7

London freelancers

almost 8 years ago from , Freelance Designer

Hey peeps,

As a freelancer I mostly work from home with little interaction with other designers, devs etc. This detachment often drives me a little stir crazy, and i find I’m a little disconnected from the industry and most importantly the ecosystem than you would normally find within an agency or studio.

My question to other remote/freelance workers is how do you stay connected to the people and the industry? I’d be keen to know if there are any London based slack communities or meet ups for freelancers — or how you get around the remoteness without having to rip up a football and start calling it wilson.

19 comments

  • Tristam GochTristam Goch, almost 8 years ago

    The Design+Banter meetup was really good for this sort of thing, but there's not been one for a while. I fear it's gone forever.

    1 point
    • Gavin JohnsonGavin Johnson, almost 8 years ago

      It definitely seems that way. I was following them on twitter but always managed to miss the events.

      0 points
    • John PJohn P, almost 8 years ago

      D+B always appeared to be more just talks to me rather than networking. It disperses pretty sharpish after the talks too…

      0 points
  • Dave HawkinsDave Hawkins, almost 8 years ago

    Re: Slack communities, yup:

    http://techlondon.io/

    Also go to events on if you want to network IRL:

    http://www.meetup.com/

    1 point
  • Alisa Ay, almost 8 years ago

    Hi Gavin. I'm a freelance designer and feel exactly the same way. I love freelancing for the flexibility but i do often miss having colleagues to chat and work with - it can get quite lonely.

    This was a daily problem i was having so i actually started to build a social network for freelancers and other independent workers. Its called Fhellow and it will allow independent workers to find out who is working around them so they can have a chat, share a coffee or even collaborate.

    We're launching on September 1st but you can signup here in the meantime. http://signup.fhellow.com

    I hope it solves our problem and for many others as well!

    0 points
  • Nicola GypsicolaNicola Gypsicola, almost 8 years ago

    What about a meeting over the weekend? I'm from London!

    0 points
  • Andrew HartAndrew Hart, almost 8 years ago (edited almost 8 years ago )

    I work at out of a co-working space called Google Campus London. They have a few options:

    • A cafe downstairs where you can sit down with your laptop and work. It's crazy down there - like an underpaid workforce of hipsters. It's free to work there, presumably with the assumption that you'll buy something from the cafe.
    • TechHub is the co-working space I'm in. It's upstairs, and gives you a lot more room. They have 'hotdesks', where you can bring in your laptop and work all day. It's all secure, so you can leave your computer while you go out for lunch, and they have a kitchen stocked with tea, coffee, bread, jam, nutella etc.. they have waffles and stuff every other Tuesday, and then they have a members drinks once a month. I think the hotdesks are something like £350 for a year, and you can work here 9am-7pm. Really not bad.
    • Third option, most expensive option, the one I'm on - you can get your own desk for about £320 a month. Keep all your stuff on it, it's yours, nobody else will ever sit there.

    So there's some really good options, all in the same building. All great for meeting people in the same position as you. It's located just down from Old Street. You can get a tour of TechHub too, or of course you can try out the cafe any time, since it's free.

    Hope that helps.

    0 points
  • Robert MapleRobert Maple, almost 8 years ago

    Why not start a group on Slack? I'll join!

    0 points
  • pjotr .pjotr ., almost 8 years ago (edited almost 8 years ago )

    My question to other remote/freelance workers is how do you stay connected to the people and the industry

    I'm in the US but I would imagine these tools are pretty much universal.

    0 points
  • Henry Doe, almost 8 years ago

    You should join a shared working space, not always guaranteed to be filled with designers but certainly other people to interact with - mostly in tech start-ups.

    I'v been at Techspace for a while and have meet other designers since being here, but more importantly go to their socials and hang with other people...

    0 points
    • Gavin JohnsonGavin Johnson, almost 8 years ago

      That has been an option, and one i'm considering. Do you find working from a shared space helps with picking up new clients/work?

      0 points
  • Andrew Parker, almost 8 years ago (edited almost 8 years ago )

    Have you checked out Jelly? http://workatjelly.com/

    [edit] Hmmm... actually scratch that - London ones don't seem to be active any more...

    0 points
  • Brendan GatensBrendan Gatens, almost 8 years ago

    Check out the London Freelancer's Fryup: http://tinyletter.com/londonfreelancersfryup

    0 points
  • Tom DurkinTom Durkin, almost 8 years ago

    Hoping to be in London starting Jan so will be very interested in meet-up events as well.

    0 points