CFC & HOW 2010: Part 1

I had the privilege of attending the 2010 Creative Freelancer Conference and a few sessions of the 2010 HOW Design Conference. In a stroke of brilliance, F&W Media decided to hold the CFC, HOW, and inHOWse conferences all at the same location and at the same time. As a result, my CFC package included access to the HOW resource center (samples and schwag! :), the HOW Opening Keynote and one "Wildcard" HOW Session.

I'm a CFC and HOW Conference veteran and while my main purpose was to attend both conferences, I brought along my friend who likes to travel, so I planned on working in a bit of a vacation too.

Despite what our pilots told us at the beginning of the flight, our ride into Denver was anything but smooth. Especially the last half hour, it felt as if we were on a roller coaster and not a plane. And alas, I did succumbed to altitude sickness that same night. Going into the first day of CFC, I was a bit unsteady and uncertain.

However, once I arrived and saw Bryn Mooth (HOW Editor and all-around awesome person) and chatted with her a bit, I started feeling much better. That carried me until I entered the room filled with CFCers and the energy of several hundred independent creatives lit my design fire up.

Ilise stared the day off right with the session You Are A Business.She talked about how we decide if and when we are a business. It was very empowering. Pitch Perfect by Dyana was good, however, it was the same basic presentation from 2008, so although it was not new to me, it was good to hear again and to do the exercises to help clarify how I define my business when asked the dreaded "What do you do?"

Luke's session Who's The Boss was by far the best presentation of the day for me. He explained how to set clear boundaries between work and personal for you and your client as well as strategies to keep your business and clients all working together smoothly.

Rather than attend the panel on freelance success and the networking reception, I decided to fill up my soul or as Von said in his HOW session ("add a match to my matchbox", more on that later). My friend's friends were going to visit their dog who had just given birth to the cutest little labrador puppies I've ever seen. Nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, I really got to see the beauty of Denver and surrounding areas.

Day Two of the CFC was shaping up to be a long day for me since I also had the HOW opening keynote and resource center on my agenda. I was starting to really feel better today! The design mojo and creative energy was definitely palpable as I walked through the Hyatt to the sessions.

Look for part 2 coming Monday!