FRANÇOIS CONNAN
Posthumous Tribute
fmCat 2024 edition, wants to pay tribute to François Connan, a key figure in the history of FileMaker in Spain. Connan was not only the pioneer who introduced FileMaker to our country, but he also left a significant human legacy in those who had the privilege of working alongside him, who then forged their own professional careers in various ways.
François Connan, a French entrepreneur, was one of the founding partners of the company P-ingénierie in Paris in the 1980s, dedicated to the commercial representation of software companies such as Aldus, Macromedia, Wacom, Claris, as well as peripheral hardware like Radius, Wacom, and other products for desktop publishing, graphic design, and the publishing world. Another founding partner of this company was Dominique Goupil, who years later would become president of FileMaker for more than 20 years (1997 - 2019).
In the early 90s, P-ingénierie opened a branch in Madrid, which François took charge of.
Some time later, this company ceased its activity, and François moved to Barcelona, where he created the company Sales & Marketing Partners Spain (SMPS), with an office on Via Augusta, dedicated to the commercial and marketing representation of Macromedia products, mainly. Shortly after (1993), SMPS obtained the representation of Claris in Spain. At that time, the Southern Europe region was managed by Fulvio Ardemagni and Roberto Mosca, two of François’ best friends. In that decade, Claris had an astonishingly extensive range of products such as Works, Works for Kids, Emailer, OfficeMail, Impact, CAD (yes, Claris also launched a 2D CAD application!), Organizer, Home-page… and the star of the brand, FileMaker, with the Pro, Developer Edition (initially SDK), and Server versions. Most of these products, except FileMaker, were the precursors to today’s native Apple applications (Mail, Calendar, KeyNote, Apple Works, etc.).
François had an amazing determination to promote Claris FileMaker, his “favorite tool,” as he called it “because it makes me feel smarter.” In this endeavor, he made great efforts to hold presentations and demonstrations, initially in all the Apple Centers in Spain, where all his potential (Mac) clients were. In Barcelona, he maintained a close relationship with the company Microgestió.
In the early 90s, François Connan met Francesc Sans (Network BCN Software, 1984) at a FileMaker presentation at the Apple Centre Microgestió, which Francesc fondly remembers as “in the presentation he made, it was just him and me, there were no other attendees. In the end, we reversed the presentation, and I gave him some demos of my work with FileMaker.”
A few years later, Connan, along with Nicolau Rabasseda and Francesc Sans, created the company Plug-into, with the aim of providing technical support for FileMaker in Spain, equipping it with training classrooms where they taught FileMaker and Macromedia courses.
Meanwhile, in 1998, Claris became FileMaker until 2019, the year in which the name was reverted. During this period, until 2006, François continued managing SMPS for the Spanish market, with the collaboration of FileMaker Italy through manager Roberto Mosca, who directed SMPI (Sales and Marketing Partners ITALY), who in turn were in charge of the Spain and Portugal region, as the Spanish market was very small at that time.
François continued to work hard in the marketing and distribution of FileMaker, as well as collaborating with Macromedia part-time.
At the end of 2004, François Connan hired Elena Lázaro as an assistant and product manager, and shortly after (2005), Adobe bought Macromedia, causing the end of the representation that SMPS held over this brand. The SMPS staff was annexed to Adobe Systems Ibérica. From then on, SMPS would only manage Claris/FileMaker products.
In 2005, François was diagnosed with cancer.
During the last year of his life, François fought to learn and promote the FileMaker and Adobe brands mainly, he was very concerned about ensuring the continuity of all the people who were collaborating with him. He never stopped being in the office and even attending training as a FileMaker developer, despite his illness.
François passed away on August 2, 2006.
That same year, Sans organized the first Spanish Conference of FileMaker Developers (FMCONF.ES) in Barcelona, in whose planning they had already worked with Connan in previous years, although unfortunately, he could no longer participate. The conference was a great success and was repeated in 2007, but they could not be perfect due to the absence of François. “We held those two conferences because François was very excited about what it represented, and his memory deserved it,” says Sans, “although in 2007 we felt so helpless without François that we decided not to organize anything else. His help and support are irreplaceable.”
After Connan’s death, Nicolau, along with Elisenda, continued his work linked to FileMaker through their company SetFile S.L., inheriting the platinum achieved in Plug-into previously. Elena took over the representation and distribution of FileMaker licenses in Spain, creating her company Market.In 2008, SL. Francesc Sans continued to dedicate himself to creating software with FileMaker and other tools, being one of the best developers in Spain.
François Connan used to say:
“With FileMaker I feel smarter”
“I am not a bank”
“The head is not just for holding hair”
“A YES is income, a NOT is profit”
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