Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2010
NEW EARLIER TIME: 6:30-8:30 p.m. (Gather at 6:00 to meet fellow members; refreshments provided.)
Place: Mechanics' Institute, 57 Post Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco (directions and map)
Forum organizer: Geneviève Duboscq

Tips for Surviving and Thriving as a Freelancer

What's the recipe for a successful freelance lifestyle? Whether we work with local or national nonprofits, publishing houses or individual book authors, industry-leading corporations or for-profit start-ups, freelancers and contractors typically face similar challenges: promoting services, securing new clients, ensuring repeat business, finding a work-life balance, and preparing for the future.

The feast-or-famine work cycle requires effective time-management practices. Is there room for improvement in your own routine? Do you find yourself asking whether you're truly successful?

Join us for what promises to be a lively panel discussion with five freelancers who will discuss their strategies and philosophies, as well as shed light on how they find balance in their freelance work lives. This program is free.

Panelists:

Copywriter Jon Byous works for Fortune 500 companies including Sun Microsystems and Cisco Systems. With 28 years of experience and four boom-bust cycles behind him, Jon is a master at honing words for maximum impact.

John Dibs works as a senior technical writer on staff at Calix, Inc., in Petaluma and has worked as a freelance book indexer since 1995. He is a past president of the Northbay chapter of STC and serves as an ordained deacon at St. Timothy Eastern Orthodox Church in Fairfield.

Editor Hilary Powers is on her fourth career after government analysis, internal and EDP audit, and nonprofit management. She specializes in helping authors sound their best and enjoy the edit process. She's also the author of Making Word Work for You: An Editor's Guide to the Tool of the Trade.

Elissa Rabellino is a freelance editor with more than 25 years of experience in copyediting, proofreading, and production editing for books, newspapers, magazines, Web sites, government agencies, corporate marketing, and PR departments. She's worked for the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, CNET, and Macworld, among others.

Sherri Schultz has earned her living through freelance copyediting and proofreading since 1992. Most of her new clients come as referrals from existing clients or other editors. She primarily edits books but also proofreads for the Venables Bell ad agency, the Gates Foundation, and individual designers and consultants.

Panel organizer Geneviève Duboscq has worked as an editor for publishing houses, government agencies, educational institutions, and high-tech companies, moving from freelance jobs to staff positions and back again at the economy's whim.

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Date: Monday, March 22, 2010
NEW EARLIER TIME: 6:30-8:30 p.m. (Gather at 6:00 to meet fellow members; refreshments provided.)
Place: Mechanics' Institute, 57 Post Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco (directions and map)
Forum organizer: Jim Norrena

Topic planning in progress

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General Notes:

• Our forums are free to members—as well as to non-members who may want to check us out.
• No San Francisco forums are held in July, August or December.

Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Time: 6:45-8:30 p.m.
Place: Campbell Library, 77 Harrison Ave., Campbell, CA 95008 (map)
Forum organizer: David Couzens

Members' Showcase in 3D!

Join us for our new-and-improved, first-ever South Bay Members' Showcase! Inclement weather had most of us working on our arks in January, so this show-and-tell opportunity has been rescheduled. Keep in mind that this will be a low-key, relaxed affair. We want to provide a nonjudgmental venue for sharing our recent work with our peers, to see what fellow members have been working on and what we might learn from each other.

All media are welcome: print, online, video, and audio (BYOC—bring your own computer). Bring completed projects you are proud of, projects in progress, or gnarly new projects to which the collective wisdom of the membership can bring enlightenment. See you there!

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General Notes:

• Our forums are free to members—as well as to non-members who may want to check us out.
• South Bay forums are held quarterly rather than monthly.

Time: In San Francisco, we gather at 6:00 pm for networking and socializing. Presentations are from 6:30-8:30 pm.

Location: The Mechanics' Institute is at 57 Post Street, San Francisco 94104. We meet in the fourth floor meeting room and café, seen upon exiting the elevator.

Directions: Just a short distance from the Montgomery Street BART station. Walk one-quarter of a block (left) up Post Street, away from Market Street bus lines. By car, from Geary or Market or 3rd Street, go north onto Kearny and turn right on Post. From O'Farrell, go north on Grant and right on Post.

Parking: On-street parking on Post and neighboring streets is free after 6 pm. Garage parking is available three blocks away in the Sutter-Stockton Garage, 330 Sutter Street at the corner of Sutter and Stockton.

About the Mechanics' Institute: Located in downtown San Francisco, the Institute houses the oldest library on the West Coast and one of the nation's oldest chess clubs. Organized in 1854 when San Francisco was a remote frontier community, it began as a center for adult technical education. The private Institute, housed in the historic 1910 building at 57 Post Street, maintains a large circulation and reference library.