flcTO 2012

The date is set for the next freelancecampTO. We’ll announce location and details soon, but we’ve got a few changes that we’re working on so that we can make one big announcement.

Meanwhile, save the date for Sun Mar 25, 2012 and get ready for a professional development day to ramp up your freelance career.

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Next batch of speaker slide decks

Here are a few more decks from the speakers at freelancecampTO:

Dotting the I’s and Crossing the t’s
– Sapna Mahboobani and Hermie Abraham

Generating Revenue Consistently
– Katherine Roos

How to sell to enterprise
– Cindy Gordon

Those speakers who have not sent in their slides to be posted may still do so. We’re happy to post the slides from this great event, though it is entirely optional for each speaker.

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First batch of speaker slide decks

Here is the first batch of presentation slides that the FLCTO speakers have offered up. Speakers are not expected to share their slides, but it is optional if they want to. Some speakers opted to have more organic discussions and so they did not have prepared slides.

Those that did have something, please send the links to freelancecamptoATgmailDOTcom.

We’ll share more in batches as we get them so that those who couldn’t attend a session they wanted could at least see the slides and contact the presenter.

In no particular order:
Business Development – Intro Class
– Joseph Puopolo

Slipping Through the Side Door: Launching your freelance career part time
– Scott Nesbitt

The Entrepreneur’s Delemma
– Satish Kanwar

Social Media is not new and the 7 biggest social mistakes
– Alex Blom

Location Based Services for Small Business
– Asif Khan

Online Branding for Freelancers
– Roman Zelvenschi

Building your own personal professional network
– Alex Sirota

Fulltime Job? No problem. You can freelance with the right attitude.
– Alex Sirota

Freelancing 101 – realities, ideas and stories
– Matt Kantor

Your Personal Brand: You and You
– Jeff Waldman

Hiring Extra Hands: How to protect yourself
– Rayna Shienfield

Working from home is the easy part … except the working part
– Adam Merrifield

Time Management and Procrastination
– Elie Kochman

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Win an iPad at Freelance Camp, thanks to Netfirms

We are pleased to announce that Netfirms will be sponsoring Freelance Camp Toronto as a platinum sponsor. Over 1 million customers trust Netfirms to host their websites and domain names. Netfirms offer specialty hosting, vps and e-commerce packages.

As a Freelancer having a reliable website is critical. Having a responsive, fast host is even more critical. Why leave the lifeblood of your business to chance? Even better, attendees of Freelance Camp Toronto attendees are eligible to save over $154 by getting the Advantage plan ($155/yr rrp) for only $1. This plan comes with 2 free domain names to secure your place online.

We are also pleased to announce that Netfirms will be giving away an iPad. Details will be provided throughout the day.

Note: If you want to make some cash on the side, Netfirms have a fantastic affiliate plan.

Click here to visit their website.

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Freshbooks are supporting Freelancers in Toronto

If you weren’t already a fan, now you have no choice. Freshbooks, the iconic Toronto startup, is a platinum sponsor of Freelance Camp Toronto. Freshbooks make it effortless to bill your clients and handle collection.

As a Freelancer, you should be spending your time generating business and executing, not handling administration. Freshbooks have a simple invoicing system allowing you to automatically e-mail or post invoices to clients, set due dates, receive payments and follow up over-due invoices, allowing you to spend your time where it really counts.

Freshbooks are continuous supporters of the Toronto freelance and startup community and it is an honour to have their sponsorship this year. Reach out and say hello to them.

Click here to visit their website.

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Thanks to our Silver Sponsors

An official shout out to our silver sponsors. Without our sponsors Freelance Camp would not be possible. Collaborative education events are tough to put on and all committee members are thankful that sponsorship allowed our vision to be realized.

Cloud Ad Agents: Cloud Ad Agents is one of Toronto’s hottest advertising and digital agencies, led by industry veteran Peter Coish. Next time you can’t get those creative juices flowing, drop Cloud a call. Click here to visit their website or here to visit Cloud on Facebook.

Freelance Pool: Freelance Pool helps companies connect with pre-screened, high quality Freelance workers Canada-wide. As a Freelancer, contact them to connect with top employers and focus on executing, not seeking work. If you find yourself in a talent crunch, Freelance Pool can connect you with talented individuals fast. Click here to visit their website.

Linux Caffe: Enjoying that free lunch? Linux are the ones to thank. The Linux Caffe offers dark organic coffees and fantastic food. They are know as the home of Toronto’s Open Source community and host regular meetings and workshops. Click here to visit their website.

Newpath Network: The Newpath Network is a networking hub for IT and related independent professionals. Being a freelancer can be lonely work so join this growing community and coalition of talent. The network holds monthly meetings with professional speakers to help you build real business value. Click here to visit their website.

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Schedule Now Available

The schedule for feeelancecampTO is now available.

Have a look at the great range of sessions available for both beginners and the well-seasoned freelancers, and check out the bios and profiles of the amazing presenters that will be joining us.

The Like button on the right of the session title is to help us gauge popularity for a session in case we need to move it to a different room, so please do click it if you are interested in that session.

Keep in mind that this schedule is subject to change, and you’ll get a copy of the schedule when you check in the morning of Oct 3.

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The People Have Spoken!

On the registration page we’ve asked attendees what they hope to learn from this event. It is a professional development day after all (which means hang on to any receipts you incur that day, it’s a work day!).

Here are some topics that some people have asked for; perhaps you can deliver a session on one of these topics?

  • getting started as a freelancer
  • general freelance strategies
  • work/life balance (would make for a great advanced session)
  • forming a personal support network to ensure success
  • making the jump from a full time job to freelancing
  • ethical issues freelancers face
  • navigating RFPs and proposal submissions as the little guy
  • generating ideas
  • the future of freelancing
  • procrastination: avoiding “ooh shiny!” syndrome
  • identifying trends (would make for a great advanced session)
  • branding (not a focus on social media strategies)
  • marketing and promotion
  • sustainability and survival – it’s rough out there!  (would make for a great advanced session)
  • building a network of clients, colleagues, and resources
  • crafting a pitch, closing he deal, getting the clients

Remember, sessions should appeal to all different flavours of freelancers in all different industries. This conference is about the business of freelancing, not any one particular niche area.

If you’d like to deliver a session on any of these topics, suggest a session at http://bit.ly/awdq8Q by Fri Sep 10.

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FreelanceCamp is About Sharing

The great thing about FreelanceCamp is that the structure is designed for conference participants to share their knowledge and experience with one another.

We’ve opened the floodgates for session suggestions, and we’re still looking for more gems on how to be a better freelancer. This isn’t a conference about social media or any other individual topic; this event is about learning and sharing tips, tricks, ideas, and philosophies about the business of being a freelancer, the ins and outs of the business, the ways to not only survive but to succeed.

If you have a great session idea that could enrich a fellow freelancer or teach someone how to get started as a freelancer, suggestion a session by Sep 10.

Image by Bill McChesney under a Creative Commons Licence.

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Welcome to freelancecampTO!

We’re pleased to announce the details of freelancecampTO:

Mark your calendars and register! (registration is required for a complimentary lunch)

We thank Ryerson and the ITMSA for generously donating the space for this event. We also thank Freshbooks for being the first sponsor to help with lunch for all participants. (more to come)

In order to keep this event free of charge, we’re still looking for more sponsors, so if you are a company that wants to showcase your products or services to freelancers, please send a message to freelancecampTO[at]gmail[dot]com.

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