Ongoing info and conversation

If you want to keep in touch, or keep the conversation going, it is all happening over at the LinkedIn group- it's over here. Contact me if you want to join.

Whew!

A sincere thanks to everyone who came out last weekend and brought all those great questions and answers. If all those scribbled notes are any indication, it seems like it was valuable for everyone.

And thanks also to Ingrid and Jeff and Kohel- I was so impressed with all the ways that the RACC supports artists, and it's great to have professionals like Jeff and Kohel coming out to support the animation community.

Finally, thanks again to our great sponsors - Webtrends for the fantastic space, Oblique for the much-needed coffee, and Art Institute for moral and administrative support.













We've started a LinkedIn group in order to keep in touch and keep the conversation going. You can find it here, and keep following @BeTweenPDX on Twitter. We'd love to hear feedback, suggestions, anything you'd like to share. And please let us know if you'd like us to do it again next year. :-)

Almost there!

Kohel says: "I'll be there talking about Copyrights and Trademarks. What Do You Own, Where is the Law with regard to What Use is Fair and What use is Foul. Bring Questions."

Here's the outline of our agenda:

9:00 - 9:30 Coffee and mingling
9:30 - 10:00 Welcome, introductions, plan the day
10:00 - 10:50 First group of sessions
11:00 - 11:50 Second group of sessions
12:10 - 1:00 Third group of sessions
1:10 - 2:00 Fourth group of sessions
2:15 ---- Connect and decompress at Rock Bottom Brewery

That also leaves everyone plenty of time to head over to Stage 13 and check out Peter Kuran. :-)

Why YOU should come to BeTween PDX

Here's why BeTween PDX is an event for YOU!

You’re a freelance or independent animator:
You’re a great animator, but you’ve found that a lot of your freelance work involves completely different skills than animation- you’re being asked to do bidding and invoicing, manage clients and deadlines, perhaps act as an employer to other people. Often the work is challenging, and you have to cope with dry spells in between really busy periods. And sometimes it’s a bit lonely.
Maybe you have a labor of love, a personal project you’d love to work on but never seem to find the time, and it keeps getting pushed further down the list.
At BeTween, you can talk with people who are in the same situation, who have developed different (maybe even better) strategies and tools than you have. You can share tips and commisserate. And you have a chance to get advice from professionals (like Jeff and Kohel) in an informal setting. Ingrid Carlson from the RACC will be there to discuss the possiblity of getting a grant to further your personal work. And you’ll be not only getting information, but sharing it, making connections, supporting others in their work.

You’re a student or just starting out:
You’re looking for work, and know that it’s common for people to freelance in the industry. But you don’t really know what that looks like or how to get started. If someone approaches you with a project, you aren’t sure how to accurately estimate it or how to negotiate a budget.
At BeTween, you’ll be able to ask questions of people who are doing it, and get advice and perhaps learn from their mistakes. You’ll be making connections and building your network, and might find yourself having a good time.

You’ve already established your animation career:
You’re an animation professional, a producer or manager who works with animators all the time. You hire and work with freelancers, and sometimes it’s a challenge to staff up a project. Sometimes it can be hard to develop a good rapport with a new freelancer and establish the trust necessary to get the work done.
At BeTween, you’ll have a chance to meet a lot of freelance animators and maybe make some new connections for the next big project. And you’ll be able to offer advice, explain what you’re looking for, and what it takes to work successfully with you. You’ll have a chance to offer your insights and best practices to people who are ready to hear them, and use your experience to strengthen the whole community.

You’re a freelance or contract creative person who isn’t an animator:
You are interested in the event, but think that maybe it won’t apply to you, or that your experience won’t be relevant. Come anyway- you’ll find that the parallels are surprising, and your insights will be welcome.

Two of our Terrific Guests

I have the great pleasure to know Kohel Haver, attorney, and Jeff Hart, CPA, who have both agreed to attend this year's BeTween Unconference.

Kohel Haver is a partner at Swider Medeiros Haver, LLP and specializes in copyright, intellectual property, and other aspects of the law that relate to the arts. He has a very generous spirit and is a powerful ally to the creative community. He uses his powers for good!

Jeff Hart is a partner at Hodges and Hart and has been my accountant for about 10 years. He has also proved himself very generous as well as very patient with creative types.

Both these men are a wealth of useful, even vital information! Some possible topics of discussion for these two pundits could include:

• Copyright: How do I protect my creations?
• Copyright: What can I legally appropriate?
• Should I incorporate my business? How?
  
• How best to prepare for tax time as an Arts Professional
• Dangers of using "social media" as a creative professional
  
• Understanding professional contracts, what is Work for Hire?
• Subcontracting or hiring employees
  
• Working internationally

Please suggest more!

