Freelancers don’t have the luxury that those with a stable job possess, of having enough work to be occupied everyday. When not working, freelancers are always on the hunt for new projects. This is why networking is one of the most important tasks for a freelancer.
While posting online on freelance websites and referrals will get you some work, we can’t stress enough on how important networking and collaborating is for a freelancer. The best way to land new business and sustain being your own boss is through word of mouth and building personal relationships. Networking gets you jobs. Make sure people know you are a freelancer and that you’re available. The benefits of networking will start adding up quickly.
Not only will networking get you new gigs, meeting other freelancers at networking events also widens your circle. You may meet other freelancers who you may be keen to collaborate with or may in handy if there’s a project which requires a skill set which you do not yet possess. Networking events are also a great way to improve oneself. Many events feature talks and discussions centered around ideas that are relevant to today’s freelancers and participating in the same can lead to fresh ideas entering your mind.
While there are too many events taking place for us to even list all those which are happening in any one particular week, here are some of the biggest events in India for creative professionals:
The Advertising Club Events
The Advertising Club (Formerly Advertising Club Bombay) is a dynamic platform for professionals and students from the Advertising, Marketing, Media and Communication fraternity to gain from each other’s expertise. Founded in 1954, it has become a catalyst in developing the industry by organising seminars, workshops and events enabling professionals and students to interact.
It is the organizer of the some of the pre-eminent events of the industry like – ABBYs, EFFIEs, EMVIEs and the annual Ad Review. It also hosts the M.Ad QUIZ, Screening of Cannes and Clio awards and conducts various educational workshops. These are some great events for you to meet and greet with the industries finest professionals. Learn more about The Advertising Club Membership here.
CII Design Excellence Awards
The Confederation of Indian Industry is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organization, playing a proactive role in India’s development process. The CII firmly believe that good design can help our nation solve problems and help take our nation forward. In its endeavour to establish design as a tool for national competitiveness, CII initiated the “CII Design Excellence Awards” in 2011. As the awards have grown year on year they have become a must visit for all designers and freelancers.
Click here to learn more about the CII Design Excellence Awards and how to apply for the same.
The Coalition
The Coalition brings together India’s creative community over a weekend unlike any other in the region. With 300 industry leaders and innovators from across 13 creative streams (including music, content creation, food, and fashion) and a growing number of aspiring creative entrepreneurs and professionals in attendance, The Coalition has become a place for people to learn from and interact with some of the brightest creative minds from across the world and has helped take their businesses and ideas forward.
Follow them on their facebook and twitter pages to learn more about when the next edition will be held.
Creative Mornings
Started by illustrator-designer Tina Roth Eisenberg in NYC, CreativeMornings is a monthly community series that is spread in 177 cities across the world. At each of these meetups, there is a face-to-face interaction of like-minded or even dissimilar creatives in a city, to help get to know each other better, to network, to inspire each other and to celebrate the creative community.
It is a fully volunteer-run project, and although the event is free to all, you must register online for it. The event usually happens on a Friday, The registrations open up a week in advance, and the news is usually up on the Facebook page. Here are the pages for Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Design Fabric Festival
DesignUp
DesignUp is India’s go-to conference for design-in-tech and design-for-tech. It sits happily at the intersection of design, tech and business – embracing areas such as UI & UX, interaction design, user research and design thinking. DesignUp is focused on startups and enterprises – seeking to see how they leverage on design as a competency. It has featured a wide variety of speakers and continues to be strong in building community connects.
They have plenty of events planned across the year. Follow them here to be updated on the same.
Goafest
Goafest has been at the center of celebrating transformational brand stories and fostering the media and entertainment industry’s growth for decades. An initiative of the AAAI and The Advertising Club, Goafest has grown to become India’s only South Asian advertising festival. A three day fiesta replete with awards, talks, masterclasses and a whole lot of networking.
