Freelance Camp Vancouver

Paying it forward

// June 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // 604 Freelance Camp Updates

The first Freelance Camp was an overwhelming success for us; it created a sense of community and allowed for connections to be made between freelancers in Vancouver.  With an outpour of support we had from Webnames.ca, Waves Coffee House, The Network Hub, Small Business BC, Lonsdale Rentals, Aquent and Cambie Vietnamese Restaurant, we were able to feed, supply and energize our freelancers throughout the day with little or no charge.  With the nominal fee of $10 dollars to register for Freelance Camp, we have collected $1100 to sponsor another great Camp happening in Vancouver – MentalHealthCamp.

MentalHealthCamp is a conference about the intersection of social media and mental health.  This year’s MentalHealthCamp theme is “Breaking Our Silence. Setting us Free.” The conference will examine how silence hurts mental health, and, more importantly, how using our voice helps us achieve and maintain mental health. In keeping with the spirit of MentalHealthCamp, we situate our conversations at the intersection of mental health and social media.

About Freelance Camp
Do you own your own business or are looking to start one? Are you a consultant or contractor? Service-based freelancers of all kinds rejoice — you’re no longer alone. Freelance Camp Vancouver is officially here.  Over the last two years, Freelance Camps have been organized to connect and engage both new and experienced freelancers with potential employers and partners, and examine the many issues and challenges associated with the explosive growth of the freelance market.  Due to the enormous success of Freelance Camps across the US, Vancouver hosted the first ever Freelance Camp in Canada on May 29^th at The Network Hub.

About MentalHealthCamp
Mental illness is widely feared and misunderstood, resulting in lack of treatment, discrimination and isolation. In an effort to help combat the stigmas surrounding mental illness, Vancouver’s rapidly-growing social media and blogging community has organized the second annual Vancouver MentalHealthCamp for July 10, 2010. The day-long ‘unconference’ will be held at Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory (AERL) building at the Point Grey Campus of The University of British Columbia. [Rooms (107/108) in the first floor and the Auditorium], from 8am – 5pm.

Registration for MentalHealthCamp is limited to 100 attendees interested in mental health issues and/or social media. Admission is $25 and no-one will be turned away for lack of funds. “Every effort will be made to help all attendees keep as much anonymity and confidentiality as possible in such a venue, and we are planning to have counselors available to attendees,” Dr. Pacheco-Vega added.

Media Contact:
Cathy Browne
+778.686.2761
cb@cathybrowne.com
http://www.mentalhealthcamp.org/

Reach Magazine features 8 Freelance Camp speakers

// June 12th, 2010 // No Comments » // 604 Freelance Camp Updates

Reach Magazine - Vancouver's Business Lifestyle Magazine

http://www.reachmag.ca

Reach Magazine is a free, full-colour, full-gloss quarterly publication that focuses on the niche market of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs make up a substantial amount of the economy of British Columbia. We plan to capture the interests of those who enjoy new innovations, fashion, social issues, and entertainment, by focusing on entrepreneurs from these industries. By featuring whom they are, how they started it, and why they do it, we plan to create a business lifestyle magazine.

Farewell and see you soon!

// June 1st, 2010 // No Comments » // 604 Freelance Camp Updates

Final thank you to all our sponsors:

Webnames.ca
The Network Hub
Waves Coffee House
Lonsdale Rental
Small Business BC
Market Wire

Also without our organizing team, the event would not happen!

Minna Van
Raul Pacheco-Vega
Monica Kim
Yvonne Lum
John Van
Jay Catalan

The team from The Network Hub!

Special thank you to:

Pete Quily
Jeremy Lim
Yi

Stay tuned for the announcement of the next Freelance Camp!

Wrap-up for Freelance Camp

// May 31st, 2010 // No Comments » // 604 Freelance Camp Updates

We had a blast yesterday sharing, laughing and connecting with other freelancers in the community!

