type that info from hand-written sign-up lists is huge. But the key asset is having that email list at all, because email lists are real and proven income generators for musicians. If a band releases a new CD or single online or on iTunes and then notifies their list of 5-10K fans via email that it's available, they can expect a 1-3% response almost instantly. You do the math. Musician publicity guru Ariel Hyatt said it best when she wrote "Email lists are like a musician's ATM machine."


Another interesting feature of Indie Band Manager is the Resource Directory, which lists 1000s of industry contacts, including contacts at radio stations, venues, press, colleges, etc. Is maintaining that list time consuming? And how are you handling getting the updates out to IBM users?
Ooh, good questions. I designed the Resource Directory to be a totally separate FileMaker file that Indie Band Manager users can download from my web site whenever it gets updated and simply replace their old file with the new one. I've always referred to that bit of programming as my purest example of devising a low-tech solution to a high tech problem. No import/export, no re-install, nothing. Just replace the file.

As for maintaining the lists, I'm really thankful that I learned a very important lesson early on in the process: Maintaining lists is best handled by people who love maintaining lists. It requires more of a librarian's skill set than a programmer's skill set, know what I mean? As a result I teamed up with some people who love maintaining lists and I've left that maintenance to them. It's been a win-win for everyone.


Version 5 of Indie Band Manager makes use of some of the features that FileMaker Pro 9 made available. With FileMaker Pro 10 out now, do you have plans to upgrade IBM to version 6 and use some of its new features?
Yes, I've already begun a major re-write of Indie Band Manager to take fuller advantage of FileMaker 10's features. I have a long-term goal of making Indie Band Manager a dynamic online/offline solution that enables musicians to access and share their data when they're plugged-into the internet, but gives them access when they unplug and hit the road too. There can be a lot of time on the road for a musician, which can make for long stretches of time when internet access is not available. This is becoming less and less true as wireless technologies mature, but it's still pretty common.

I'm definitely intrigued by script triggers and the potential there. It's really opens up a completely new world. In a way, it takes me back to my HyperCard days... it's like the whole thing has finally come back full circle.


Have you had a chance to use FileMaker Pro 10 yet? If so, what do you think of it? Are there any new features that you're particularly excited about?
I have been using it a bit and am very impressed. I think the power of script triggers is one of those "unmeasurable scale" advances that, in the right hands, will take FileMaker solutions into a whole new arena. I'm a huge fan of the re-positioned status bar too. Finally, we get to reclaim all that lost screen real estate without programming a ton of work-arounds. That it took 21 years to finally get rid of that bit of clunky legacy UI handed down from Nashoba Systems is a testament to how hard it is to upgrade database system software. I'm sure a lot of people will complain about it, but honestly, it's a huge weight off of all our shoulders as programmers. A weight most people probably didn't even realize was there.


How do you keep up with what is going on in the FileMaker community? Are you a TechNet member? Do you participate in any of the FileMaker Pro User Groups?
I've been a longtime FSA (FileMaker Solutions Alliance) member, yeah, since day 1 almost.


Have you ever attended DevCon? If so, what was your experience?
I love DevCon, it's a great event. I sponsored the Open Jam Music Room one year and it was one of the funnest times I've ever had playing cover songs. Being such an avid songwriter I don't usually like playing covers, but there are some really great keyboard players at DevCon who carried the whole room on their shoulders with songs from the 60s-70s. Playing guitar and singing backup in those jams was incredibly fun. Big shout out to Albert Harum-Alvarez from SmallCo, he is truly the life of a party on keys and vocals. A brilliant player and performer.


Any chance that we'll see you at DevCon 2009?
I wouldn't rule it out, especially if I can get this re-write done for Indie Band Manager 6.


