With the large number of freelancers and soloists in South Africa (over 3 200 registered on Freelancentral alone), it made sense for Freelancentral to join forces with Pam Sykes and Walter Pike to launch the Flying Solo SA Unconferences (next one: 20 September in Johannesburg) and social networking site.
It's a brave person who hands in their notice and foregoes a monthly pay cheque, pension plan and paid sick leave to do their own thing.
But this is what thousands of South Africans are doing - and they're loving it. Sure, it's not all sunshine and roses, with financial worries and finding clients being their biggest headaches. But, the freedom, control and opportunities that flying solo brings usually more than make up for that.
I think I'm alone now...
One of the non-financial downsides to going it alone is that it can be lonely. Soloists and freelancers often miss the social interaction and support that colleagues offer. A new movement in South Africa is addressing this through a series of 'unconferences' and a new social networking site, just for soloists.
Come together
Inspired by an event in Switzerland and the brainchild of Pam Sykes, a Cape-based soloist, the Flying Solo movement was launched in Cape Town in July at a one-day 'unconference'. The unconference format simply means the agenda and discussions were entirely driven by the delegates. Topics that were covered included managing finances, attracting customers and using Web 2.0 tools for marketing oneself - and more.
Over 60 soloists attended the event and found immense value in having an opportunity to share knowledge, expertise and challenges with other soloists:
* "I'm not sure how I have managed to survive as a soloist for over 20 years without some of the stuff to which I had my eyes opened."
* "Really an eye opener to know there are so many other people out there who have had or are still experiencing the same problems. I learned so much from listening to the ideas and suggestions from others."
FlyingSolo2 is being held in Gauteng on 20 September at the Magalies Mountain Lodge (map here http://www.magaliesmountainlodge.co.za/pdfs/ju_Magalies_Map.pdf) from 9:30am to 5pm. There is no 'conference fee', but delegates are asked to contribute R200 to cover lunch and venue costs. (Click here to register. http://flyingsolosa.pbwiki.com/)
Jo'burg promises to be an even bigger and better event than the Cape Town event - particularly as the team has secured sponsorship from Adobe, who will also be giving a short talk, on the day, about intellectual property and the state of design in SA and globally.
Help!
The Flying Solo team are looking for further sponsorship from interested parties to help cover the remainder of the costs of this not-for-profit event (contact Jo Duxbury - jo@freelancentral.co.za) if you are interested in sponsorship).
Getting by with a little help
The Flying Solo Unconferences are supported by an online social network (http://flyingsolosa.ning.com/) where delegates can check each other out beforehand and figure out who they'd like to chat to at the Unconference - and which is also helping to continue the discussions post-events.
Flying Solo is run in association with (Freelancentral http://www.freelancentral.co.za/), which is SA's popular online directory of freelancer portfolios that provides freelancers with a platform on which to promote themselves - and is an indispensable resource for companies that need to outsource elements of their marketing requirements.
The Flying Solo SA: JHB Unconference is hosted by:
* Pam Sykes: Freelance researcher, writer and word wrangler specialising in making complex things simple. Solo since 2001. www.pamsykes.com
* Jo Duxbury: Founder of www.freelancentral.co.za, co-founder of www.Femtrepreneurs.com, freelance business writers and editor - and reformed suit.
* Walter Pike: Branding and marketing, and social media thought-leader, customer intimacy architect, speaker, writer and teacher. Solo since 1994. www.pike.co.za
* Jamaaludeen Khan: Web strategist, trainer, consultant and photo/video king. www.jayz.co.za
* Max Kaizen: Hunter of genius, developer of blended reality Learner Guidance Systems, lecturer in practical innovation, technology & global citizenship, and proud geek. www.maxkaizen.com
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