Events, Freelance Cafe West

Freelancers Guild Post-holiday party

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Hey folks. Happy New Year! Start the freelancing year off right with a party sponsored by some good friends of FC. Details below. -mia

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Hi freelancers:

Please join us at California Media Worker’s end of the year party:

*7-11 p.m. Saturday Jan. 9 at the Tempest, 431 Natoma Street in San Francisco. * (That’s just downstairs from the Guild office, and an easy walk from the Powell BART station).

Free eats, cash bar, and beginning at 9 p.m., music by Kevin Fagan, theHEAVYthin and other special guests.

Please help spread the word — download the flyer on www.MediaWorkers.org

and / or RSVP through our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=211711294794&index=1

The event is open to all California Media Workers Guild members — and guests are welcome!

🙂 Sara

Events, Freelance Cafe West

journalism mixer, Jan 21, SF

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Hey folks. If anyone is interested, details below on an event sponsored by the Freelancers Guild. -mia _____________________________

The Guild freelance unit is sponsoring an upcoming mixer with the Bay Area Association of Black Journalists and a few other journalists’ groups.

Make it by!

Thursday, January 21 5:30pm – 8pm Urban Tavern (urbantavernsf.com) 333 O’Farrell Street/SF 94102

Our partners include: Bay Area Black Journalists Association (BABJA) Asian Journalists Association (AJA) Public Relations Society of America, Diversity Committee (PRSA) East Bay Press Club National Lesbian/Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) California Chicano News Media Association (CCNMA)

Awards/Fellowships, Musings, Photography

possible photo opportunity and poetry prize

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Hey folks. A couple posts courtesy of the Freelancer’s Guild. There has been some confusion in the past about this, so let me clarify: the Freelancer’s Guild is a separate organization (part of the CA Media Workers Guild) that has its own organizers, events, posts, etc. They are doing some great work for Bay Area freelancers, including trying to get a group health insurance policy, so if you haven’t already, check out their website and join up: http://guildfreelancers.org/gf/

We are Freelance Cafe, a group that started out as a social network and has since turned into an information sharing listserv and community. All of the posts to Freelance Cafe are copied to the Freelancer’s Guild, and while we share a lot of information and resources, we remain two separate entities. If you have any questions about this, please contact me or Sara Steffens <modernsara@gmail.com>, the Freelancer’s Guild organizing guru.

Hope all who attended had a great time at the holiday party, and happy holidays from the very COLD northeast! Best, Mia ___________________________

Topic: Stock photo company?

Is anyone familiar with Cavan Images? They have been posting on Craiglist looking for new contributors, and their Web site claims that their photographers regularly earn $500 – $1000 per day: http://www.cavanimages.com/blog/?page_id=931 * Here’s the latest Craigslist ad:*

Who we are: Cavan Images is a wholly owned image library that buys and commissions work from talented photographers. Photographer’s can either submit images they have shot on their own or, with a proven track record, can be selected for commissioned projects.

What we are looking for: – Assistants and those just breaking out. This is an excellent way to make money using your camera instead of pushing someone else’s lights around. – Professionals looking for a great way to help subsidize the costs of your travels and various personal projects.

Benefits: – Photographer’s that are working with us have free access to the latest digital gear to help pull a shoot together. We currently have Canon 5D mark II kits, which include a 24-70mm 2.8 and a 70-200mm 2.8, plus plenty of flash cards. – Any imagery that we choose to add to our collection will be retouched by one of most highly respected retouching studios around. These retouched images will be returned to you for your own self-promotional and fine art needs. – As our company expands and our outreach grows we will continue to help market photographers working with us through our website and contacts in the photographic community.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/med/1503605375.html

Topic: Kundiman Poetry Prize for Asian American writers

Kundiman announces Poetry Prize The Kundiman Poetry Prize for Asian American writers New York- Kundiman, Inc. is pleased to announce the inauguration of the Kundiman Poetry Prize in partnership with Alice James Books.

The prize is open to emerging and established Asian American poets. The award of $2,000, publication of the winning manuscript, and sponsorship of a reading make this a highly desirable prize. Submissions are accepted from November 15, 2009 to January 15, 2010. Guidelines for submission are available to http://www.kundiman.org/%5BCLB%5D_Brightside/1.Source/prize.html Alice James Books is a cooperative poetry press with a mission is to seek out and publish the best contemporary poetry by both established and beginning poets, with particular emphasis on involving poets in the publishing process. For more on Alice James Books, go to http://www.alicejamesbooks.org/ . Kundiman was founded in 2002 to provide opportunities for Asian American poets to perfect their skills through education and performance and to promote Asian American literature as a vital part of American letters. Its programs include a summer poetry retreat, held annually since 2004 and a reading series in New York City.

Kundiman’s partnership with Alice James Books for The Kundiman Poetry Prize is made possible through the support of Fordham University. For more information on Kundiman, go to http://www.kundiman.org .

Events, Freelance Cafe West

CPA Workshop, Tuesday, Jan 12, 6:30pm, SF

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Hey folks. Back by popular demand, we’re holding our CPA workshop again this year. Details below. -mia

Please Join us for a workshop with Jason Stallcup, CPA. Jason specializes in tax help for small businesses and freelancers. In fact, he’s known as the “freelance CPA”. Jason was a big hit last year, and has generously agreed to answer all our tax questions once again this year!

