Blogs

Intelligent Design

  • F1 Strategy: the next few years (Dynamic Church '08 presentation)

    It's a bit long, but here is the presentation I gave at DC08 re: our strategy for Fellowship One.  It includes:

    • Development strategy
    • How we choose the projects we work on
    • Our active roadmap
    • How you can help us both define projects and shape the future

    Check it out here -> F1 Strategy: the next few years

  • DC08 RESTful rewind

    A few of you guys wanted the video from the conference on the RESTful API.  We decided to go back and condense the presentation to give you a more tangible look @ the new API.

    Look for more videos in the upcoming weeks to address questions and thoughts that have been coming our way. Thx guys for the awesome feedback - you guys rock!

    Download here

    - F1Dev 

  • Parent's of... Children of...

    Hit the IDEAS tab and sort by praise points... #4 on the list is the request to send an email to the parents of participants.  Awesome!  Great idea!  Of course you may also want to send an email to all parents of kids who qualify for VBS; or, for that matter, create a group, export data, create assignments, etc.

    Good news!  As you know, we are aggressively attacking the ideas list (31 of the top 100 will be closed by the end of Summer) and very soon we will be able to deliver on #4.  Check out my latest video on the UPDATES tab and let me know if we need to change anything.  Thanks. 

  • I have yet to see anyone who doesn't stare at this in awe during a demo

    F1 Analytics... reporting on steroids.  I have yet to see anyone who doesn't stare at this in awe during a demo; frequently following that dazed look is a frantic "how do we get our hands on this ASAP!" We have been working on our data warehouse for quite a while now and suddenly the light can be seen at the end of this tunnel.  The video posted highlights many features, certainly not exhaustive, of the latest addition to our reporting toolset we have titled "F1 Analytics".

    While I feature Rick Chatham in the video (he has been the guy running this show), I don't want to leave out some well deserved props for Geoff Whitney and Brian Vinson as both have played key roles in making the dream take root; I'm not even sure how to share the deep value and help they have brought.

    -> Go To Post in Updates <- (must be signed in)

  • Update: Get the latest sneak peek into Report Builder

    The report builder project is going moving forward quickly now.  We have one church previewing it and will begin expanding that out over the next couple months to ensure a smooth launch.  I've dropped a video under the UPDATES tab, check it out here -> Sneak Peek Video (must be signed in)

  • Check out a secret development project...

    Finally, another behind the scenes look at what we are developing!  Check out my latest video that gives you a tour of a project you have probably never heard of, but will give you the ability take report results and:

    • create a new group OR add to an existing one
    • send those people an email
    • export the files
    • (future) make mass changes to the data such as status change, add assignments, contacts, attributes, etc.

    I am not always successful at this, but I do try to keep my videos short and to the point; this one is only 2 minutes 12 seconds... success!!  Check it out by following the video under the UPDATES tab: Click here to find the video (must be signed in)

  • Q2 Road Map

    All right, this is the last road map for a while... I know you guys would prefer to see the behind the scenes software development.  Check out our Q2 road map over on the UPDATES tab-> Q2 Road Map (must be signed in)

  • What new features will you see at the conference?

    Get a look at our conference deliverables road map.  The list includes:

    • Feedback from our January release
    • Check-in 2.5
    • Reporting solutions
    • Mass Action
    • List of People
    • Top Ideas 

    Check out the video posted under the updates tab: Updates Post (you must be signed in)

  • Hang with the Developers of Fellowship Technologies @ DC08

    The Development team here @ Fellowship Technologies wants to meet you @ Dynamic Church 08.  We want get to know the men and women behind the screens.  We've planned a few things so that we can connect with you and talk shop as well as get together for some fun time - why waste time sleeping. 

    Developers and non developers are welcome. Here's the schedule:

    Thursday 15th

    200pm – Presentation(Rockhill) – Network Infrastructure (drez)

     

    500pm – Presentation(Frisco 3) – Moving to REST (nfloyd)

    -          RESTing DEV

    o   Handout public keys and private secrets to all devs attending so that you can test drive the new API.

     

    500pm – Presentation(Rockhill) – Leverage DataExchange(csimmons)

     

    630-800pm - Group dinner – Dinner with dev - look for the tables marked "DEV" (probably in the back, away from the "normal" people)

     

    900pm - Movie with Dev – just another opportunity to interact with other devs in an environment that we are comfortable where we don’t have to talk shop if we don’t want to. 

     

    Friday 16th

    1100am – Presentation(Rockhill) – Inside FT (drez)

     

    1200-100pm – Birds of a feather lunch (We will be sitting @ the tables marked IT)

     

    100pm – Presentation(Frisco 5) - Content Management (thardy)

     

    230pm – Presentation(Rockhill) – Customizing Weblink(tcoulson)

     

    730-930pm Concert

     

    1000pmGaming with Dev – Go up against and talk trash to the Fellowship Technologies Devs in TF2.  You don't want to miss this...

