We have decided to take advantage of barcamp.org’s wonderful free wiki to save the event notes. If you are leading a session, please have someone take summary notes and post them to the wiki at http://barcamp.org/Freelance-Camp-3. If you are coming here after the event, I hope they are wonderful.

Curious about last years notes? Check them out: http://barcamp.org/FreelanceCampSchedule

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

STEP 1: Getting Started

1. Register with www.freelancecamp.org

•    Seek to use freelancecamp.org as a basis for outreach and platform for your event. If you are need of any assistance, send Shane (my first name at shaneandpeter dot com) an email and he will gladly help you connect with the correct people, help you explain how to run the event, and will provide you with the proper resources and tools to use.

2. Brainstorming Venues

•    How many people do you plan on having? What location preferences do you have? Local? Nearby City?  Are there any restrictions you can think of? What kind of food do you want to serve?
•    Start gathering information on potential venues in your area (Possible venue options include: Coworking Centers, Museums, Community Centers, University/College Rooms, Churches, Recreational Facilities, Vacant Warehouses, Vacant Real Estate Properties, Hotels,  Banquet Hall etc.)

3. Scoping for Sponsors

•    Staring drafting your Sponsors Benefit Sheet. We have a sample on in a more complete post on getting sponsorship.
•    Talk to your City/County if they are willing to help you out with the event. You would be amazed!
For example, the City of Miami donated the venue (Convention Center) for the 2009 Miami event. There can be numerous mutual benefiting advantages to this partnership.
•    Ask your friends, coworkers if they know of any of any good potential sponsors for this type of event. (When you ask, make sure you keep it short and clearly explain the event in a few sentences. Tell them what your ideal sponsor looks like should they spot one in the wild.)

4. Create a Budget

•    Create a well thought out budget with a price ranges. I use google docs so that it is easy to have volunteers help manage the budget. We made 2 tabs, one for sponsors to keep track of both cash and in kind donations, and one for expenses. Our expenses have included: Breakfast, Lunch, Drinks, Schwag, Venue, Marketing, Office Supplies (name badges, pens, white boards…) , Wifi, Furniture Rentals, After Party. Many of these will depend on your venue and your ambition level. Some events have been run on $1,000 while others on $8,000.

STEP 2: Putting Plans into Motion

1. Securing a Venue

•    The venue should have a combination of large and small rooms. You would want a large room for the initial gathering, plus smaller rooms to have on-going workshops.
•    Come prepared with a well thought out budget and know exactly what you will pay for and what you will not.
•    Prepare a list of potential sponsors. This is good to have in order to gain leverage in negotiating for a lower price or for some in-kind services.
•    Does the venue have exclusive rights on food? If so, what type of food do they serve and what are the costs? Does the venue provide a coffee kiosk? Expresso Cart?
•    Are the following provided with the venue: Wireless internet, Extension Cords, Microphones, Podiums, and Screens?  Look for any hidden costs such as Janitorial services & insurance fees (To lower costs expect your guests to clean up after themselves.
•    Always remember to ask if they are willing to trade sponsorship for lower prices or some in-kind services. A lot of companies could use some good marketing support and you are offering to bring together a large number of business owners. This is a valuable service to a venue.

2. Sign-Up Sponsors

•    Have one sponsor per business vertical. This increases the value and helps sponsors make a commitment. This is the #1 concern sponsors expressed aside from the legitimacy of the event.
•    Approach local service providers who support small businesses such as: Lawyers, Accountants, Bank/Credit Unions, Commercial Real Estate Agents, ISP, Insurance Payroll Specialists, Investment/Retirement, Web Service Firms, Print Shops etc.
•    Check out any local institutions that have small business owners as benefactors: museum, design center, co-working centers, coffee shops.
•    Think of large companies that service freelancers and email them. You never know. Santa Cruz 2009 landed Elance.com as a sponsor, which came from an email sent into the ether.
•    Send your benefits sheet to all potential sponsors.

STEP 3: Marketing and Outreach

Marketing the freelance camp is an ongoing project. While finding sponsors and a venue may have deadlines, the marking aspect of freelance does not end till the day of the event. To market effectively it is not so much about getting the word out to everybody you know, but finding specific niche groups that have an interest in entrepreneurship, innovation, freelancing, and other related fields.

