Paying it forward

// June 17th, 2010 // 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/