I arrived in Austin excited to see some familiar faces and show off all the cool stuff we’ve been working on at Proof+Geist. I left Claris Engage feeling grateful for the people, the conversations, and the chance to be part of something that keeps evolving.
Winning as a team
Claris recognized Proof+Geist with an Excellence Award for Innovation for OttoFMS. It started as a tool we built to solve real-world developer challenges. To see OttoFMS celebrated as a meaningful contribution to the platform is really energizing.
Proof+Geist continues to redefine what’s possible with FileMaker Server thanks to OttoFMS, a game-changing migration assistant for FileMaker developers. With seamless integration, powerful automation, and a sleek, customizable interface, OttoFMS is setting new standards in performance and usability.
You can check out the award winners here.
For me, “winning as a team” wasn’t just about the award. Our team delivered thoughtful sessions on both conference days and Training Day. It was the hallway conversations, the partner meetups, and the late-night team dinners. It was knowing that while some of us were in Austin, the rest of the team back home kept everything running smoothly.
Spending time at the Proof+Geist booth
We had a blast connecting with so many of you at our booth. This is the second year we have made trading cards for attendees. Last year, attendees picked their superpowers to customize their cards. This year, they picked their problem solver packing list. No shock that coffee was a popular one. Whether you were collecting them, swapping them, or just geeking out over the inventory items on the back, it gave us one more reason to laugh and talk. (We even had a few special ones made for some young, future FileMaker developers.)
Dave Ramsey and Corn Walker led demos of FMPerception, FMComparison, OttoFMS, and the Ottomatic Cloud Console. I loved hearing the impact these tools have had on so many, and I hope attendees have a slew of new tools and open source code to incorporate into their development workflows and FileMaker solutions.
Sharing space
There’s real energy in sharing space with people who care about the same things you do, who get excited about the details, the process, and the outcomes. Ideas move faster. Conversations go deeper. And sometimes, there’s just joy in sitting next to someone and solving a puzzle together.
I spent most of my time at the booth and really enjoyed meeting new people and getting to see others I’ve known for a long time. We were able to spend time with peers, partners, clients, and friends.
One of my highlights was co-leading a Training Day session with Sara Severson. We spent the day with a room full of curious developers, digging into practical patterns and principles for building modern FileMaker apps. I loved finding out that some folks started using FileMaker 20 years ago, while others only weeks ago.
More than anything, Engage reminded me how much it matters to be together.
To everyone who stopped by our booth, attended a session, or meandered with me in the hallway—thank you. You made this year’s Engage unforgettable. Until next time!