You've seen first hand the impact that technology has had on the music industry. How has technology impacted you personally?
I could go on and on here, but in a nutshell, technology has opened a ton of doors for me. To be sure, being able to record and distribute songs of such high quality for so little money has changed everything in the music industry. Supply and demand has been turned on its head. Since it's so easy to create and distribute music now, everyone is struggling to figure out if music has any value anymore. But I'll tell you something, the value that music has in my life and the way technology has multiplied my access to that value is immeasurable. Music is pure shared emotion... and the community I can be a part of now... sharing and creating music with thousands of people all over the world... as a guy living in a town of 5000 in the middle of nowhere Michigan... is just an indescribable blessing.


What technologies (hardware, software, Web services, etc) do you use?
Probably too many to list coherently. I have a Mac iBook, a Sony Vaio, a Boss BR-600 to record music, a Genz-Benz Shenandoah 150LT amplifier for performing, and I recently bought a Line6 JM4 Looper. I use Google, Twitter, Facebook, am a huge fan and supporter of FAWM (February Album Writing Month), and I rely heavily on my $30 espresso maker.


In addition to being a musician and developer, you also give seminars on songwriting, touring, and technology. In terms of technology, what challenges are independent musicians facing these days?
The biggest challenge independent musicians face with technology right now, in my opinion, is that it distracts them from focusing on their key objectives. There's an old marketing slogan from Ogilvy where he said "95% of my marketing budget is wasted, I just don't know which 95%," and I think that slogan has been skewered and/or replaced by technology and social media. Now it's more like "95% of my marketing TIME is wasted, I just don't know which 95%." As musicians spend more and more time marketing themselves for "free" on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and a hundred other social media sites, I think musicians are finding it harder and harder to carve out time to rehearse, write songs, perform. The real skill of choosing how to most effectively utilize your time vs. the availability of so many ways to market music for free over the internet, has become the biggest challenge that musicians face. Time is... more than ever... money.


Okay, switching gears a bit... You know from some of the emails that went back and forth between us that I'm a big fan of Jackson Browne. So I've been anxious to ask you: How did you end up meeting and performing with him? What was that experience like?
I met Jackson Browne at Steel Bridge Songfest in Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin in June 2006. It's an annual festival held on the 2nd weekend in June and I recommend that everyone go. Fabulous music, super warm people, well organized, completely volunteer, right in the heart of downtown Sturgeon Bay, and supports a great cause. In any case I was invited as one of 25 songwriters from all over the world to write songs about the Michigan Street Steel Draw Bridge in an attempt to help save it from demolition. It's the very last draw bridge of its kind in the entire world. It's a technological marvel really, built 75 years ago so the huge cargo ships could pass through the Sturgeon Bay canal to shorten the trip between Green Bay and Chicago, it can actually be opened by hand if necessary. In the age of computers, this is just an extraordinary piece of work.

In any case, while I was at the festival I co-wrote and recorded seven songs for the cause. "Steel Bridge Tender" was selected by Jackson and the other organizers to be included on a compilation CD they released (available on iTunes here: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=253231493&s=143441). The organizers also asked me to perform a song named "Palmer Johnson Yacht" on the main stage in front of 5000 people just a few minutes before Jackson performed. It was amazing. At the end of Jackson's set he asked me up to sing with him again. An incredible high, indescribable really. So fun and boisterous and silly and heartwarming and awesome.

After the show I asked Jackson if he would autograph my original lyric sheet for "Palmer Johnson Yacht" as a memento. I had handed it to him in this little vinyl bound sketchbook I'd been using to write songs in all week. I sort of expected him to just sign it as he was looking off to the next person... like a baseball player reaching for the next Sharpie to sign a hat or baseball, know what I mean? But it wasn't like that at all. He gave me this sort of sly smile, read the whole lyric end-to-end, stopped, and looked at me again with that warm sly grin. Then as he looked down to sign it he sort of whispered "Yeah..." under his breath... and then slowly handed it back to me. Above his autograph he'd written "Tell it."