What: A free talk presented by Jason Stallcup, CPA http://www.jasoncpa.com/

When: Tuesday, January 12th 6:30PM

Where: Sandbox Suites http://www.sandboxsuites.com/, 123 10th Street, San Francisco

Hope to see you there for some great tax advice!

Design/Illustration, Gigs

FreelanceFolder is Looking For Designers

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Hey design folks. A blog I really like is looking for designers. Check out the following. And don’t forget about the holiday party at Bliss Bar, SF – tomorrow night at 7:30pm!

Best, Mia

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FreelanceFolder is Looking for Designers! http://freelancefolder.com/freelancefolder-is-looking-for-designers/

Are you an avid FreelanceFolder reader who happens to be a graphic or web design fanatic? Do you spend more time using Photoshop or Illustrator than anything else, except maybe sketching in your Moleskine notebook? Do you happen to be looking for a new source of design work?

If you answered yes to any of those questions — then now is your chance. The current owner of FreelanceFolder, Mason Hipp, and the original founder of FreelanceFolder, Jon Phillips, are teaming up to create a new design site called MediaLoot http://medialoot.com/ — and we need designers. Here’s what’s involved:

– We need all sorts of resources: icons, buttons, brushes, vectors, etc… – You’ll get paid on a per-project basis for all of your work (no waiting) – You’ll get your name and a link on every resource that you contribute – We’ll be needing new designs regularly, so this could be a good ongoing relationship.

If you’re interested in applying, you can find all of the requirements and instructions after the read more link.

Job Requirements

Okay, before you go and apply for the job, you’ll want to know what we’re looking for and what you’ll be getting yourself into. Here are the basic requirements:

– *Lots of design experience.* The resources you’ll be designing will be used by other designers in their own work, so they have to be pretty darn good. We’re creating a sort of ‘design toolbox’ that will help make designers lives easier, and each of the resources you contribute will need to be very high quality and easy to use by others. If you’ve got this sort of skill (and the portfolio to back it up) then we’d love for you to apply. – *Resell rights.* We’re not sure what the exact licensing will look like, but we will need most of the rights for the designs you produce. These designs will be made available to others on a subscription basis, and they will be used commercially without attribution. We will definitely pay fairly for these rights, but please make sure you understand and are okay with this before applying. – *Consistency & professionalism.* We’re ideally looking to build long term relationships with designers, so the perfect applicants will be able to create designs regularly, work consistently, and act professionally. Most of this goes without saying, but it can’t hurt to put it in here 🙂

How To Apply

If you’re interested in applying, just send your application to jobs [at] medialoot [dot] com. In the subject line, put “Designer Application” and then in the body of your message include the following information:

1. What kind of design do you specialize in? 2. Where can we find your portfolio or past designs? 3. Do you meet all of our above requirements? Why or why not? 4. What resources do you prefer to design: icons, web elements, textures, brushes, vectors, fonts, other? 5. Can you provide us with 2-3 sample projects, and how much you would charge? For example: icon set with 20 icons, cost $xxx. 6. Do you have any questions for us?

Apply to for this design job →

If you can’t tell already, we’re really excited about building and launching this project, so I hope you’ll consider applying. We’re really looking forward to reading all of these applications and I hope to speak with many of you personally in the near future.

Events, Freelance Cafe West

Annual Holiday Party – Tuesday, 12/15, 7:30pm, SF

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Hey folks. Just a reminder that the Freelance Cafe Annual Holiday Party is coming up on Tuesday. This is the third year for FC and it promises to be a great event. Hope you can make it! Details below. Best, Mia

Tuesday, December 15, 7:30PM

Bliss Bar 4026 24th Street San Francisco, CA 94114 US

415-730-7380

You are cordially invited to join your fellow freelancers for our annual holiday party in San Francisco. It’s always one of the highlights of the year for Freelance Cafe. This year it will be at Bliss Bar in Noe Valley. We’ve reserved the entire back area of the bar (note: the party is in the back of the bar, not the “blue room”). Bliss Bar is about a 6-block walk from the 24th-Mission BART station. There’s also a fairly large public parking lot on 24th between Church and Sanchez.

Please come out and celebrate with us!

Awards/Fellowships

SAJA offering $20,000 reporting grants

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Check it out. Deadline November 30. -mia _______________________

One of SAJA’s most high-visibility, high-impact programs is the SAJA Reporting Fellowships, which help journalists do better stories on South Asia or the diaspora. This year we are once again giving out upto $20,000, thanks to the Mahadeva Family Foundation. Please let your journalist friends know. You DON’T have to be South Asian to enter – and your story can be set anywhere in the world.

DETAILS FROM: http://bit.ly/sajasrf

The SAJA Reporting Fellowships program is aimed at promoting a rare element in 24/7-news-cycle journalism — in-depth and follow-up reporting on major events relating to South Asia or South Asians, long after the breaking-news crews have moved on.