•    Put together a marketing email to promote your event to various groups, and businesses.
•    Place your event on www.barcamp.org
• Create an event via Facebook, Myspace, Linkin, Yelp, and Upcoming and on any other social networking site.
• Tweet it (tastefully).
•    Figure out which local groups have mailing lists. See if you use could use their mailing to promote your event. Be open to asking what is the best way to reach and present to their membership.
•    Research freelance or small business owners’ blog circles and write posts about your freelance camp. Some good sites are http://www.freelanceswitch.com, http://www.freelanceforlder.com and  http://www.elance.com/blog
•    Promote your event at Barcamps and other events that are happening in your area. Forge connection between those groups.
•    Outreach to local universities, colleges and research centers that offer internship program for students who are willing to help you put the event on or are interested in attending.
•    Ask your friends, your coworkers, your twitter pals, and your Facebook friends, who might have an interest or know someone who will help you, move the implementation process forward.

STEP 4: Have Fun and Watch it Unfold

I am not going to write much here. The world of barcamps is quite similar and this topic is so well covered. In short, relax and quit trying to do everything. Find a lot of volunteers so that everyone gets a chance to enjoy the event. Nothing is perfect. Ever. I promise. That’s ok.

For more: http://barcamp.org/OrganizeALocalBarCamp

Side Notes and Recommendations

•    Costco and other wholesale stores are a great place to buy food for your event. However, many venues have exclusive rights on food
•    You don’t have to provide food, but we have found that if people leave for lunch they will often not come back.
•    Make some preparations for an after party. Although this is not necessary, it is always good to have some sort of voluntary gathering after the event.
•    Do some preliminary research on SHWAG items to give out during the event. T-Shirt and/or stainless steel canteens are great items. Seek sponsorship or some in-kind services in exchange for these items.
•    A good way of finding out what your city has to offer is visiting your Small Business Development Center or talking to your city’s Economic Development Coordinator.  In most cases they will have a good idea of what type of venue you will need. In addition, they may even put you in contact with local property owners who have vacant lofts for you.
•    In some situations, Hotels and Banquet halls would like to reserve their rooms for dinner events. For example, if your freelance camp is between 9AM-6PM, they may ask you to finish up earlier such as 4pm. It is always good to be flexible.

The folks at Reno Collective, an up and coming coworking space in Nevada, just announced their intention to put on a Freelance Camp. No date or details just yet. They are looking for volunteers and sponsors, so if you are in the neighborhood, drop them at line or just wander in.

See the original article

Article by Corilyn Shropshire in the Houston Chronicle on April 24, 2009

They call it the un-conference.

It’s a place where everybody is somebody, jeans rule over expensive suits, drones at the podium are (strongly) discouraged and the schmoozing is (typically) free.

At one of these so-called BarCamps, whoever shows up gets to decide what happens.

What began in 2005 as anti-conference for geeks in Silicon Valley — a gathering for a bunch of computer programmers irritated by the exclusivity of invitation-only technology conferences — the barcamp has sprouted offshoots that have nongeeks, youngish hipsters and even baby boomers looking to learn a new trick rallying together around a common interest.

While the original barcamps tended to be focused on developing Web applications, these days, the themes increasingly run the gamut. On any given weekend, meet-ups known as GreenCamp, BandCamp, even CupcakeCamp, are taking place in cities around the world.

It’s spreading like a virus: PhotoCamps attract amateurs and professional shutterbugs to powwow about the latest in photography.

SkepticCamp spawns discussion about everything from the benefits of detoxing and eating organic food to paranormal encounters. ArtCamp brings artists and art organizations together for a day-long brainstorming session.

At a recent LaidoffCamp in San Francisco, one of the most popular sessions was “Booked-#$%^$% Solid,” which addressed how the self-employed can land clients and keep them.

“The whole idea is 20 minds are better than one,” said Travis Skweres, who recently organized FreelanceCamp in Houston. Roughly 100 participants attended sessions including “Resume 2.0” and “Twitter Basics.”

“Everyone learns from everyone else,” he said.