A few months later at the urging of Jackson and Pat MacDonald I released a solo CD that included "Palmer Johnson Yacht" and two other songs I'd written at Steel Bridge. That CD is available on iTunes here: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=214009214&s=143441


What musicians have influenced you the most?
Pat MacDonald has been a huge influence for sure. He organizes Steel Bridge and took me out as the opener on one of his tours. I really like great songwriters. If you ever have the chance check out Fred J. Eaglesmith when he passes through, do so, he's an amazing songwriter. As for more famous people, I think Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones is probably the most under-appreciated lyricist ever, he's such an incredible craftsman. I also grew up hanging out with the family of Yip Harburg (the lyricist for the Wizard of Oz), so Yip's work has always been a big part of my life and is probably the main reason I wrote and produced a musical in Manhattan in 2001.


Your music seems to be very story-oriented, and I noticed that a bit in some of your blog posts. So I have a suspicion that your music has also been influenced very heavily by what you've read. What writers have influenced you the most?
Wow, insightful question! Cool. Yes, I've been an avid reader since a very young age. I actually read James Joyce's "Ulysses" aloud with a friend over a semester's time in the Rathskellar of the Memorial Union at UW-Madison during college (over many pitchers of beer, lol). I like the classics, and I enjoy a rollicking yarn. Dostoevsky actually wrote The Brothers Karamozov as a weekly newspaper serialized novel just to make ends meet, did you know that? One of the greatest novels of all time had to re-capture a newspaper audience's attention every week or Dostoevsky didn't eat. My list could be so long here, but let's just start with James Joyce, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Thomas Mann, Thomas Wolfe, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, William Kennedy, Grace Paley, Shel Silverstein, Yip Harburg, e.e. cummings, Haruki Murakami, Cormac McCarthy... and let your imagination stretch on to where it could go from there... :-)


In one of your blog posts -- the one about your move to Michigan -- you wrote: "There was throwing up involved, scrubbing tile on my knees, 1000 miles of driving, a trailer popping off the trailer hitch (several times), an angel, dogs in the front seat, the shearing off of a trailer hitch 10 miles from our destination, and much more." Sounds like a quotation from a Douglas Coupland novel! As a songwriter, do you typically write based on your own experiences? And how has technology (especially the ability to use things like Logic Express to record anywhere, anytime) influenced your songwriting?
Absolutely yes, I write from my own experiences, but like any absolute, absolutely not, lol. I love writing story songs, and the craft can be very specific, and by that I mean certain rules can be applied over and over. I've winnowed my specific lyrical focus down into this one sentence: "Songs about conflict and the choices people make during times of stress." This one definition has freed me up to write songs about third parties, in third person, to describe events that I may not have experienced first hand. But tying the emotions to the events is what makes a story song compelling for me in a lot of ways. When a person is confronted by an event (a wedding, a flood, losing a job, a divorce, losing a child, burning their toast) how they react to the event defines who they are as a person. That's what I like to write about. Now this may sound like my songs wind up being really heavy and dramatic, but I greatly enjoy the fact that stories in this format can be heartbreakingly sad and/or howlingly funny, or both. The age old saying... Comedy = Tragedy + Time.

As for technology and recording, yes, it's had a huge effect. I carry my digital audio workstation in my backpack with me almost as often as I carry my laptop. I've recorded songs in rest areas, on the beach, in the woods, in a grocery store parking lot, and just last month in an Amtrak train bathroom! It's a godsend really in helping me remember the rhythms and melodies that I used to forget as soon as I'd walk into a room where musak was piping in "I Just Called To Say I Love You" and I'm instantly humming along. I can usually remember the stories, but those melodies and rhythms can disappear just like *that* lol. Suddenly my story about a bride who lost her life in a flood while eating toast is set to a soothing Stevie Wonder melody.


Just wondering -- You don't happen to be a David Wilcox fan, do you?
I am indeed. In fact, his publicist uses Indie Band Manager. The music business is a very small world, eh?