Art & Commerce

The age-old topic: how do you flex your wings creatively while still being able to buy groceries? Chances are, you didn't pop out into the art world with an accurate understanding of how your finances would work. I didn't. You'd just go out, show your stuff, and either get rich & famous or starve for your art. Both options have a sort of dashing appeal, but most of us have landed somewhere in the middle.

So how do you sort all this out? How can you be both an artist and a business? How can you deliver inspiration on a deadline?

Luckily, we live in a community that can be mined for all sorts of answers to this problem. Check the link, if you haven't seen it already, and come with a headful of tips.

http://www.austinkleon.com/2011/03/30/how-to-steal-like-an-artist-and-9-other-things-nobody-told-me/

More potential topics

These are just from my notes from an early planning meeting:

freelance vs. employee
improve your reel?
client/project/time management
contracts?
crowdfunding/kickstarter/grants
networking/social networking/online presence/branding
local organizations (there are a TON of them!)
ongoing education/sharpening your skills
OSNAP
work/life balance when working from home

BeTween 2011 potential topic: Getting Funded

Does anyone want to have a session about getting funding for independent projects? It seems to me that a lot of animators have ideas for their own projects, but they just look at it as something that they will do by themselves or maybe with friends. However, there are resources out there for getting funding for independent projects, like grants or crowd-funding... it's something the film community often does, but it seems as though the animation community doesn't often take advantage of these kinds of opportunities.

I've been emailing with the RACC to see if they are interested in sending a representative to BeTween this year, but we could also discuss things like Kickstarter (are there any Kickstarter/crowdfunding stories anyone would like to share?). Would anyone like to have a session on funding? Does anyone have suggestions for other potential funding resources that we, the organizers, could try to contact and recruit ahead of time?

Registration is now open and the event is on Facebook

In almost 6 weeks, Portland's animation community will be gathering together for the second year in a row to hear and share about finding animation work in Portland. And, we are pleased to announce that registration is now open! Please use the registration buttons on the left to join us.

Just like last year, the event is free to ASIFA members and AI students. We are delighted that both Oblique Coffee Roasters and the Art Institute of Portland are sponsoring for a second year in a row, which allows us to offer non-members tickets for just $6.

Unlike last year, we are not capping the event to only 50 participants (we sold it out!). So, tell your animator friends to tell their friends that an animation hootenanny is going down at the top floor of Webtrends. The view from their deck is amazing and May is going to be beautiful :)

Also new this year, we have launched a Facebook event page in addition to our existing Twitter account. A few of last year's members have already started the discussion there and it's a great way to let people know you're coming and to connect with the other attendees. If you already have some ideas for the topics you'd like to discuss, we'd love to have you share them as comments on this blog post or on our Facebook event page.

Did you miss last year?

Last year's BeTween was at The Art Institute of Portland, and we had a great time. We had about 50 attendees and 16 sessions. Local IP attorney Kohel Haver and Kathy Welter of Welter and Associates led sessions about legal and insurance issues, and we had sessions about getting started as a freelancer, project management, and more. Scoutbooks donated giveaways, and Oblique coffee roasters provided coffee, while ASIFA Portland provided snacks to keep the energy up. Afterwards, we decompressed at Deschutes Brewery, and continued chatting about balancing life as an artist with running a business.

We got a lot of positive feedback from attendees, most of whom had never been to a similar event and weren't sure what to expect. We hope to continue to build on our success in 2011!

Finally, last year's BeTween owes a tremendous debt to David Billings, Mr. Sparky Firepants, who was instrumental in putting it all together. The organizing committee misses him this year, and wish him luck in all his endeavors!

What is BeTween?

From wikipedia: "An unconference is a participant-driven meeting. The term "unconference" has been applied, or self-applied, to a wide range of gatherings that try to avoid one or more aspects of a conventional conference, such as high fees, sponsored presentations, and top-down organization."

Often freelancers and contract workers find themselves having to solve problems outside of the core creative work, such as how to manage a client, negotiate a contract, solve technical problems, find resources, manage their time, etc. Each person ends up confronting these problems and finding solutions on their own, but wouldn't it be great to talk with your peers and find out what works for them, share your own experiences, and maybe just commiserate with someone who is facing the same challenges?

BeTween is an opportunity for Portland's independent and freelance animators and creative community to get together and share ideas, resources, processes, and connect with each other. While we, the organizers, will bring some subject matter experts, the core concept is that each discussion is driven by the ideas and expertise of the attendees.

From 9:30-10, we'll agree on an agenda of 16 or more 45 minute long small group discussions, and then from 10-2, attendees will participate in the discussions that are most interesting to them. Stay tuned to this blog as we begin to develop potential topics of conversation and make your opinions and preferences known early. We'd love to hear from you!