Here’s how it works: A bunch of people with similar interests decide on a theme, pick a date, find a venue and set about spreading the word, primarily through online social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

Participants arrive in the morning and either sign up to speak on a topic relevant to the theme or wander in and out of workshops that interest them.

Anyone can host a camp, guided by a barcamp “wiki” with instructions on Web.

The workshops tend to be spirited events with an academic vibe — attendees tapping away on laptops (Twittering, no doubt) while a speaker beckons input from the crowd.

“Campers” say the cool thing about barcamps is that they are flexible, laid-back, collaborative and communal — great places to share ideas.

Taking part in the discussion is expected. Keeping silent is strongly discouraged.

“I like it because it’s crowd sourcing,” said Grace J. Rodriguez, who led the “Branding U” workshop at FreelanceCamp Houston. “It’s open source in real life, everyone has value and everyone can contribute.”

Barcamps also allow people who are increasingly conversing online to get face time with each other.

“With Twitter what you can say is limited, so the conversations are limited,” Rodriguez said .

Since barcamps usually are free, fans say they wonder why anyone would pay to listen to talking heads with little or no interaction.

If participants pay anything at all, it’s usually less than $50 to help cover costs for bagels in the morning, pizza for lunch and candy in midafternoon.

FreelanceCamp organizer Skweres raised roughly $1,500 to pay for the venue, food and such extras as T-shirts and notebooks.

The organizers of last month’s LaidoffCamp San Francisco got the use of a nightclub in exchange for guaranteeing participants would spend at least $1,000 drinking at the post-camp happy hour.

If barcamp sounds like anarchy, it’s not. Democracy rules.

If a speaker is bad, Skweres said, “someone can stand up and suggest a new topic.”

That’s what Skweres wishes he could have done after spending $450 to attend “some really bad sessions,” at South by Southwest in March.

“I was thinking to myself, someone should stand up, suggest a new topic, new speakers or send this (panel) in a different direction,” he said.

So when someone asked to make a comment during his recent lecture on Twitter at FreelanceCamp Houston, Skweres’ feathers weren’t ruffled. He merely invited the person to join him up front.

Anybody can participate in the discussion, as long as he or she has something valuable to add. Said Skweres, “The participants make it happen.”

Anybody can participate in the discussion, as long as he or she has something valuable to add. Said Skweres, “The participants make it happen.”

Both he and Rodriguez are busy planning their next camps locally. Skweres aims to host an EntrepreneurCamp in July, while Rodriguez is working with a team to develop a camp “to teach people how to make good presentations.”

See the original article

Consider another camp in the books! San Antonio’s first FreelanceCamp was an astounding success, but not without all the participation of our attendees and our sponsors. Without these two groups the event would have been nothing, but with enthusiastic and supportive sponsors, the organizers were able to put together an event where attendees could share, learn, network, and collaborate on future projects.

The atmosphere was electric with the buzzing of sessions, ad-hoc discussions, and the sounds of laughter and overall contentment with the entire thing. Of course the venue helped to create all this excitement. Big mention for Radius Cafe, a very creative, progressive spot perfect for functions of all kinds.

Discussion included Co-Working spaces in San Antonio, how a freelancer can leverage social media to their benefit, blogging and podcasting as a marketing tool, law protecting freelancers and employers, freelancing in the non-profit sector, and the hour long presentation, Freelancing in a Flat World done by Austin’s own Trish Lambert, a California transplant now enjoying life in Central Texas.

Most of the recorded sessions can be found at the following two links below:

• Recorded by Leslie Baldwin HERE (@springanew)
• Recorded by Todd O’neill HERE (@doingmedia)

You can listen to the Tech in Twenty recap discussion from FreelanceCampSA HERE.

If you took photos of the event and they are Flickr, please make sure you use the the tags #fcsatx to mark your photos so that others can find them.

I want to send a big thanks to Shane Pearlman, of Shane & Peter, Inc., for the donation of the FreelanceCamp.org website. Leaders in the community like him opened the site to assist other FreelanceCamps in the nation and is also an excellent model for those us all looking to work with one another to make these even

ts happen. San Antonio and the camp’s organizers thank you for sharing this site with us!