If I stole your iPod (and I'm making a safe assumption that you've got one!) and looked at the "recently added" playlist, or the tracks that you've listened to the most, what would I find? (In other words, what is Charlie Cheney listening to these days?)
During the entire month of February I toured around the country hosting a live call-in radio show in support of the "February Album Writing Month 14 Songs in 28 Days Songwriting Challenge". Each February thousands of songwriters from all over the world sign-up at http://www.fawm.org and each one attempts to write 14 songs in 28 days. I've completed the FAWM.org challenge successfully three years in a row. This year over 7000 new songs were posted on the site. I highly recommend heading over to check it out for yourself, it's free and it's awesome.

In any case, I hosted 35 shows in a row and played 5-10 songs per show, depending on how many people called in for interviews and/or discussions about the challenge. So as of today... my iPod would be literally crammed with hundreds and even thousands of songs that were literally written and recorded within the last 30 days by people all over the world.

You can hear the archived shows at http://www.fawm.org/fawmers/charliesradioshow or you can subscribe to the entire podcast series for free on iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=288717765. You can also call in to chat with me live most nights at 10pm eastern time by tuning into http://www.blogtalkradio.com/charliecheney


It's still early in 2009... Do you have any big plans or goals for this new year?
I have some specific goals regarding media production. The call-in radio show was a big one and I'll continue hosting that show all year. I've also gotten re-certified in video production and plan to launch a live streaming video program in the near future, probably at http://www.ustream.tv/charliecheney. All of this media stuff is very symbiotic with my goals for Indie Band Manager. I plan to release a bold new version of Indie Band Manager this year and move into the FileMaker hosting arena as part of that business strategy. If anyone is still reading, I'm looking for partners.


Thanks, Charlie!

To learn more about Charlie, visit his Web site (http://www.charliecheney.com) and follow him over on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/charliecheney). And for information on Indie Band Manager, visit http://www.indiebandmanager.com/.

FileMaker Job Resources (Updated and Expanded)

Back in July of 2007 I posted a list of Web sites that were good sources FileMaker-related jobs. This has proven to be one of the most popular postings to FileMaker Addict.

A lot has changed since then -- including big changes in the economy. Unfortunately, a lot of developers are now looking for work. Whether you're actively seeking a new FileMaker-related job, or are just curious as to what opportunities are out there, this updated and expanded list of Web sites should prove to be helpful.


First, the FileMaker-specific Job sites...

filemakerjobboard.com
Did you know that FileMaker Inc. runs its own job board that companies looking for Filemaker developers post jobs to?
When I last checked it, over 30 jobs were listed. It is interesting to see who is looking for FileMaker developers, and where they are located. While most are in the US, some are from Canada, the UK, Australia, and Spain.

FileMaker.com
How cool would it be to work for FileMaker itself? They're hiring! And while the jobs typically aren't necessarily FileMaker developer positions, they sure are interesting. Take a look!

findfilemakerdevelopers.com
The team behind FMPug launched this job site late last year. It's got a slick interface, but not a lot of jobs posted to it yet. Keep an eye on this one!

fmpro.org
FMPro.org, the "ultimate site for FileMaker," lists interesting FileMaker jobs that are posted by forum members. You'll sometimes find opportunities listed here that you won't find anywhere else, so this one is definitely worth checking out.

filemakertoday.com
FileMaker Today is an online community for FileMaker. Check out their Job Postings section.


These sites are more general Job sites, but typically have quite a few FileMaker-related positions posted to them.

Dice.com
Dice.com has been around for years, and is one of the original "tech job" sites. And while most of the positions listed on Dice are hardcore programming jobs (think Java, C++, etc), they do list FileMaker-related opportunities from time to time. So this one is worth taking a look at as well.

Indeed.com
Indeed.com (like SimplyHired.com, listed below) is interesting in that it takes the opportunities posted on other job sites and combines them into a single list. So they most certainly live up to their "one search, all jobs" motto. What I like about this site (and SimplyHired as well) is how convenient they make things. Instead of looking at 10, 20, or more smaller job sites, you can look at one site and you're done. They typically list a lot of different types of FileMaker-related jobs, which makes Indeed.com that mush more appealing.

