Freelancer’s Guide to the Galaxy
A lot of what we do as Four Winds Creative is video production, but one of our favorite side gigs is hosting a meetup for creative freelancers in the Bay Area. The Bay Area Creative Freelancer’s Guild Meetup [BACFGM] is more than a tongue twister; its members make it a community for amazing freelance talent right here in our hometown. Our goal is to nurture a creative community who also has to deal with running their own businesses, marketing in a competitiveindustry, and finding work in a field they love. The struggle is real. But by fostering this community, we learn and share our knowledge, which brings us to the most important part: making connections.
Every six to eight weeks, a group of creative freelancers gather to share work and enjoy each other’s company. The meetup used to only consist of San Francisco creatives, but when we gained ownership of the group three years ago, we expanded its reach to include the greater Bay Area. The location moves to different studios or creative workspaces throughout the Bay, which lends itself to new audiences and fresh member perspectives each time.
The BACFGM is open to creatives of all types. We’ve had editors, producers, shooters, and everything in between. Agencies and employers often come in the hopes of finding local talent to expand their network. What we’ve discovered, though, is that no matter what brings you to the meetup, everyone leaves with a few industry insights and a larger network of creatives.
I think what works best about this meetup is that while the location changes each time, the structure stays the same. You can usually expect a few show-and-tell short videos or small projects, and a guest presentation about different industry topics. We’ve had presentations about transitioning to full time freelancing from corporate work, how to build timelapse skills, the importance of a portfolio, and how to utilize a network so you can say ‘yes’ to big projects. It’s a great way to get inspired to work on your own projects, network with other freelancers, and learn a ton in the process.
It’s been a pleasure seeing the community grow and evolve over the past three years, and we’re so grateful to help facilitate so many new connections throughout the San Jose area and beyond. If you’ve been to a meetup before, let us know what you think! If you aren’t a member but want to be one (hint: you do), you can register here, and we’ll only email you when there’s a meetup coming up.
If you are a creative freelancer, own a video production company, or hire freelancers for overflow at your place of business we encourage you to come check out this amazing group of talented people.
Enjoy this video from our last meetup at Studio 23:
Join us on Thursday, July 13th, at Bierhaus in Mountain View for a casual version of the meetup. Less structure, more beer. Just the way summer should be 🙂
Some similar meetups are the San Jose Digital Filmmaking Network, and the Silicon Valley Content Producers.