And finally, as mentioned above, thank you to our entire group of sponsors who made the event possible. Your help put FreelanceCamp San Antonio on the map, and I look forward to working with all of you next year in 2010 for FreelanceCamp San Antonio 2.

FreelanceCamp San Antonio 2009 Sponsors

Thanks to the organizers who helped me make this a reality. Alysan Delaney-Childs (@alysan), Jennifer Navarrete (@epodcaster), and Gylon Jackson (@gylonj)

On Saturday morning I ran into the office at about 7:00 AM, pre-coffee consumption, in the same jeans as the day before, trying to jerk myself out of the lifeless stupor that usually accompanies oversleeping. All was lifeless. There were no sounds of typing, of air conditioners, of the occasional cough. No trickling fountain. No scrolling plastic tropical fish.

I was looking for a receipt that reflected I had purchased $160 in bagels. Upon discovering it wasn’t on my dresser, in my pants pocket, or on my kitchen counter, I decided it must be in the office; naturally, just having given up on finding it after combing through a sea of paperwork I discovered its secret location–inside my purse, right where I had left it.

My car is an environmentally-friendly, gas-efficient Scion xA. It bears the signature cheese-wedge shape and the seats are designed to maneuver into different positions to create more storage space. Regardless, after packing inside three ten-gallon coffee carafes, twelve containers of cream cheese, five bags of bagels and a series of baskets I had borrowed from the caterer, it was snug.

Good thing I was going to the BarCamp. As soon as I parked my car and began unloading the carafes from the back, a man came running out of the museum and down the stairs.

“Somebody said there was a pretty girl with a lot of [stuff],” he said, enthusiastically lifting one of the carafes and schlepping it inside. By the time I had unloaded everything, there was nothing else to carry in. By the time I made it inside, volunteers had taken it upon themselves to set up the coffee, put out the plates and utensils, and lovingly arrange the pastries in the decorative baskets.

In retrospect, it’s difficult to imagine anything going wrong. I guess that’s what makes BarCamp so magical: whatever happens is the only thing that could have. At the buttcrack of dawn, even at that ungodly hour, guests were sipping coffee from eight ounce cups and eagerly assembling the conference. I watched them standing in line to sign-in and get the coveted Freelance Camp t-shirts, chatting and laughing–

“Des, where are the safety pins?” Mindi asked.

“I thought you had them. …I’ll be right back.”

Putting on my hoodie I began an exodus to Longs. (At the time, I did not know it would be the first of six.) I honestly felt a little embarrassed. It was my job to make sure that breakfast was assembled but our conference-goers had taken it upon themselves to help me. I settled for a feeling of gratitude. After waiting at the register for what seemed like twenty minutes while the gentleman in front of me counted out not-so-exact change in nickels and dimes for a Starbucks coffee beverage, and then engaged the clerk in a lively dispute as to the price, I returned, bearing assorted safety pins.

“Here you go.” I handed them to Tracy.

He looked confused. “I brought the safety pins from the office.”

“Oh. Thanks. Never mind.”

Morning ceremonies were winding down and I began to settle in. Freelance Camp was not short on diversity: there were comely older folks, trendy married couples, a gaggle of twenty-somethings, and one guy who I knew personally from high school. There were sandal-clad ladies with their hair down and serious-looking women in immaculate suits; men in slacks who kept stepping out to take calls on bluetooths and long-haired dudes that stroked their beards during conversation. Regardless of appearance they all had similar mannerisms. They toasted bagels, picked through the t-shirts looking for their size, and they kept running up to each other with open hands thrust out in front of them: “Hello, what is it that brings you here?”

We all entered the conference room to begin scheduling the day. I sat, bagel and coffee in tow. Again I was summoned to Longs. Despite deliberately putting my food in the seat of my chair, when I returned, the conference room was so clogged that I couldn’t get close enough to hear what was going on.

Ah, well. I was there to work anyway. A few more attempts were made on my part to sit in on workshops. Most were unsuccessful. Charged with the tasks of putting sodas on ice and arranging 150 lunch boxes in the foyer, I spent about twenty minutes of my morning dozing in the corner of a workshop before it was time to eat.