Monster.com
The king of job sites, Monster.com also lists FileMaker-related jobs. But for whatever reason, they don't seem to list very many FileMaker opportunities, and the ones that they do list aren't always "development" jobs per se. In any case, don't forget about Monster.com.

SimplyHired.com
As I mentioned above, SimplyHired is very much like Indeed.com. It's the same idea: search multiple job sites in one convenient location. And while there's a lot of overlap between the jobs listed on SimplyHired and Indeed.com, I do recommend checking both sites out. (You never know -- your dream job might be listed on one site but not the other.)

oDesk.com
Another very good source of FileMaker-related work -- including a lot of freelance opportunities.

Did we miss any sites that you would like to add to the list? Let us know!

FileMakerAddict Interviews... Hal Gumbert Owner CampSoftware

Our latest interview is with Hal Gumbert, the owner of CampSoftware, which provides Macintosh software and hardware consulting solutions for Central Florida businesses and home users. Hal has been developing with FileMaker since 1991. His experience with FileMaker, coupled with his strong commitment to the platform (he's certified in FileMaker 7, 8, and 9 and CampSoftware is a FileMaker Business Alliance member) give him an interesting perspective with regards to how far FileMaker has come - and perhaps more importantly, where it needs to go in the future. Read on to learn more about Hal, CampSoftware, the company's exciting new "FMSnippets" product, and more.


How did you get started in IT? And how did you get started with FileMaker?
Going way back to high school, my Grandparents bought me a Texas Instruments TI 99/4A. It was fun and I learned how to program using BASIC. A few years later, I purchased a Commodore 64 and a friend and I learned to program in assembly language, we actually created our own version of Gauntlet. I remember that the code ran so fast, that we had to insert loops to slow down the joystick movements. When I left for college we were required by Drexel University to purchase or have access to a Mac. I bought a Mac SE with no hard drive, but it did have two floppy drives, an external 1200 baud modem, and a very early version of FileMaker. As an Information Studies major, my studies focused on computers, people, and how they interact. Also, Drexel had a co-op plan where I learned how to program COBOL for an insurance company. That was great experience.

When I graduated from Drexel, I got a job supporting Macs for a destination management company. While there I developed a FileMaker database to calculate the minimum number of buses it would take to move tourists from many different hotels to prearranged events. The company loved it and after that I created several other mini solutions for them. Eventually I learned 4th Dimension and developed a database to help their travel agents sell theme park vouchers to tourists before they arrived in the USA, I even got to travel to London to install it.

After a few years, I left the tourism company and went to work for MacAcademy. There I primarily developed in 4D but also did a little FileMaker work. Eventually I decided to become a full-time consultant and MacAcademy became one of our first clients. In the early days as a consultant, I did probably 80% Mac consulting and about 20% software development in 4D, FileMaker and REALBasic. As our business evolved, we saw a real need for small business database development and started focusing in on the FileMaker part of our business. It is now about 70% of our business.


Tell us about your company, CampSoftware.
My middle name is Camp which is where our name comes from, although the name has generated some confusion over the years. We have received calls for everything from people thinking we are a camp that teaches programming to people who think we sell software to run camps. This year, we began developing for our first client who actually runs a camp! I am the principal developer and I primarily use FileMaker, although I still develop in REALbasic and 4th Dimension and some Mac consulting. My partner/wife, Ardith, handles scheduling, first level support and all the other operational of the business. Alex provides FileMaker development and Mac Support. Jeff provides FileMaker development.

I am certified in FileMaker 7, 8, and 9 and Alex is certified in FileMaker 9. We love FileMaker and assist our clients with anything they can think of. We help with custom development, migrations, and integrating our FMSmallBusiness database. We offer several products to the public and FileMaker community. Our most exciting product is FMSmallBusiness (FMSB). It's a FileMaker database designed to help most small businesses run their companies based around its CRM features. FMExtensionsInstaller is a tool to help FileMaker developers install extensions. FMSnippets is a library of FileMaker function snippets for TextExpander. It really speeds up FileMaker development time.

