Coffee Break: Building Community

In My So-Called Freelance Life, Michelle Goodman wrote that a good way of controlling your overwork tendencies is to “have somewhere to be ‘after work.'” It was this suggestion that made me think about starting up a regular happy hour for freelancers in my nabe.

Being a bit clueless about who actually lives near me, however (and by “near me,” I mean NJ rather than NY), I began to consider another means of connecting with my fellow freelancers: community bulletin boards.

I’ve always been a fan of MediaBistro’s bulletin board, but I often feel that the conversations are geared toward staffers and newspaper-type peeps. While I still enjoy taking part in these conversations, I’d like to create a space for those who are concentrating on their freelancing, and negotiating the stumbling blocks toward creating a successful at-home business.

Is this something that you would be interested in? If so, what topics and categories would you like to see highlighted within the basic structure of the bulletin boards? Copywriting? Mag writing? Web design? Cover letters? Finances? Office supplied? Let me know in the comments! I think it could be fun to launch something like this in the new year, and take our back and forth to the next level.

(P.S. If you are interested in a happy hour, or an actual coffee break, do let me know. Working from home gets lonely!)