The One Club for Creativity has announced the inaugural two-day “Freelancer Connect” conference, created to provide practical business advice and a valuable networking opportunity to a wide range of solo practitioners in advertising and design.
The in-person event, taking place January 17-18, 2025 at The One Club New York gallery space, is for any solo practitioner including freelance art directors and copywriters, designers, illustrators, photographers, typographers, strategists, PR practitioners, and others.
The Freelancer Connect agenda is based on results of a survey by the club of more than 100 freelancers. Sessions will focus on promoting your business, negotiating rates and extensions, best practices for invoicing and collections, benefits of an LLC, S-Corp, and sole proprietorship, insights on taxes and deductions, advice on finding work, and broader discussions on the future of freelancing.
Attendees will hear from recruiters and senior leaders at creative agencies about how to get – and stay – noticed, learn from tax professionals about how to best manage finances, and get advice on how to market themselves from successful fellow freelancers. “Speed dating” sessions will also take place for attendees to share portfolios with recruiters and agency reps.
Initial confirmed speakers include:
- Jamie Robinson, cofounder/CCO at JOAN (and a One Club Board member), on the current state of creativity in advertising
- Shannon Washington, CCO at Gotham, on “Getting and Staying Noticed as a Freelancer”
- Graham Clifford, founder/design director, Graham Clifford Design, on promoting your business
- Andrew Dickson, copywriter, creative consultant, and Aaron James, art and creative director, cofounders, Mt. Freelance, on “Freelance Different”
- Elizabeth Laferrière, motion design director, art director, on “Freelancing Beyond the Hustle”
- Nick Steinhardt, creative director at 23in, on “Qualities of a Good Freelancer”, with more to be added shortly.
“We speak regularly with freelancers, and developed this conference to address what they told us is an unmet need in the market,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club. “In addition to providing tangible business advice from tax professionals, this new conference also offers a rare opportunity for attendees to connect in person with colleagues and recruiters, and build a mutually beneficial community.”
More information and registration for Freelancer Connect can be found here.
The One Club for Creativity– home of The One Show, ADC Annual Awards, Art Directors Club of Europe (ADCE) awards, ONE Asia Awards, Type Directors Club and competition, TDC Ascenders, Young Guns, Young Ones Student Awards, Next Creative Leaders, ONE Screen Short Film Festival, and more – is the world’s foremost non-profit organization whose mission is to support and celebrate the global creative community. Revenue generated from entries to its global awards shows goes back into the industry to fund programming under the organization’s four pillars: Education, Inclusion & Diversity, Gender Equality, and Creative Development.