Over the years, in my spare time, I have developed several shareware programs. KeystrokeRecorder is a Mac application that records keystrokes and screenshots; it can optionally email that data as well. ZipCalc is a cross platform application to help people target postal mailings. We have a few more products, but those are our primary focus.

We also provide Mac support. It's where we started our business and some of our clients have been with us for more than ten years. Our Mac clients have a wide variety of needs based on their particular business type - we work with everything from small business and home users to professional offices (medical, legal, property management) to big advertising and graphic design departments/companies. For all our clients we strongly promote preventative maintenance and work with them to develop a comprehensive, redundant backup plan.


You recently released FMSnippets for TextExpander 1.1. Tell us about that.

We've been using TextExpander for a long time. It's a Mac utility that converts abbreviations to a chunk of text. It also can run AppleScripts when an abbreviation is typed. For instance, I have a when I type 'fmlet' it types the following and then it puts the cursor in front of 'var1'. I've asked the developers of TextExpander to add the ability to select text. I'd much rather prefer that 'var1' be the selection so I can easily change it.

Let ( [
var1 = expression1 ;
var2 = expression2
] ;
calculation
)

FMSnippets comes with over 250 snippets and we've tried to make the snippets easy to remember. We have two version of the 'if' function: 'fmifs' and 'fmifl' each are the if function, but formatted differently. We also have a long and short version of the substitute function. We updated FMSnippets recently to add several new items. The full list is available on the product page on our website. Stephen Dolenski, Joel Shapiro, and Michael Gaslowitz submitted practically all the changes. We're always looking for suggestions!


I had a chance to download and play with FMSmallBusiness, the CRM-like product (CRM on steroids might be a better description) that Camp Software has developed. One of the things that struck me was how incredibly nice the user interface is. The layouts are well organized, pleasing to the eye... Was that something you worked hard to achieve? Or does the design-related work just come naturally to you?
Thank you very much for noticing! Getting the interface clean and simple was very difficult. We went though many revisions before getting to where we are now. Alex has a design background (he's an interface genius) and came up with many of the design elements. He would try something and then show it to me. I would either say that's great, how about this, or that doesn't work. That went on for weeks. The design has been quite stable since then and is very easy to follow the design pattern. We're still trying to clean up the interface, in fact, we were just talking about a concept to remove several tabs from the modules without losing content.

We've done as much as possible to add functionality and keep the design clean. One example would be how we designed the interface to make it as easy as possible to remove or add modules. The navigation bar was based on a dynamically generated Webviewer using the MBS plugin. When you click the name of a module it's actually an html link that calls a javascript that then calls a FileMaker script. To add or remove modules throughout the entire database we only need to modify records in a table. The next version of FMSB will use a text field that uses the new OnObjectEnter script trigger feature of FileMaker 10 and a permissions trigger so we can be compatible with FileMaker 9.

We've recently started a developer/consultant program. If you have a client who could use FMSmallBusiness we can provide support to you so you can support your client. In addition, the source code is available along with opportunities for setup, support, and development. (http://www.campsoftware.com/developerprogram)


Can you tell us about some of the other projects that you are either currently working on, or that you've recently completed.
Our most exciting project was the MacAcademy / WindowsAcademy / Studio eWorks CDROM interface. It was written in REALbasic as a cross platform application to present training materials. While at the the FileMaker Devcon in 2008, we were talking to Geoff Coffey where he was demoing his FileMaker training CDs. It turns out that his CDs were produced using the app that I developed. Very cool!


You are a FileMaker 7 Certified Developer, a FileMaker 8 Certified Developer, and a FileMaker 9 Certified Developer. How important is the FileMaker certification to you, your business, and your career? And do you plan on taking the FileMaker 10 exam when it becomes available?
I think that certification is very important, but not to show that you know FileMaker. Certification shows that you are committed to FileMaker. That's why we like to tell folks that we are certified for version 7, 8, and 9 and have been using FileMaker for 15 years. It shows that we are committed to FileMaker and have been for some time. We get calls from clients who are still working with databases developed in FileMaker 6, 5 and even 3! Although we try not to do any programming in anything older then 8, we still understand how those databases worked and the difficulties those people might have in upgrading their databases.

