Compared two freelancer meetups back to back and one was a total waste of time

Went to a general biz networking thing Thursday night at a brewery near Old Town. 30 people, mostly trying to sell me insurance or meal prep. Got one actual lead. Then hit the ABQ Creatives Guild meetup Saturday morning at a library. 12 people, all trades, we traded tips on contracts and tax stuff for 2 hours. The difference was night and day. That brewery one cost me $8 for a drink and I got nothing. Has anyone else found a specific local group that actually delivers work or advice?

3 comments

3 Comments

shane_wilson1d ago

Did you land any new clients from the library group?

xenam841d ago

Did you try actually talking to people at the brewery meetup or did you just stand around sipping your drink? Because in my experience, those casual settings are way better for landing real clients, not just swapping tax tricks with other broke freelancers. The library crowd sounds like a pity party where everyone's just coping with bad contracts instead of finding better work. At least the business network had people with money to spend, even if they were selling meal plans.

bell.jessica20h ago

Settle down, Xen. You're acting like anyone who doesn't do things your way is wasting their time. I've been to both types of groups and honestly, it's not that black and white. The library crowd can be really helpful for getting referrals if you're looking for a specific kind of work, not just hunting for the biggest paycheck. And yeah, the brewery thing can work, but it can also be a total crap shoot if no one's actually there to talk business. Maybe it's just me, but I think you're oversimplifying it and missing some solid opportunities.