Questions to Laura Griffin, SAJA Administrative Director: sajamember@gmail.com

As part of their mission to encourage in-depth coverage of South Asia and the South Asian Diaspora, SAJA & SAJA Group Inc. are pleased to announce a call for submissions for its fifth Annual SAJA Reporting Fellowships (SRF). Open to freelancers and staff journalists in any medium, the fellowships are meant to encourage in-depth reporting projects by providing grants to cover a portion of reporting expenses.

A total of up to $20,000 may be given out annually, divided among projects or a single project at SAJA’s discretion. Each fellowship award is typically between $3,000-$7,000.

These Fellowships, launched in 2005 to ensure follow-up reportage about the 2004 tsunami and its victims, were initially funded by SAJA members, corporate donors and friends of SAJA. For the last three years, SRF received a major financial boost thanks to the support of the Mahadeva Family Foundation, which will make an annual contribution of $20,000.

“The support of Kumar Mahadeva and Simi Ahuja, who have been part of the SAJA community for more than a decade, is critical to SAJA’s core mission of improving the coverage of South Asia through the SAJA Reporting Fellowships and similar programs,” said Sandeep Junnarkar, the group’s president and a professor at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. “This will continue to have a major impact on the kind of stories that the Fellows do and how Americans learn about what’s going on in South Asia today.”

The fellowship is open to proposals on any in-depth topics covering South Asia or the South Asian Diaspora.

Again, the application deadline is Monday, Nov. 30, 2009, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

To be eligible for this year’s fellowship, applicants must:

/ Have at least five years of journalism experience. / Produce content in the English language. / Be able to publish or broadcast the finished work in North America (U.S. and Canada). / Publish the work in a U.S. or Canadian media outlet. / Be willing to work with an editor, chosen by SAJA, who will oversee the successful completion of the project. / Be available to discuss the project at SAJA events, including but not limited to the annual SAJA convention and/or panel discussions and SAJA webcasts.

In addition, the news organization(s) that publish(es) or air(s) the finished work(s) must agree to provide a prominent credit to SAJA.

Proposals must include the following: / Project Proposal which describes the thesis of the project and explains why it’s an important story. What is the news hook? Why should a news outlet publish, broadcast or post this story? / A preliminary list of people to be interviewed. / A DETAILED budget that spells out what expenses the fellowship funding will cover and how the rest of the project will be funded. / A realistic timeline that shows SAJA’s deadlines (see below) will be met. / A resume and three work samples. We’re looking for applicants with a successful track record in producing print, broadcast, radio, photographic or multimedia pieces. The applicant must provide the work samples either as URLs, attachments, or by cutting and pasting to the application. Broadcast applicants can also provide digital samples. / Support letter(s). If the applicant is an employee of a U.S. or Canadian media outlet, a letter of support from the editor/employer/supervisor. The letter must show that the applicant’s employer will give the applicant the time to report, produce and complete the work to meet our deadlines, as well as allot time for the fellow to speak about the project at SAJA events. The letter must show the company’s willingness to share publication rights with SAJA after an initial, exclusive first-run period is over. The letter MUST also contain contact information for the employer. If the applicant is a freelancer, the proposal must include a letter from a U.S. or Canadian media outlet expressing support and a strong interest in running the piece. Even a South Asia-based freelancer must include a letter from a U.S. or Canadian media outlet expressing support and a strong interest in running the piece. An employee of a South Asia-based media company must include a letter from a U.S. or Canadian media outlet expressing support and a strong interest in running the piece. / A list of at least three references. INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

***Please read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on SAJA’s Web site, http://www.saja.org/programs/fellowships before emailing questions.***

Timeline for the Fellowships is as follows: Oct. 26, 2009: Applications process opens. Nov. 30, 2009: Application deadline. Jan. 10, 2010: SAJA fellows announced. Between Jan. 10 – April 15, 2010: Reporting completed. May 15, 2010: Finished project submitted to SAJA.

May 15-29, 2010: First-use period, for exclusive publication by the fellow’s employer, or if a freelancer, by the media company with whom the freelancer is contracted.

May 30, 2010: SAJA disseminates the work widely, through the web, other media and panel discussions.

Judging: The pool of applicants will be narrowed down to approximately five finalists. A panel of judges will review the finalists, and rank the projects from first to last. The SAJA board will make the final determinations on what amount of money will be awarded. Finalists will be notified and expected to be available for interviews with the judges if necessary.

Disclaimer: 1. All decisions are final and subject to the discretion and judgment of the judges and the SAJA board. 2. SAJA board members and members of their families are not eligible to apply. 3. SAJA is not responsible for any financial or legal liabilities (or any other liabilities) that arise from the actions of the fellow(s). 4. SAJA reserves the right to amend or extend deadlines or changing other procedures relating to the fellowship program.

HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL: After reading this page carefully, fill in this online form: http://www.formsite.com/columbiaspj/form605725715/

Deadline is Nov. 30, 2009, at 11:59 pm Eastern Time.

Questions to Laura Griffin, SAJA Administrative Director: sajamember@gmail.com. Before sending questions, please review the Frequently Asked Questions at www.saja.org/programs/fellowships by clicking on SRF FAQs.