As for the FileMaker 10 certification test, We will take it as soon as it becomes available.


CampSoftware is a member of the FileMaker Business Alliance (FBA), and has been for several years. How important is that to the success of your business?
It's probably just as important as certification. Being a member of the FBA gives us a closer relation with FileMaker Inc. It also has some great benefits like being listed on the FileMaker website, product discounts, and the FBA email list.


You work closely with the Apple Stores in the Orlando area. How has your association with the Apple Stores helped our business?
We love the Mac. Love it, love it, love it. The Apple Stores gives both existing and prospective Mac users a positive experience by demonstrating how flexible the Mac truly is. They are also great promoters for FileMaker since it is an Apple product and it has the flexibility and ease of use which all Apple software has to offer. We've built relationships with the Orlando stores as well as a few of the more distant stores like Jacksonville. We try to help the staff with any questions that customers have with converting from Windows or specifically with FileMaker. It's all about helping out and getting the word out about FileMaker.


You've been developing shareware and custom software since 1995, so you've seen first hand the changes in the industry. Do you think it is easier to develop applications today than it was back in 1995? If so, how so? And if not, why not?
It's much easier now since the tools have matured. Our first app, KeystrokeRecorder was written in C using CodeWarrior. It was a struggle for me. When Mac OS X came to market, we had to rewrite KeystrokeRecorder since Mac OS X required all programs to become applications. We were worried. Then we found out about REALbasic which is a rapid application development environment. Rather than having to write code in C, we were able to drag and drop objects and write code in BASIC to run when certain events fired. With our FileMaker experience it made the learning process very easy.

FileMaker still amazes me. It's the ONLY development environment that both a new user and an experience developer can use. That's not true for REALbasic and especially not true for 4th Dimension.

The next step of development has been creeping towards us is for web based and mobile apps. Instant web publishing works, but generally only for in house websites. Don't get me wrong, you can make it do amazing things with IWP. I think that the PHP Site Assistant and the work that FMWebSchool is doing is what we have to look forward to. I'm looking forward to the day I can write develop a solution and have it work on Mac, Windows, and the web with one set of source code.


What do you think of FileMaker's recent release of FileMaker Pro 10?
FileMaker 7 was a massive step forward for developers. It's the foundation for the additions in the past several versions. The changes in FileMaker 10 are huge too. Script triggers, dynamic reports, and the iPhone template for the PHP Site Assistant are fantastic additions. The funny thing is that we are actually having a problem in that we're trying to not use the new features in our current products until more people upgrade. Last week we gave up and are now using script triggers like crazy. The dynamic reporting will change the way we build layouts. For instance, we can now built invoice data entry from the the line item perspective. It's making us change how we think. Lastly, being able to build web based iPhone interfaces is very powerful. We built the iPhone interface for FMSmallBusiness by hand and it took a few days. Now it takes a few hours.


I think you'll agree that FileMaker Pro has come a long way over the years -- and some of the features and functionality that has been added in the past few releases are pretty amazing. Some (like script triggers) have been a long time coming... What do you think is missing at this point? And if you could have a single feature added in the next release, what would it be?
You're right, it has come very long way. It's funny that the more FileMaker adds, the more we see the possibilities of what could be. For instance:

• Field level custom privileges.


• Copy and pasting of Custom Functions, Value Lists, Table Occurrences, Relationships, etc.


• Script triggers on tables and fields.


• Being able to define and use constants or variables on the relationship graph.


• Being able to display variables on layouts.


• The next generation of Instant Web Publishing.


• Webviewer script triggers.


• Special Table Occurrences to access different types of data stores. For example: RSS, POP Email, IMAP Email, SOAP, XML, vCards, iCal/ics, local address books, etc. These should work just like ESS. Extension developers should be able to create these.