Of course, I had help with lunch. Tracy and Mindi (for some reason) were stalking the halls when I began to pack the coolers and take out the lunch boxes. Both were eager to lend a hand. (So eager, actually, that they became somewhat possessive of stacking the lunch boxes on the table, which was fine by me.) I had been downing coffee from my eight ounce cup like nobody’s business but was beginning to wonder if, by some accident of nature, it was decaf. I sat down on a 5′x5′ platform in the middle of the staircase to rest my eyes and woke up an hour later when a gang of people from the workshops upstairs started walking right by my face. Back to work.

As 5-o’-clock drew nearer, Jeremy came out of the woodwork. Jeremy is one of the proprietors of NextSpace, usually found wearing flip-flops and a bluetooth. He was enjoying the conference, I’m sure, but since NextSpace was to host the Freelance Camp after party, my next job was getting ice in the coolers to keep the free beer chilled. We got in my car to drive to (you guessed it) Longs. I turned on the Scion and we were greeted by the angry chauvinist beats of Eminem blasting from my speakers at full volume. Awkwardly I turned it down to spare Jeremy, who seemed to enjoy himself and bobbed his head animatedly.

“I never hear music like this,” he said. “I usually listen to a lot of Sesame Street.”

When we drove back, my Scion had dropped six inches due to the 120 pounds of ice in the back seat. I returned to a massive surplus of bagels, muffins, and lunch boxes. I wasn’t sure quite what to do with them. (Our office ‘fridge, at Quiddities, is home to a half-and-half carton, six cans of soda, four bottles of Guinness, some cream cheese, and a ball of leftovers sheathed in tin foil, and it’s completely full.) Luckily, the young man sitting at the museum’s front desk took advantage of the leftovers with gusto upon learning there was free food.

Everyone was finished with the workshops for the day. A handful of people had assembled before me.

“Desiree, how can we help?” They chimed, their eyes glittering.

“Uh,” I looked around. “Well, we need to get all this stuff across the street to NextSpace…”

The volunteers filled their arms with boxes and baskets. I moved over some potato chips and an extension cord. The party was about to start. Free pizza and beer is right up my alley, but somehow my nap on the staircase had proved less than restful. I decided to make my way home.

A dark-haired kid who had bummed a couple Camels from me throughout the day stopped me on my way to the car. We made eye contact.

“Hey, um, can I be a complete jerk and–”

“Sure,” I said, handing him my pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

“Hey, thanks.” He selected one, lit up, and handed me back my things.

“So, uh, what is it that you do?” I asked. It occurred to me that I had spent the whole day at Freelance Camp and I hadn’t actually participated in any of the workshops or met any new people. David explained that he, like Margaret, won a grant from the Knight Foundation. It was for Spot Us, which by my understanding is a site that will enable independent journalists to receive community funding for their stories, and generate an array of publishing opportunities. He handed me his card. We parted ways.

My experience was certainly different from many of the people at Freelance Camp. Nonetheless, it was great to lend a hand at the conference. Everyone seemed to massively enjoy themselves. There was no shortage of activity among the guests. Jeremy informs me that the after-party was a blast. Rumors of another BarCamp–Public Media Camp–have begun to circulate. If I get a chance to help I’ll certainly be doing some things differently: being more organized, sitting in on more of the workshops, and–most importantly–starting the day off with a double-shot of espresso so as to be sure I don’t pass out on the stairs again. David, I’ll most likely see you there.

To everyone who showed up at Freelance Camp and to all of our sponsors, a great big thank you is owed. The BarCamp would not have been the bustling hub of excitement without you. I would also personally like to thank Andrea of Lifestyle Culinary Arts Catering, Manthri of Lulu Carpenter’s, Jay and Wally of Pure Water, Eric Mendelson of Lighthouse Bank, Jeremy Neuner of NextSpace, and Shane Pearlman and Peter Chester of Shane & Peter, all of whom personally assisted me in my job. It has been a pleasure doing business with you.

This article was originally written by Desiree from Quiddities: http://blog.quiddities.com/2008/08/freelance-camp-how-to-get-rid-of-a-hundred-bagels-in-thirty-minutes/