Archive for June, 2009

The Freelance Camp Logo

// June 29th, 2009 // Comments // Run Your Own Camp

Looking for a copy of the Freelance Camp Logo? You came to the right place.

Vector EPS 248k

Photoshop PSD 280k

Gif Image (Santa Cruz Event) 24k

Santa Cruz 2009 Venue at the New Rittenhouse Building

// June 19th, 2009 // Comments // Santa Cruz 2009

The event is really coming together!

We now have a venue, which is the newest building on pacific ave right in the middle of down town Santa Cruz! In fact, the building is so new it is completely empty, so we got Palace Office Supply & Office Interiors as a sponsor to set up a series of 5 meeting spaces / lounges. Top floor awesome view, big balconies, 10,000+ square feet of prime space surrounded by some killer restaurants and right up the street from the beach.

We also are now working with Klean Kanteen to get custom stainless steel water bottles for the event. This is going to be the sickest schwag ever. I must see one in the hand of every 10th person walking down the street and they retail for close to $25. You get one along with your ticket! And I am talking the 27oz bottles, not those tinny ones.

Not in the area? Don’t worry! We have a freelance camp coming to Reno soon (date still to be decided). Still out of luck? Start your own. We have already had five freelance camps in 2009 and every freelancer who has put one on sent me personal notes telling stories of how much this has caused a serious boost to their careers and the local economy.

Fire marshal has us capped at 300 people, so that nails down the ticket count. Last year, after my email blast (which we will be sending out around June 18th or so) we sold out in 3 days. As of June 19th we are already down to 221 tickets just based upon word of mouth. So if you want to come, sign up fast.

Who should come? If you sell your services (or are considering it), you are a perfect fit: developer, designer, accountant, blogger, journalist, realtor, lawyer, carpenter, engineer, financial adviser, marketer, sales, musician, artist, inventor… Historically, the bulk of attendees are from hi-tech. We encourage all types of owners to come to provide a balanced perspective to business.

  • Get experience based answers to your questions.
  • Network and meet people running successful freelance businesses.
  • Form partnerships and collaborate.
  • Find clients.
  • Help others and be a person of influence.

The “Camp” in FreelanceCamp implies that the event is informal with an emphasis on face-to-face interaction with other attendees. “Community-driven” means that the attendees of the conference actually run the conference by discussing topics appropriate to the subject of the event. The presentation schedule is determined on the morning of the conference and anyone is welcome to present.

Our sponsors include:

Baskin & Grant
City of Santa Cruz
Cruzio
Elance
Happy Santa Cruz
Hope Foundry
Nextspace Coworking and Innovation
Palace Office Supply & Office Interiors
Parachute Creative
Rittenhouse
Santa Cruz New Tech MeetUp
Shane & Peter Inc
Small Business Development Center
Studio Holladay
Sugar Crm

Santa Cruz 09 Sponsor: Santa Cruz New Tech MeetUp

// June 15th, 2009 // Comments // Santa Cruz 2009

The Santa Cruz New Tech MeetUp – spearheaded by tech-enthusiast Doug Erickson, stems from the idea of harnessing the true potential, knowledge and skills of Santa Cruz tech professionals who either work or have had extensive industry experience in Silicon Valley. The SCNT MeetUp strives to create this community of technologists in order to expand strategic community thinking regarding quality of life and prosperity of the city of Santa Cruz. Through persistence and dedication, what started out as a meeting of just 39 attendees at the police department’s community room, is now a vibrant association of 720 members.

It is with great pleasure that we would like to announce the Santa Cruz New Tech MeetUp as one of our most generous and proud sponsors.

Want to get involved? Join us for one hour on the first Wednesday of every month.

Santa Cruz 09 Sponsor: Palace Office Supply & Office Interiors

// June 15th, 2009 // Comments // Santa Cruz 2009

Palace started in Monterey in the 1890’s, expanded to Santa Cruz in the ’40s and was purchased by the Trowbridge family in 1949. Palace has grown exponentially acquiring 9 other independent office supply companies throughout the Central Coast.

Today, we are the largest independent dealer of art and office supplies, and office furniture in Santa Cruz and Monterey. We clearly understand that we are the Local Alternative to the Mega Companies and we know that we must try harder, be more creative, add value, offer equal to/or better pricing and out service our competition everyday to continue to earn the privilege of being in business. We have built this family owned company and our reputation on doing exactly as we have promised: giving world-class service locally and truly saving our customers money everyday on both office supplies and office furniture.

Need Furniture or Supplies? Visit Palace Office Supply & Office Interiors

Laid Off Camp Miami Roundup #locmia

// June 13th, 2009 // Comments // Miami 2009

There is a great roundup of Freelance Camp Miami, including slides and videos of sessions on “Holy Crap My Hair is On Fire”. Sessions Edwin went to included :

* Working in Your Pajamas? How to Make Living as a Freelance Writer
* Sexing Up Your Small Business Image
* Do what you love (or your work life will totally suck)
* Best Practices for Using Social Media for PR.

This event was run in collaboration with the laid off camp series.

Organizer’s Freelance Camp Checklist

// June 13th, 2009 // Comments // Run Your Own Camp

The following provides a how to manual for putting on a freelance camp. This checklist is an accumulation of all the questions we had to ask and hurdles faced over the last year and a half. When it comes down to it, there are really three things you need to figure out: Venue & Food, Money (Sponsors) and Getting Peopl to Show Up (Marketing).

STEP 1: Getting Started
1. Register with www.freelancamp.org
2. Brainstorming Venues & Food
3. Preparing for Sponsors
4. Create a budget

STEP 2: Putting Plans into Motion
1. Secure a Venue
2. Signing Up Sponsors

STEP 3: Marketing and Outreach

STEP 4: Have Fun and Watch it Unfold

Oh and Side Notes & Recommendations
(more…)

Santa Cruz 09 Sponsor: Small Business Development Center

// June 3rd, 2009 // Comments // Santa Cruz 2009

The Small Business Development Center (SBDC), located at Cabrillo College, offers numerous resources and tools for business to thrive and survive. Given the current economic climate, the SBDC is a true gem for all the services and guidance they provide in running a successful business. New and existing businesses can leverage the Center’s consulting services to review existing processes, operations and cash flow while planning for the future. For potential business the SBDC offers an array of services from Quickbook assistance, business plan preparations to marketing plan assistance. The SBDC works closely with local lenders and can provide information on targeted loan programs including micro-loans and SBA Loan guarantee programs. In addition, they specialize in Restaurant/hospitality management, Childcare providers, Retail management, and Government contracting. We would like to announce the Small Business Development Center as one of our most generous and proud sponsors.

Visit them at http://www.centralcoastSBDC.org
Or call 831/479-6136