If I had to pick one, it would be Webviewer script triggers. It would be extremely useful to be able to run FileMaker scripts from the Webviewer as well as passing data from the Webviewer to FileMaker.


What would you like to see FileMaker Inc, as a company, do in the future?
Focus on the FileMaker developer. FileMaker 10 is a perfect example. Develop the tools and we need to support our clients and market the 'Find a Consultant' portion of the website. Promoting the independent developers goes right back to FileMaker as a whole. The development community are the best group of evangelists for FileMaker.


Are you involved in any of the FileMaker Pro User Groups. If so, how has being involved in the group benefited you?
I am a member of FMPug.com and our company is a member of FFD (FindFileMakerDevelopers.com). FMPug is like going to DevCon every month. In fact, last month Ernest Koe demoed the concept of using MVC in FileMaker development. It was a DevCon session quality demo. It's fantastic for getting together with other developers to learn new techniques and problem solving. Every year, I save more than my membership fee in product discounts and other resources that FMPug provides. FFD provides a great way to get more exposure. We have a web based profile where we can describe how we can help and let the world know that we are available to help!


You've attended several of the past FileMaker DevCons. What's your take on DevCon? Are there any specific experiences that you've had at DevCon that are particularly memorable?
I really like DevCon, getting everyone together is a great idea to help exchange ideas. I usually attend as many sessions as I can, even the mini sessions over the lunch break. Although, sometimes the best times are when we can just sit casually and talk to other developers. There is just so much information to digest that I now tell Ardith to not schedule me at all for a couple of days after a DevCon so that I can review and play with everything I've learned.


Any chance that we'll see you at DevCon 2009?
As of now, we won't be attending, but that may change. I'd like to go, but with the economy the way it is we're doing everything we can to reduce expenses. Our business is doing well, but we are planning for the worst.

This year is a big change for DevCon since it's not at a secluded resort. In the past I've always thought that's been a good thing since the attendees don't tend to leave the resort at lunch and in the evening and everyone spends their free time meeting and talking with one another. It will be interesting to see if that changes when you are at a city-based conference. Also, the price went up for both attendance and the rooms, so that's a negative. For the extra expense, I would have liked to see another day added to the conference.


What do you like best about your job?
I love working on something different almost every day. I love solving problems and implementing the solution. The fifteen second commute to my office is great especially since I get to see my wife and son all the time. We also have the BEST clients to work with who work in all kinds of different industries and I've really enjoyed learning about their unique businesses.


What do you like least about your job?
Probably the uncertainty of consulting. We've always been prosperous, but the third quarter of last year was quiet and some of our clients are holding off on making big changes until things settle down a little with the economy. While I love having the quiet time (it was when we got a chance to really work on FMSB) it can get a little scary too. And working in my home office sometimes the walls close in on me a little bit. Working with Ardith, Alex, and Jeff makes that easier. Twitter has helped to make connections to the outside world. By the way, we are: target="_new">http://twitter.com/campsoftware


What are your favorite things to do that don't involve work?
While it is work related, I like to travel. We have clients near and far and I've been lucky to travel around the USA. Internationally, I've been to London and two cities in China for work. As for strictly non work related activities, I love doing things with my wife and son. We go camping quite often in our popup trailer. We've learned that sleeping in a tent is a bit too rustic and that the popup lets us enjoy the outdoors while having the essentials. I enjoy working on home improvement projects and like to teach my son how to use tools. We just built his pinewood derby and a very nice fort/swingset for the backyard. Those of you on twitter have read about that project! Before Ethan was born, we went SCUBA diving quite often. We haven't gone since he was born, but I think we will go again when he can get certified.


Got any big plans or goals for 2009?
We're focused on getting the word out about FMSmallBusiness, but we have a three specific products in progress to release this year. We're also looking into Servoy which is another database development environment. We have a lot to learn, but we may release one of the products based on Servoy.


Thanks, Hal.

To learn more about Hal's company, CampSoftware, please visit: http://campsoftware.com/