New Orleans Web Expo 2009

New Orleans has its fair share of freelancers in just about every field you can think of.  The iFreelance 2009 New Orleans Web Expo, held on October 10th – 11th at the Hilton on St. Charles, will give those freelancers an opportunity to increase their income through legitimate ways and learn about resources to make them better professionals.  Hosted by In The Media.com & Speak To Buyers, the conference consists of free and paid seminars that cater to online and offline freelancers.  The free seminars will be offered in the morning time with topics ranging from Web Design, Content Management Systems and E-commerce to Money for Ideas: How to Write for Blogs, Magazines & Newspapers Online.  The paid seminars which will be offered in the afternoon time, consists of more interactive hand-ons workshops that teach participants about things like video production and how to promote their brand.

Why Freelancers Should Attend

Freelancers in any field struggle with similar issues of getting people to understand that they are professionals, networking to get additional business, and keeping a steady revenue stream.  When asking Uma Sumeros, Director of the Web Expo why freelancers should attend, she responded by telling us why they shouldn’t and then why they should.  “You should not attend if you think there will be a magic wand waved to show you how to make quick money, if you aren’t serious about being a professional freelancer, and if you already have all the answers.  But if you want to gain real world knowledge, network with like minded professionals, and learn about resources that will help you in the long run then you definitely want to attend this conference.”

The conference boasts that it wants to show participants tangible results and teach them universal facts that will work in any profession.  “For years people have had a negative connotation with the term: making money online.  But we want to show people that this is not the case, and that any freelancer has the ability to boost their income” said Sumeros.

Other Tidbits

The paid seminars are more than just your one way style workshops where participants listen to a presenter speak.  These session present a more interactive experience that consists of a website slam contest and hands-on workshops with presenters.  The website slam is a contest that will give away a free website to a lucky participant.  That website will be designed by three web teams that will produce a three page site over the course of two days.  The winning site will be judged by the crowd of participants  and also by people online who get to watch a live stream of the contest.  The winning participant will receive a website with a free year of hosting and maintenance and the winning team will receive $300.  While the contest is going on participants at the conference can engage in hands-on video and music production workshops on Saturday.  On Sunday afternoon, participants are treated to a  Fashion & Music Showcase.

Conference goers can participate in the “30 Seconds of Fame” workshop where they can discuss their elevator pitch to other business owners and get feedback on their ideas.  An online business productivity kit will be available that consists of software, ebooks, articles, and white papers.  After the conference, a Freelance Express Forum will be available for participants to share ideas about what they learned and connect with presenters for follow up collaboration.  Also 15% of profits will be donated to Make It Right NOLA.org to help with the rebuilding of New Orleans homes.

For more information about the conference or how to register for workshops, check out their website or their eventbrite page.