Fun facts about our very first Freelance Camp:

- 120 spring rolls + 120 salad rolls were consumed
- 196 cups of Waves coffee consumed
- $448 dollars worth of door prizes
- $5400 worth of goodies in total were given to all attendees
- 135 attendees from different background and disciplines
- 22 sessions were led from 10 am – 4:25 pm
- 1,309 mentions in 29 websites (blogs included)
- 401 views for 4 youtube promotion videos
- 1478 tweets mentioning the event (between May 25 – June 1)
- 12 meetup hosts sent Freelance Camp promo emails to their 6939 meetup members
- from 1pm – 4pm ish we were in the top trending topics in Canada on twitter

A wiki has been set up to share every thing that happened at Freelance Camp, head over to:

www.freelancecamp.pbworks.com

On the wiki, you will find schedules of the day, session leaders, topics, name and twitter account of attendees.

If you were at freelance camp, please update the wiki to share our day with everyone.

If you are a session leader, IF you are comfortable you can update the wiki with as much information as you want or not.  Freelance is not FREE so we respect your wishes.

Pictures are up on flickr courtesy of our wonderful photographer Jeremy Lim

www.flickr.com/photos/jeremylim/4652025512

Lunch time featured speakers: John Chow and Michael Kwan

// May 15th, 2010 // No Comments » // 604 Freelance Camp Updates

Every one has a website so why not use it to make a healthy income?  John Chow’s personal blog has been making over $40,000 a month and in his new book with Michael Kwan – “Make Monday Online: Roadmap of a Dot Com Mogul” they will show you how.   We are excited to learn more about how freelancers can make money online.  This is a lunch and learn session.

Lunch will be provided.

Take a look at this Dot Com Pho – Freelance Camp edition to get a sneak peek of what John Chow and Michael Kwan will talk about.

What to expect from Freelance Camp?

// May 13th, 2010 // No Comments » // 604 Freelance Camp Updates

Unlike a typical conference, FreelanceCamp’s set up is much more open with an agenda that participants make up on the day of the event. This “unconference” will include workshops in which participants suggest the topics to be covered, which is then voted on by the attendees at the start of the event.

Some possible topics:

• Task and Time Management tools
• Marketing and Social Media tools
• Coworking
• Working remotely
• Negotiating contracts
• Business Ethics
• Intellectual Property
• How to set up a Consultancy

Prepare to present and to actively participate!

Who’s coming to Freelance Camp?

// May 13th, 2010 // No Comments » // 604 Freelance Camp Updates

A Place for Freelancers to Meet

// May 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // 604 Freelance Camp Updates

In support of freelancers in Vancouver, The Network Hub is providing all attendees at Freelance Camp one free hour of meeting room use – for freelancers to meet their clients or to simply have a quiet space to work. Valued at $20

The Network Hub, located in downtown Vancouver BC, offers various options to meet different working styles from hotdesks, private offices, dedicated coworking space, meeting room rental and virtual office. Our goal is to provide a casual inspiring work space where freelancers and entrepreneurs can connect, create and collaborate on new and exciting opportunities.

Waves Coffee keeps freelancers alert!

// May 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // 604 Freelance Camp Updates

Thank you Waves Coffee for being a great neighborhood Coffee Houses by supporting the freelance community.

Waves Coffee was recognized in 2008 by the Brand Coaches as the “Hottest Brand in Canada.” They were selected as “best of brands” from over 1,500 specialty coffee retail businesses from coast to coast.

Waves Coffee mission is to partner individuals and investors who share their ideals and passion to create neighborhood Coffee Houses recognized for creating positive and pleasant experiences that enrich the lives of everyone they meet.

All freelancers receive a free .tel domain (worth $19.99)

// May 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // 604 Freelance Camp Updates

With your admission ticket to Freelance Camp, you will also receive a free .tel domain worth $19.99.  Thank you to Webnames for their generous sponsorship and their support of the freelance community!

Webnames.ca Inc. is Canada’s original domain registrar. A spin-off from the Internet pioneers who founded the .CA domain in 1987, Webnames.ca is 100 per cent Canadian owned and operated. Our mission is to connect clients with the tools they require to create, protect and promote their online presence. In addition to domain registration and Canada’s only corporate domain management program, Webnames.ca offers a wide range of Internet Services including hosting, business email, SSL certificates and more. Our advanced systems and user-friendly online tools are backed by our bilingual support team and industry leading customer service standards. To learn more about Webnames.ca, visit us online at www.webnames.ca.