Calling all freelancers and entrepreneurs!
Posted on | September 8, 2008 | Comments Off
Ps: This is not Flying Solo’s logo, just my approximation of it, lets see if they like it.
If you are a freelancer or are solo in your own business, you must have questions that your friends with desk jobs can’t answer. Thankfully you are not alone, there are lots of us out there and Flying Solo is bringing us together to ‘meet, share experiences and tips, ask questions, get answers and generally improve business smarts.‘ This all takes place by means of an unconference (an informal conference where the people going decide what they want to hear about, talk about, all speakers offering their wisdom free of charge.)
When is this happening?
Gauteng September 20, 2008. Details here.
What can I expect (What will I get out of it?)
I was lucky enough to attend the Cape Town event just over a month ago. We all got together at The Wild Fig in an inspiring, uplifting and friendly atmosphere. As it was a networking event as well as an informative one. I found people very approachable and ready to dispense knowledge.
The day kicked off with registration, accountants, tax and other scary stuff which left many of us reeling and reaching for an accountants phone number, but was helpful nonetheless. Another speaker that stood out was Jo Duxbury of Freelance Central, who delivered an insightful talk on, ‘What suits can teach creatives.’ She can also help us with marketing on a shoestring, where to promote yourself and excelling at client service. Pam Sykes also helps out with wisdom on this one as well as forms the group of organisers along with Jo Duxbury and Walter Pike.
All three are extremely knowledgeable and experienced …
Other things to look out for that will be dealt with in Gauteng as well are: finding and working with international clients; avoiding loneliness and how to use web 2.0 to your business’ advantage (The web 2.0 talk delivered by Jamaaludeen Khan.)
Contracts are covered as well as, editors no longer have the power, they just think they do, which will be delivered by Nick van der Leek in Johannesburg. There are so many great topics to mention but only so much attention to go around so I hope I can stretch it with this last one: recent cutbacks on hiring freelancers – how to find work.
There are a great many other things discussed and an open forum for questions, learn more about it here.
Besides the great discussions which can’t all be mentioned here, were fabulous sponsors and giveaways, like Max Kaizen who facilitated the event compliments of Huddlemind, 210 On Long gave away three vouchers for 5 hours use of their fabulous creative suites, Deirdre Hewitson gave away vouchers for a photo shoot to up your personal branding, there were also e-marketing books given away and much much more.
The good news is that you haven’t completely missed out because Joburg looks like it is going to be bigger and better. What I cannot wait for is the headline sponsor, Adobe who will be
sending two great speakers to talk to us: Alistair de Wet will discuss how to leverage intellectual property to forge better partnerships and Mohammed Jogie will be talking about the state of design in South Africa, and globally. Jogie is a high-profile speaker at conferences around the world as well as a Board Director of Think (the SA Design Council) and Adobe’s Design Evangelist for the Middle East and Africa. He has also previously started his own design company. from here.
If you absolutely can’t come but would like to meet some of the brave, driven individuals involved in Flying Solo, Walter Pike has created a social network for soloists here.
Attending Flying Solo in Cape Town I learned so many new concepts and went away with so many tools that my mind felt quite literally blown. Please join us, I’de love to meet you.