Here at The Support Group, we practice what we preach. Our team of highly skilled developers have built and enhanced countless FileMaker applications for our clients, but what happens if a need arises for one of our own? Read on to learn how Nancy, a Systems Engineer here at TSG, leveraged the FileMaker technology we use every single day to build a database of her own.
Nancy has been with TSG for 14 years and using FileMaker even longer. She’s also an incredible mom to three beautiful children. Her daughter, Liana, recently turned 16, so naturally Nancy threw her a Sweet 16 party to celebrate. As the planning started, Nancy realized she would greatly benefit from having a central location to track all of the party details, so she knew what she had to do.
The first module in Nancy's FileMaker database was created to keep track of all of the party vendors. This was initially used to store all of the venues, photographers, DJs, florists, etc. that Nancy reached out to for quotes. Her application provided an overview of all of the vendors, the service(s) they provided, and Nancy was able to easily compare the various options and prices she was quoted.
Once the vendors were selected, Nancy stored the PDF contracts in the container storage within the respective vendor records and itemized the services that each one provided. Below is a screenshot of the record within Nancy’s FileMaker application for the party venue where Liana’s Sweet 16 was held.
Nancy then created a layout to manage all of the party expenses. This was helpful for two reasons:
First, she was able to easily keep track of her budget. Below is the DJ record and you can see that this particular vendor also offered a photo booth, specialized lighting, and fog for Liana’s entrance. Nancy strategically added the “approved” check box to keep track of which expenses they had committed to while keeping all of their options listed, enabling her to add on additional party enhancements if there was room in the budget.
The second benefit to this portion of Nancy’s FileMaker database was the tracking of payment history. Below is the record for the venue and you will see that it includes:
- Payments made to the vendor
- The amount that each parent paid to this particular vendor
- A running total showing the real-time spend along with the amount each parent contributed to the party
The other module that Nancy built in her FileMaker solution was the guest list. The database contains the full list of every individual that was invited along with all of the details for each guest (such as mailing address). Nancy utilized the mail merge feature and seamlessly printed mailing labels to send out invitations. This also made it quite easy to track RSVPs and maintain a running number of attendees.
Nancy and Liana looked beautiful celebrating Liana’s milestone birthday and Nancy was able to enjoy the night because she stayed organized throughout the entire planning process. The FileMaker application she built was a simple one, albeit powerful. Having this database kept all of Liana’s party details in one place and easily accessible, leading to a much less stressful experience planning this once-in-a-lifetime celebration.
Nancy’s database is one unique example of how FileMaker can be tailored to your specific needs and we love hearing that even our own developers lean on this technology to help make their lives easier! If you’re interested in learning more about a custom FileMaker application, please contact us.
