Surefoot founder, Jim Medema, has conducted FileMaker training classes, coaching, and mentoring students on all things FileMaker for nearly 25 years, from coast to coast, and at the annual FileMaker Developer Conference.

While online videos abound, many people find an in-person classroom experience to provide much better learning results, especially for beginner and intermediate developers. We watch them ourselves (yes!) for reference and continuing education. But there’s something that happens in a hands-on, in-person training session that cannot be matched in video training or reading through PDF downloads.

Here are common refrains from Surefoot training students:

• The simple act of getting off-site and away from the phones, emails, meetings and other distractions was the biggest factor for me. I just couldn’t make progress when I was at work – too many interruptions. When I’m here, I can focus!
• The videos are great, but I can’t stop them and ask the instructor to address my question, or ask them how it applies to my situation. The opportunity to interact with an expert instructor throughout the day helped me the most.
• I’ve found the videos helpful if I had specific topic area questions. Then again, finding a video to that addressed my specific situation was often impossible to find.
• To get the benefit of what I learned in 3 days of in-person instruction, I would have had to sit through 3-times as many hours of online videos. I just don’t have that kind of time.
• I’m still pretty new to development and the information online was too scattered. Having a single, coherent 0-to-60 kind of hands-on training was exactly what I needed.
• It was odd how much I learned when other students were asking questions about their systems and situations. It provided perspectives that I could never have gained if the only thing I had seen was example files and my own database. Truly, my world opened up about what databases can do and where and how they can be used!

And while some consultants say that they offer training, most don’t offer classes or have anyone on staff who was trained as a teacher, has written curriculum, or has the years of teaching, coaching and mentoring that Jim has.

Interesting Fact: Jim Medema was the original developer behind the most-used example file in the original FileMaker Training Series called “Bonsai Gardens.” It is the single most-studied database file in FileMaker history and has been taught to tens of thousands of people worldwide.

Read the information below, or call (612-743-9527) to learn more about our FileMaker Training offerings and find out which one is best for you!

 surefoot founder teaching at devcon

2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and again in 2019!

Permit me to answer the question you haven’t asked: “Is this guy a good teacher and is he qualified? What credentials does he have?”

Surefoot founder, Jim Medema, Surefoot founder, Jim Medema, has been teaching since 1990 and conducting FileMaker Training classes for over 25 years. During this time he has impacted 1000’s of students from nearly as many organizations. He is one of about 25 people in the world who have earned every Developer Certification and every Authorized Trainer Certification. Jim has been a speaker and teacher at the last FIVE Developer Conventions and will again be teaching again at the 2018 Filemaker Developer Conference in Dallas, TX, alongside epic heros in the FileMaker community Cris Ippolite, Matt Petrowsky, Bob Bowers, Matt O’Dell and Jeremy Brown.

Regarding his work at the Filemaker Developer Conference, in 2016 and 2017 Jim taught the full-day Beginning FileMaker class. The year before (2015) he taught the Intermediate FileMaker class and in 2014, he presented 2 different breakout sessions. Jim’s first session “Essential Data Modeling: Avoiding the Nightmare and Getting it Right” was extremely well-received and hilariously retitled by a non-technical friend “Essentially Dating a Model and Getting it Right”! His second session was titled “”0-60: Starting and Growing Your Business as an Independent Consultant” has been referenced by several subsequent DevCon speakers as a great resource for developers who want to become entreprenuers.

what sets Surefoot training apart

All trainers cover key concepts, like Surefoot. Where Surefoot stands apart is in how we guide an ongoing conversation in every class about best practices – the tasks, techniques and habits that set apart the exceptional from the average. In the same way that knowing how to use a hammer and saw won’t make you a master carpenter, knowing what a FileMaker feature does won’t make you a star developer.

Learning a trick with slider panels is nice and, of course, we want to teach you how to implement a slider panel. But we also want you to learn why and teach you how to evaluate whether it’s a better option than tab panels or a card window for your specific use case. By learning to think like a developer, the tips and tricks will fall nicely in line.

And for those who want more than just curriculum-based training, our 4-day “Outfitter Package” offers a student-focused day when we focus on designing and building your solution in a workshop style format. Students who take this course have something to show the boss when they get back to work on the following Monday!

Finally, for those who really want to make the most of their training, Surefoot offers an as-needed coaching program that is customized to your needs, your timeline, and your budget. We’re here to help, whatever that looks like for you and your organization!

Read more about it below!

SELECTING A COURSE

1. Review the Training Formats to see what format  best meet your needs
2. Review the Course Descriptions to find the course that best matches your objectives
3. Review the Course Calendar to select the dates that match your schedule
4. Review the Training FAQ at the bottom of the page
5. Call Surefoot with questions or to discuss mentoring or custom training
6. Register!

TRAINING FORMATS

Training FAQ