This past weekend I spent my Saturday amongst some of the finest freelancers in Victoria. We were al hanging out at YYJFreelanceCamp.
We gathered at InHub, Victoria’s coworking space — which is a centrally-located venue where freelancers can escape their slippers and get some real work done outside of the home. I’m going to start taking advantage of what they have to offer now that I’ve got a caregiver coming in three times a week. InHub offers the distance from home I need when I need it — and until “Valden” is completed I’ve really got to find some refuge off of my property. InHub is an ideal spot for me to go and get down to the business at hand — whether it be writing or developing a talk. Evan has a great place there — if you’re in Victoria and are looking for a place to work that won’t break your bank, give InHub a look.
There were a lot of great presentations throughout the day, many of which became discussions between attendees just as much as they were directed session by those who pitched them. I relied on a productivity primer as my session, while others presented sessions on things like part-time freelancing, email marketing (courtesy of Anthony Sanna of Sociability) and virtual assistants. Let’s put it this way: there was something for every freelancer at YYJFreelanceCamp. It did not disappoint.
It’d be great to see this happen once per year, and I suggested to one of the organizers — my good friend Jason Finnerty – that perhaps touching base with the local Pecha Kucha crew to see if a freelance-themed event could be in the offing to stoke the fire in between. With events like WordCamp Victoria and another Social Media Camp on the horizon, having more than one camp of this sort per year isn’t ideal for the Victoria market — it’s just too small to support all of them well. But these events seem to have created a “circuit” of sorts that can keep the momentum going throughout the year. It’s a great thing to see in my community.
And YYJFreelanceCamp was a great thing to be a part of this year. I’ll be back next year.