     

    Saturday 17th

    1000-1200pm - Ask the experts (Frisco 5)

    1.       API 3 person panel discussion and questions with laptops open showing the code for the new RESTful API

    2.       Developers – Interact with the team responsible for building Fellowship One

    Contact me with questions and let us know if we're going to see ya.

    --Nick (nfloyd@fellowshiptech.com)

     

  • I AM DEV

    I'm the guy who moves stuff around in your favorite application, for what seems like no apparent reason.

    My drink of choice is caffeine. 

    My shoe of choice is flip-flop.

    My store of choice is Starbucks, which I walk drive to wearing my flip-flops, to get caffeine

    My wife, since I am fortunate to have one, calls me her "big, strong, nerd" - never mind the catastrophic oxymoron that the phrase produces; I would prefer a better wife handle though, something like zerocool or n00bpwner

    Yes, I married up; no, I did not use my geek super powers to do so…

    I take things apart on purpose knowing that there is no way I will be able to put them back together.

    I cringe when people use CPU or HARDDRIVE as synonyms for COMPUTER

    I have more than 2 browsers installed on my CPU.

    I used to think business people "ph33r’d" my elite hacking skills, but I found out they just think I am weird and that's really why they avoid me.

    When given the option I would take a bean bag over a chair any day

    The first rule about being a Developer is that you don’t talk about being a developer

    When asked to clean the house I have to create a list and organize it so that the tasks get accomplished in the most efficient way - the list takes about 1-2hrs to prepare assuming no bugs and no interruptions (note to self: write program to generate list).

    If it is worth doing it is worth overdoing.

    My children still want to be like me when they grow up.

    I am a keyboard cowboy - but I have no idea how to actually type.

    I speak in crypto-nerd tongue to get out of meetings (works much like a Jedi mind trick only not as cool).

    Crypto-nerd tongue gets turned off if I know there is a chance in the meeting that technical terms will be butchered (like using CPU for COMPUTER – high developer entertainment value) or there will be coffee.

    I run out of my allotted number of words per day faster because I use Acronyms.

    When faced with a challenge, I reassign the work item.

    The second rule about being a Developer is that you don’t talk about being a developer.

    Script is not something you read, and when you talk about Java, as a safety measure, you should specify upfront if you're talking about the tasty beverage or code.

    People think I show up to work early, not true; I just leave late.

    Despite what most might think I do not just copy and paste code... I change the comments too.

    And, yes business users, "All Your Base Are Belong To Us"

    I am dev…

  • The church with the most impact on our road map and design is... (envelope please)

    (I am purposefully posting enough preamble that you have to click into the blog to get the answer)
    The best place to influence our road map priorities and design is hands down the IDEAS tab in the experience site.  Looking at statistics including number of ideas and comments posted, seeing the constructive comments with good details that include why they want something, and diligently praising the ideas that make the most sense for their church... the winner is Bayside Church in California (specifically Dan Lott).

    Watch my latest video under the UPDATES tab that includes a short interview with Dan -> Interview with Dan (must be signed in)

  • Meet us at SXSWi

    March 8 - 11 Scott Lowrie (Product Mgmt), Curtis Harris (Product Mgmt), Tim Hardy (Dev), and I (Matt Vasquez, Dev) will be attending SXSW Interactive. If you are going or live in Austin and want to meet up, leave a comment below or email me mvasquez at fellowshiptech.com. Lunch is on us!
  • RLC 1.5 - better than 1.4!

    Actually it's a whole lot better; not quite 2.0 standards since it doesn't have the fancy new design, but hey, sometimes we just need to get the features in.  With the new version of check-in (see my post: Sneak Peak @ Check-in 2.5) we took the opportunity to add a few changes to how RLC's (room/location/class) behave, some of the improvements are:

    • Age range - now you can support the classroom for the 3-6 month old
    • Clarity - we improved verbiage and field placement, in addition we present the parents to both physical rooms and activity groupings
    • Overrides - the override settings for printing (or not printing) by RLC are now easier to use

    Check it out under the UPDATES tab here -> RLC 1.5 post (you must be signed in)

  • Mass Action preview (wanna change status for 1000 people at once?)

    Ever wish you could quickly change the status of a group of people?  Add a contact record?  Create an assignment?  Add an attribute?  Of course the only reason I ask a question with such an obvious answer is because I want you to watch my latest video...

    To view the video you need to access the UPDATES tab -> Mass Action
  • Sneak Peek @ Check-in 2.5

    Our newest version of check-in includes pictures, more secure tags, faster check-in, self check-in, themes, USB support, automated tag cutting, and more.  In my latest video, I review the "assisted" side of this upcoming release.

    Get access to the video under the UPDATE tab -> Check-in 2.5 (Assisted)

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