As I write this, independent creatives from all over the country are gathered in San Francisco for the Creative Freelancer Conference, which is part of a larger event known as HOW Design Live. I’ve attended several times and it’s always been worth my while. I’ve learned a great deal, made some valuable connections, picked up lots of tips for working smarter instead of harder, and come back energized and inspired to tackle the “business end” of being a self-employed illustrator. For most creatives learning about business issues sounds about as fun as doing your taxes, but the folks that run the conference somehow find ways to make it truly exciting and inspiring.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend this year. Each year the attendees are encouraged to tweet insights, nuggets, and goodies they are learning using the hashtag #CFConf. If, like me, you are not spending your weekend in a hotel conference room in San Francisco I would highly recommend punching that hashtag into the Twitter search window and see what you get. I’ll bet it will be worth your while.